by B.J. on 8/31/2003 01:00:00 AM Print this post

How to Open a Nokia Phone

Let this random piece of information help the poor unfortunate soul who cannot open a Nokia Cellular Phone, not the bourgeoisie Motorola Camera phone fools. May the one with the Nokia Cellular Phone stumble upon this information upon a google search. So let me add some words that I think other people would use in trying to find this bit of information: change, face plate, faceplate, remove, 3395, Cingular, T-mobile, AT&T, tabs.

Anyway, long story short, there was freakin' sand inside my phone. I could not get any reception. And I was in the middle of a great conversation. There were no bars of reception. So with my teeth able to grind a stone in half, I tried to lift the tabs on the side of the phone with just my index finger. I did that for 30 freekin' minutes to no avail. Finally, I decided to get online and look for a way to open it via google. But I didn't get shit. With no reception on my cell phone, weary teeth, and weary fingernails I deferred to the regular house phone and its regular size and its regular reception.

However, the cellular phone soon shot back up to 4 bars. The phone was taunting me. It was really hard to crack, and it really kept me up the next day and night.

Like a blessing from the beholder, Cressa da Hane finally showed me how. And I'm eager to divulge the information on the world wide web unlike any other:



For beginners opening the phone for the first time, I suggest holding the tab at the botttom of the phone as shown in the picture, and simultaneously sliding/pushing the cover in an upward motion with the free thumb.

The advanced phone-openers can simultaneously press the tab and slide the cover in an upward motion with one thumb.

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by B.J. on 8/30/2003 10:58:00 AM 0 comments Print this post

History of Porno

Yup. Finding the history of porno with just a google search can be annoying as most of the useful information is found in books that cost $340, but I did my best.

There was erotica in Greek and Roman times. Before pornography, apparently there was plenty of build-up, manifested in erotic writing, challenging the perils of censorship. A lot of the writers at the time from Shakespeare to Chaucer implicitly tapped on eroticism. And writers kept pushing the bounds of censorship until the Victorian times.

Then all hell finally busted loose.

Explicit artifacts were discovered at Pompeii during the Victorian period, more than 2 centuries ago. This random guy online, Fenton Bailey tells the audience, "The question that faced them was what to do with the abundance of lewd artefacts they found that were obviously part of everyday life for the ancient Romans?"

"The solution was to place them in a "secret museum", where "gentlemen with appropriate demeanour (and ready cash for the custodian), would be admitted to the locked chamber where controversialities lurked; women, children and the poor of both sexes and all ages were excluded". The idea of the secret museum caught on with museums all over Europe setting up their own restricted collections, from l'Enfer in Paris to the Private Case at the British Library in London."

So began the institution of porn. According to Bailey, the difference between the erotica of the Greek and Roman times and this porn is that erotica is natural lovemaking, whilst porn is mechanical masturbation. "In short, if you jerk off to it, it [pornography] can have no other redeeming value."

This label of mechanical masturbation on porn is why I can't see porn as some type of art, unlike these girls (it's another drab article, not a pic) who consider themselves artists.

Nowadays, the porn industry has encountered plenty of exposure via the internet and has done battle in the court system. For any of that drab crap, you can look it up on google.

But the porn itself looks the same, only with differing styles in accordance with the time and place some material was concocted. You can find stuff from that time if you look up "vintage" on a google search. Same old sleaze.

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by B.J. on 8/29/2003 01:42:00 PM 0 comments Print this post

Biting Sound Off on Sound Bites

I hate sound bite advice.

I bought and watched Roger and me The documovie centers around General Motors in the 1980s and its decision to pack up and leave Flint, Michigan, leaving 30,000 umemployed, which has since ballooned up to 75,000 unemployed and 87% of the children below the poverty line according to the latest Bowling for Columbine figures. It helps to make Flint one of the crime capitals in the United States.

Whenever Mike interviewed a celebrity or some type of big shot about the people losing their jobs, the common response was sound bite advice to those job-losers in the form of "be optimistic, there's plenty of things to do." Even though the advice may be true in hopes of accomplshing anything, general advice like that shit makes no connection to the person, other than acknowledging that the recipient of the advice is going thru a rough time. It gives no comfort. It doesn't listen. Advice is easy shit to give when you're riding high. Giving general sound bite advice to disadvantaged people is like trying to give flyers for a rave or a keg to senior citizens. The advices of "be positive and independent" generally goes out the other ear and probably even ends up steering people towards the other direction because of the sheer ignorance and arrogance. It's like some other person knows better than you. In a way, it takes someone's dignity and own character away. General sound bite advice like is just stupid.

But sound bite advice is the platform on which this country's ideals are based. The United States' ideals are based on the advice of "being independent", being your own man. In its historical context in 1776, "be independent" was a phrase championed by the rich farmers and something general which people could not argue. People at that time just wanted to be left alone as most of them were farming.

With much more varied professions, the high in society from evangelists to CEOs are still championing that people be independent and positive. But while it may be true that to achieve something positivity and independence would be keys, these high-class motherfolkers need to keep in mind that some people just want to survive and get by, they don't always want to achieve something. "Be independent and be positive" is goal-oriented advice. What those head honchos have in mind when they give this goal oriented advice is stuff like "make over 1 million dollars this summer" or "sell 200,000 of [useless product here]".

And goals are generally something laid out and lived if people are settled. Goals are something extra. Sound bite advice is geared towards getting that something extra. But goals are made a necessity. Goals are not what people need in a time of need. They resort to their necessities and look for emotional support. So then if that's true, why are necessities made a goal for disadvantaged people in their time of need ?

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by B.J. on 8/28/2003 09:46:00 PM 0 comments Print this post

Battle with Religion

I believe in a supreme being.

But I'm not so sure that I believe in the worshipping practices. The parts where I have to kneel, and assert his greatness. They are rituals. Robert Sapolsky, writer of this awesome book, The Trouble with Testosterone, calls out some of these rituals as being obsessive-compulsive in the context of a psychological and biological point of view. He states, "Religion is not just a foundation of thought and faith. Nor is it just a set of moral imperatives, or a set of cultural values to be shared with a community. In its traditional, orthodox incarnations, it is also a collection of small habits, behaviors, and prohibitions, a myriad of everyday activities and sayings."

"During periods of stress or of anxiety in our lives, most of us will find ourselves having certain small behaviors or thoughts that we cannot suppress, little rituals that, repeated once, are benign, but repeated at length, become irritants."

Even though I do believe in some kind of supreme being, I wonder why a lot simply don't. If the supreme being was that great, why wouldn't he make everyone believe in him ?

In a historical context, belief in hell for not believing in a religion seems like something of ancient times, when strong people wanted justification to coerce people into believing their religion. People believed in religion as comfort to the big unknown of death. Today's society of sprawling democracy has laid a heavy assault on worshipping anything. From the democratic view point, it seems like nothing more than a ploy for Conservatives to make the disadvantaged accept their lot in life, even though those Cons will tell them such empty meaningless phrases like "keep hope."

But from the personal context with my family, friends, background in mind, there's nothing about religious practices that relates to me or anyone else, unless you really love those inaudible Latin phrases.

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by B.J. on 8/27/2003 08:56:00 AM 0 comments Print this post

NASA Culture

According to a report compiled over the last few months, the "lax culture" of NASA is to blame for the Columbia explosion on January 16, 2003, which killed 7.

No.

Not to completely shake off what happened and be an insensitive bastard, but human nature is directly to blame. We are imperfect pieces of shit before the beholder. However, the most blame should be on the government. Too much pressure is put on these NASA scientists, and I would imagine that it would be tough to not slack for a second. These scientists felt the pressure even when the agencies cut down on its workforce:

"NASA isn't the only villain in the report. The board also blamed the White House and Congress for failing to ensure that NASA's budget keep pace with inflation over the past decade. To cope with the crunch, the agency slashed its work force and relied increasingly on outside contractors."

Disasters like the Challenger and Columbia are examples of why downsizing in general is just a bad idea. The less people you have, the more relaxed and less structured a task is. The less structured a task is, the more unreliable it is that the task will be completed successfully. To meet with high standards (that should be rules), NASA needs more structure and more workers especially since they hold people's safety in the balance. Even the best of the best fuck up.

I'm sure loved ones of those directly involved in the tragedy would agree.

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by B.J. on 8/26/2003 08:16:00 AM Print this post

A Day for the Books. Or not for them.

I learned a lot of sciency stuff today, more applicable to the daily grind than the stuff at the California Science Center.

First, it began with a pop. Literally.

The alignment of Cheryl's car felt funny at the 101. But we only noticed the burning rubber at the 60 towards Pomona about 4 miles later. She called her personal Firestone employee, Kevin, and so we waited at Atlantic Avenue in East L.A. for like 30 minutes, fumbling for the first 5 minutes on how the tire-changing worked.

So here's what I learned: With a flat on Cheryl's car, Kevin brought his own bag of tools, jacked up the car, and unscrewed the bolts. He got the spare tire and then screwed it back on. Simple as that. Except I forgot how he positioned the jack. And I already knew he would have to jack up the car and unscrew stuff. But I guess I stamped the idea in my head, and now I have an idea of what to do when I get a flat.

Then it was boogeyboarding at Huntington Beach. You have to ride the wave, they said.

Kevin let me borrow his boogeyboard.

So here's what I learned from trying to boogeyboard: First off, basketball shorts don't make great trunks. They just don't.

Secondly, I gotta actually stay on the boogeyboard to ride it.

Thirdly, a question from observation rather than something I learned. Is it me or are the waves from a salty beach a little more broken than the ones on a non-salty beach ? This beach had green and salty water. Maybe it was due to the power plant next to it.



Most of the LA County Beaches I have been to from Venice to Santa Monica to Will Rogers to Zuma to Hermosa all had one wave after another rather than a a whole lot of them breaking and starting.

After wondering about the many waves of that beach for a second, our flimsy bonfire was next.

I burned Chicago-style Lays Chips, generic marshmellows, water bottles, pepsi cans, and last but not least a high school Literature book that was supposed to be a present for the birthday celebrant, but kept the fire alive for another 30-40 minutes.



In your face, you stupid lit book you.

I spent most of my time poking the objects in the fire with one of the sticks that held the marshmellows. And through all that tinkering I learned quite a few things:

First, Aluminum is some tough shit to burn. It can also be toxic.

Secondly, plastic water bottles melt quickly without any water. With water in them, it sizzles the bottle creating a hole and squirting other shit.

Thirdly, hard wood is tough to burn. Other. types. of. wood. that are not hard wood. work. (?)

So all in all, by tinkering with shit, I learned more, meaning that information is accessible in my head, than I ever could with books. But relevant-to-life books are still the next best thing.

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by B.J. on 8/25/2003 12:09:00 AM Print this post

Open Letter To Sleeker

Hey Sleek !

I was so slick today and built my connections a thousand fold ! Actually no, I just built on the skills that would build connections a thousand fold. One skill being. . .slick. I slicked my way into the Sunset Junction Fair 2 days in a row for free, saving me a grand total of 14 bucks.

My strategy on the first day was to find an opening and cut through it. It was successful. I even wandered through what I thought was another free entrance/exit before a security lady returned to her post and asked me when I wandered back in the 10 seconds I was outside about the stamp on my wrist that I was supposed to get upon entry. I kept pounding away about how I was there before, and before long, she budged and ushered me back. On the second day, the festival organizers got smart and put up security at that previously-open opening. So I waited on that second day for 1 hour before the security who had been watching me sympathetically let me in for free. In these two days, I not only learned the skill of slickness, but I also learned the skills of patience and persistence.

It was quite a steal on the second day as I got to see classics such as the former ladies of the Supremes minus Diana Ross and the deep tones of Sir Isaac Hayes. Even though I did not really get to see the Supremes up close, I got to see Isaac real close.





Being so up close literally a few feet from my home, him looking straight at my camera, and getting into the party for free makes me think that I'm tight like that with Isaac Hayes. I wonder if he's on Friendster.

However, the downside to all this excitment was that most of the paraders were littering in and out of the festival with beer bottles and crap. Environmental prejudiced bastards. I would not mind cutting connections with these humdrum suburban LAers. One sniveling and dwaddling fat dude in particular made me want to regulate, but I forgot my Oakland style bat. And the police were standing not too far away, but I'm just sayin'.

Whatever. Punks.

So all in all, my connection skills grew a thousandfold in the last two days thanks to the Sunset Junction Fair. Slickness. Patience. Persistence. Say it with meh now !

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by B.J. on 8/24/2003 08:09:00 AM 0 comments Print this post

Why Conservative Republicans Are Taking Over: Activism Needs to Be a Community Thing

Two days ago, as I was driving on a concrete and bumpy Griffith Park Boulevard, I saw an old chevy with propoganda on his car: No Taxes, Vote Republican. It was nothing special, but like lightning, I instantaneously at that one millisecond in time saw one big gaping hole in the Republican ideology: This political party of no taxes staunchly believes in religion and no taxes. In other words, they readily sacrifice their time and/or money for the greater good that they cannot see in religion, but they will not (or barely) sacrifice time nor money for the greater good that they can sort of see in poverty.

In this society of speed with almost every individual American wanting attention, the Republicans easily get people on their side because they approach people as people rather than objects and apparatuses as the left does, ironically enough. With their appeal to people as people, Republicans are having their way in neglecting poverty and increasing corporate profits. That philosophy extends to some Democrats and they too are rapidly becoming fairly indistinguishable from the Republicans. Even though these super-quick times are socially liberal, no one cares about trying to help change things. I'd think that a lot of people tend to agree with Al Franken and Michael Moore, but people would feel like their efforts would be in vain. Civilians would rather do charity which does the double duty of yielding instant results like food drives and donations, and robbing the charity beneficiaries of their dignity rather than giving economically-disadvantaged people a simple boost. Charities are nothing but a vehicle for Conservatives to justify the taking advantage of people.

The only people who try to reverse this trend by directly trying to fix problems like poverty are 'activists' and they are DOA because of the massive disorganization for quick action and lack of personality for appeal. In my humble opinion, activism is the right thing to do, but it's not being done right. The methods that activists use are making them look foolish.

Citizens/civilians in general will not give up time/money mainly because causes against poverty are a disorganized institution. First off, there are way too many groups that try to accomplish something, and end up getting in each other's way. For example, there are like 20 million links for seperate poverty groups as I explored in my activist resources post. It's hard to pinpoint actual accomplishments by these advocate groups. Moreover, we don't even really know where the money goes. At least when the church asks for money, people know that the money is going towards helping the church.

Method-wise, poverty groups isolate these citizens by seeking to help only the disadvantaged people. There's no instant incentive for some well-off people to get involved. They don't get some type of faith indulgence, they don't pay to uphold the church. On a canvass in particular, some activists will just attack the middle-class and then solicit them for money. Essentially, we're pissing these citizens off and then asking them for favors. Imagine scrambling to find parking space on your own block with a 45 degree angled hill at 12 a.m. full of strange cars (when it's usually empty) from people helping out to set up a nearby Gay and Lesbian festival. You won't be too happy or concerned with issues gay people face at that point. This method does not help to build credibility. On top of this exclusiveness and lack of credibility, the activism game is fairly inaccessible because activists just want to be different from everything, and so they get dismissed so quickly by conservatives and even some moderates as mentally unstable radicals. Some groups make it tough to join, and they become 'us-and-them' establishments and other corporations ala Environment California rather than 'we' vehicles for movement ala Western Service Workers.

These methods used by the activists have a tendency to paint a personality on these activists. What's wrong about activists' personalities is that they can be quite preachy, especially on the door-to-door raids. With some of these activists' preachy ways in the form of going door-to-door I wonder sometimes if they want to really change anything or if they just want to feel the power surge of being in control of something. There's no real listening involved because they just spit out answers. A preachy personality is something that suggests inferiority to another person. I believe, thru the methods of Al Franken and Michael Moore, you have to listen and then ask them tough questions. Or be bold and go home.

Our society would flow better if communities were active together rather than just working as seperate advocate groups because you're an American and you'd be more likely to join if you're friend joined, right ?

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Theory on Growing Tall

by B.J. on 8/21/2003 08:00:00 AM 0 comments Print this post

Growing tall is something that I have wondered about since my sophomore year in high school because I am Asian and I'm not that tall. At that time, I also read a lot of ESPN the Magazine, even when they shitted on the Chicago Sports Teams. ESPN the Magazine had a lot of unique articles about individual athletes, their personal lives, and how they've dealt with adversity. Some of those articles talked about how these individual athletes were undersized as high schoolers, but eventually grew much later in their athletic careers.

While I can't really find and divulge the bodily activities that help growth without forking over a few bucks to some stupid program, I can shed some light on a trend that I have noticed through these ESPN the Magazine athletes and these growing taller websites done through a google search. It's called exercising. But the question is, what type of exercising can stimulate the human growth hormone.

From So first, here's the best I can do with describing the human anatomy aspect of growing taller


"Human growth hormone is the only solution to the problem of how to grow taller. Human growth hormone is produced in the anterior portion of the pituitary gland deep inside the brain. Production peaks at adolescence when accelerated growth occurs. But growth hormone levels fall steadily on reaching adulthood, and the body stops growing tall.

Maintaining the body's chemical balance and cell rejuvenation are two main reasons the human body generates growth hormone to growing tall. Growth hormone instructs your skeletal bones to grow larger and stronger while it speeds the conversion of excess fats into energy. In other words, if the growth hormone production increases, your body receives signals to start growing tall.

Although the amount of growth hormone your body regularly produces is entirely up to your brain, there are a few things you can do to trick the pituitary gland into being a bit more generous. If you are eager to start growing tall, there are a number of factors that, if manipulated correctly, will substantially increase growth hormone levels in your body and, consequently, help you to start growing tall."

And here is the ESPN the Magazine athletes' trend of quickly gaining height late in their development years:

Brian Urlacher, NFL - Chicago Bears ! - 5'9", 160 lbs as a college freshman to current 6'4", 258 lbs as an NFL star athlete.

Drew Bennett, NFL - Tennessee Titans - 5'4", 93 lbs as a high school freshman to current 6'5, 203 as an NFL athlete.

Michael Jordan, NBA - You Know ! He'll always be a Bull. - 5'9" as a high school freshman to current 6'6 as an NBA star athlete.

Steve Francis, NBA - Houston Rockets - 5'3" as a high school sophomore to current 6'3" as an NBA athlete.

Avery Johnson, NBA - Retired - 5'3" as high school senior to current 5'11 retired bum athlete.

I stopped reading ESPN the mag about 2 years ago, so that's all I've got. But it seems that the people to grow fastest late in their development stages are from the NFLers and NBAers.

The trend is that these athletes do some type of activity that stimulates the growth hormone in the pituitary gland. My theory is that these guys grew taller because of the speed drills. Every one of these athletes are considered to be great run-jump athletes. And this program provides more of a springboard to this thought of human growth as it promises to play on exercises that would stimulate growth:

"The exercises included in this program will stimulate overall growth and height gain, function to structurally lengthen the spinal column, improve posture, and straighten any excessive curvature of the spine. Moreover, other powerful benefits such as greater health, stronger back and abdominal muscles, increased flexibility, and the alleviation and prevention of lower back pain will also transpire."

And a little blurb about sleep, which isn't mentioned in any of the athletes' profiles, but played a big part in my growth "spurt" in high school.

"Sleep is one of the most important components involved in stimulating growth and increasing your height. Here's a small sample of secrets you'll learn about sleep:

- how you can wind up being half an inch to a full inch taller after a full nights sleep
- why sleep is essential to increase your height and maximize your growth
- why the spine lengthens during sleep
- how much sleep you need to get in order to obtain a positive impact on your growth and recuperation
- what 2 beneficial events are triggered by sleep that are directly involved with growth"

So for now, the best advice to growing taller free of monetary charge is to exercise with the intention of getting stronger and quicker as opposed to gaining endurance (to be saved until age 28), eating and drinking proteins, and finally resting as much as possible.

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by B.J. on 8/19/2003 10:01:00 AM 0 comments Print this post

Friendster: The Asian Thing to Do ! :karate chop:

In addition to drag racing, anime, and drinking boba here's yet another Asian thing to do: join Friendster and see how many friends you can get ! :Wide, slap-happy Asian smile:

What makes this site so appealing to such a broad group ?

I joined initially because my godsis invited me to join. It was by word of mouth, the strongest medium of communication. I didn't join because I am Asian, and it's what typical Asians do.

OK.

There is no 'typical Asian'. I fight the implications of the label "typical" of any person as a whole because it carries the implication that people want to be similar and revel in having the same interests. It's funny every time someone within the Asian ethnicity uses it to disregard all other Asians that person does not know. They proclaim how they hate 'typicals' but then all their friends fit the profile of "typical."

I just think that they ('typical Asians') like human beings in general are results of their environment. So while I don't think there's anything 'typically Asian' about joining Friendster, I think there's something about Friendster that attracts Asians together like light to a moth. Basically, they're generally behaving in a way anyone else would given the same situations.

Minorities in general feel the need to stick together. Those who don't are usually economically well off on their own and somewhat in sync with the U.S.' standards and institutions. However, in crunch time or whenever an important financial decision is to be made such as buying a house or a car, they will most likely run towards that minority or whoever looks trustworthy.

This tending of minorities towards each other is about whom they can instantly trust. And that instant trust and rapport is important in such a fast-paced society as the urban United States because it helps connect strangers in an otherwise polarized, individualized society. For example, when buying a car, my dad will automatically go towards the car salesman who happens to be Filipino. Not that he's racist, but he can automatically and instantly build a connection with the salesman who happens to be Filipino by just speaking the native Tagalog.

The best way to eliminate dependency on race to connect with strangers is still to get to know strangers as people. But that method of course, takes quite a bit of time. These stereotypes are something only gradual assimilation into society via more media exposure on different opinions and powerful positions in society can fix. And hopefully continued media exposure, and thus varied opinion and authoratative positions can help dissipate these stereotypes and polarity between races and ethnicity. The latest movie I saw, Freaky Friday (with the fam ahem), did not help at all with its portrayal of these two Asian women as smiley and complacent. . .

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by B.J. on 8/17/2003 09:34:00 PM 0 comments Print this post

History of the Spanish "Lisp": Urban Legend or Real Deal ?

People from Spain generally pronounce the letter 's' with a 'th' sound. It's a very lispy sound, and so I shall refer to this pronunciation as the 'lisp'. It's one thing I learned in 9th grade Spanish 1 from teacher supreme Miss Eckert and have taken with me since then. For the past few weeks, this topic of the Spanish 'lisp' has hijacked the center of my thoughts, and I've been speculating that "probably some dictator started speaking with a lisp and it spread like a cancer." Turns out:

Weehee. My gut feelings are the shit. I showed you, world (and Cress).

"According to legend, the lisp became common in Castillian because one of the Spanish kings (generally identified as Felipe V or Carlos V) spoke with a lisp, and his courtiers did not want to embarrass him by speaking otherwise."

However some punk at about.com seeks a more "refined" answer

This guy basically rambles on about how the Spanish 'lisp' is just an urban legend. He says that the 'lisp' is just a part of the culture, that the Spanish pronunciation of the 's' does not fit the definition of a 'lisp'.

However, on his psuedo-throne above all other students of Spanish, he fails to cite other historical facts that would combat the contention of this popular legend. The focus of his article was to dispell how the 'lisp' in the language originated with a dictator, but he went into a completely different tangent and discussed how the 'lisp' is not really a 'lisp'. Of course it's not really a lisp, it's how the Spaniards pronounce the 's' sound, but I still want to know on a more detailed level about how this 'lisp' became the norm.

So for now, I'm right.

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by B.J. on 8/16/2003 05:33:00 PM 0 comments Print this post

No more racing (at least with the heavy machinery that is called a car).

 

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by B.J. on 8/16/2003 05:26:00 PM 0 comments Print this post

The trick is to feel productive.

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by B.J. on 8/16/2003 02:04:00 PM 0 comments Print this post

People are walking paradoxes.

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by B.J. on 8/14/2003 06:04:00 PM 0 comments Print this post

[Edited 11/07/03]

Standards: Compiling the 'Busting Standards' Posts

So here's my official position on standards: they are only needed when they prevent someone or something from getting hurt, which then becomes a rule because rules are about making things fair. Standards can be rules, but rules cannot be standards. [note: But then rules are to be looked down upon to because they only have in mind a certain group of people when they are concocted]

One reason I trash standards and define rules and standards is because I see people getting crushed like Zion I's microphones by trying to live up to standards.

I started off by trashing the notions of "interesting", then explored what made "scientific facts", then dissed the "experts" who concocted some of the "scientific facts" for not accomplishing anything innovative, explored the "specificity" required in becoming an expert and knowing the scientific facts, and now I'm here rounding it all up. It's all to the History of Randomness class. If you are ever going to UC-Santa Cruz make sure to take this class in the Spring, listed as HisCon80Q or Science As Cultural Practice. The class is a daily journey into the mind !

What Constitutes Interesting ? - June 11, 2003

Exactly What are Facts ? - June 24, 2003

Experts Really Don't Do Shit - July 3, 2003

Specificity Creates Standards and Destroys Lives - July 19, 2003

There's a Personality to Being Old ? August 9, 2003

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by B.J. on 8/14/2003 07:38:00 AM 0 comments Print this post

More Tech/Electronic Questions

There are 2 for now:

1)

Crank Up the Air Conditioning and Save Money ?

"Southern California Edison urged its customers Wednesday to buy an Energy Star-labeled programmable thermostat -- and said it will throw in a $20 rebate for those who do.

They are easy to install, and once you set it, you can forget it. You won't have to worry about cooling an empty house when you're away. Customers who use programmable thermostats can save up to 30 percent on the air- conditioning portion of their electric bill.

Air conditioners account for an average of 150 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month and are one of the costliest energy users in a home, according to SCE.

Programmable thermostats can keep room temperatures within two degrees of the desired temperature, and they cost as little as $35, according to SCE, which is ready to throw in a $20 rebate as well."

If I had this I wouldn't have had to go to the one room in my house that had air. . .

However, how do these thermostats work ?

2)

Stole this from Cheryl's blog.

Besides Verizon at $29.95, which is currently not available in the 90026 area, what is the cheapest DSL or Cable flat deal ?

Computer nerds whether I know you or you want to be 'anonymous', help out by tag-board (which works in a strange way)or e-mailza !

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by B.J. on 8/13/2003 08:43:00 AM 0 comments Print this post

History of Garbage

So this morning I was knocked out in a state of homeostasis when at 6 in the morning the perenially loud-ass garbage truck awakened and forced me to fight back for my state of peacefulness. I was tired anyway so I knocked out. But the truck wasn't finished because it didn't even pick up the trash on my side of the street.

At 7:20 A.M., the truck returned for more. And after a long fight to keep that state of homeostasis, here I am an hour later in the morning slightly groggy trying to blog about this. The truck bothering me is nothing new.

The weekly garbage run does not upset me because it's expected and I know, in the words of 'Yell, the garbage dude's "just doing his job." I even talk from time to time about how I'd enjoy such a job as being a garbage man because in the words of the Office Space punks, I'd be "makin' bucks, gettin' exercise." On top of that, I'd also actually be an actual productive member of society. But what intrigues me most is the mystery of garbage collecting. I've always wondered where the hell these garbage trucks came from and how they were developed, so I present: a timeline history of garbage and a history of garbage trucks !

(Thanks to Tigerdude for the pictures.)


The first covered garbage trucks in the 1930s which was also the first to use hydraulics to dump the trash off somewhere. It was first made in Britain in the 1920's where the population density was/is much greater.


However, the garbage guys always had to tirelessly lift the trash. So this "external hopper" was created for easy loading circa the 1930s and used in the 1940s and 50s. But they were quickly replaced by rear loader compactors because of efficiency.


Here's a local ad for an 'external hopper' garbage truck in South Pasadena.


This is an earlier version of the side loader circa the 1950s that comes every week to bother me and pick up the trash.


This is the front-end loader that is known and loved today with its concept taken from those beloved external hopper trucks.

I skipped a few trucks because I didn't think they were that interesting, but you can check more of them out right about. . . . . . . . . . . .here.

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by B.J. on 8/11/2003 11:49:00 PM 0 comments Print this post

Being an 'Activist': Why to Care

Dreams Before Waking
Unknown, 1983

Despair falls:
the shadow of a building
they are raising in the direct path
of your slender ray of sunlight
Slowly the steel girders grow
the skeletal framework rises
yet the western light still filters
through it all
still glances off the plastic sheeting
they wrap around it
for dead of winter

At the end of winter something changes
a faint subtraction
from consolations you expected
an innocent brilliance that does not come
though the flower shops set out
once again on the pavement
their pots of tight-budded sprays
the bunches of jonquils stiff with cold
and at such a price
though someone must buy them
you study those hues as if with hunger

Despair falls
like the day you come home
from a work, a summer evening
transparent with rose-blue light
and see they are filling in
the framework
the girders are rising
beyond your window
that seriously you live
in a different place
though you have never moved

and will not move, not yet
but will give away
your potted plants to a friend
on the other side of town
along with the cut crystal flashing
in the window-frame
will forget the evenings
of watching the street, the sky
the planes in the feathered afterglow:
will learn to feel grateful simply for this foothold

where still you can manage
to go on paying rent
where still you can believe
it's the old neighborhood:
even the woman who sleeps at night
in the barred doorway---wasn't she always there?
and the man glancing, darting
for food in the supermarket trash---
when did his hunger come to this?
what made the difference?
what will make it for you?

What will make it for you?
You don't want to know the stages
and those who go through them don't want to tell
You have your four locks on the door
your savings, your respectable past
your strangely querulous body, suffering
sicknesses of the city no one can name
You have your pride, your bitterness
your memories of sunset
you think you can make it straight through
if you don't speak of despair

What would it mean to live
in a city whose people were changing
each other's despair into hope?---
You yourself must change it.---
what would it feel like to know
your country was changing?---
You yourself must change it.---
Though your life felt arduous
new and unmpped and strange
what would i mean to stand on the first
page of the end of despair?

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by B.J. on 8/10/2003 04:53:00 PM 0 comments Print this post

The Way Life Should Be

I stole this from homey Cub and Slugger E-Bust's (Erwin) AIM profile, and wherever it's from, is due my props.

"The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A death. What's that, a bonus? I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you're too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy retirement. You drink alcohol, go party, and you get ready for High School. You go to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby, you go back into the womb, you spend your last 9 months floating...then you finish off as an orgasm! Amen."

(In And 1 crowd cheering mode with people generally going nuts) That is the sh##*$ ! And also "off the hook !

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by B.J. on 8/10/2003 08:02:00 AM 0 comments Print this post

Silver Lake Represent !

Geeze, Silver Lake's more than just a bunch of gay guys. There's plenty of cool murals here that I've never really noticed.
However, some of these might be outdated and graffitied over because that link above seems a bit old (1995ish ?)

Well, here are some of the murals from the Silver Lake area in LA:


(Normandie and Fountain)


(Normandie and Fountain)


(Sunset and Sanborn)


(Sunset and Sanborn)

Just thought I'd share the culture for everyone out there !

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by B.J. on 8/09/2003 10:35:00 PM 0 comments Print this post

The Sickest Songs of the Moment

Download these off Kazaa now !

The songs of the moment are trancy, but really really good.

First, it's the Velfarre Cyber Hit Trance Volume 4 mix.

I didn't know about this mix till the end of the school year even though it was buried in my collection of MP3s. What drove me away from getting to this mix sooner was its description on Winamp as a bunch of Swedish (?) symbols rather than any English words. It's gone from the MP3 outhouse to the MP3 penthouse, whatever that may look like.

This mix is simply a powerhouse of trance (albeit a bit biased towards the woman with its calls for lovin' etc.) hits for nearly 70 minutes. The beats remind me of the ambitiousness of the early part of summer as I listened to it on the way down from SC. Man, this song got me pumped up to pump up the Summer. It starts off with a "Will. . .I. . .Ever Love You. . .Again?" in a reach-for-the-mountains, vibrating 2001 type of way. It gradually and coolly treads and transitions into this chunky beat, which in a robotty girly voice tells you to "E-M-B-R-A-C-E-M-E" as if it's being run through one of those headline tickers in Times Square. The beat slows to a pause, and builds back up to latch on to this huge slide of a trance beat. It's the kind of stuff contortionists might listen to when they're stretching with its wieldy, wiry beats. The highlight of the track comes around the 25th minute when a remixed, slimmed down truncated Euro version of DJ Sammy's Heaven stops the mix, and lays the track thick.



Man it is the baddest shit ever.

ATB's Sunburn is also getting a lot of burn on this comp because its jolly, ocean watery, Hawaiian, Jamaican, nightlify, trancy, Super-Soakery, WATERFESTY, and just fun.

It's sick too.

It's making me want to live up the rest of summer, and. . .bust ass.

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by B.J. on 8/09/2003 08:58:00 AM 0 comments Print this post

Standards and Rules: Act Your Age

Hopefully this can clarify earlier 'random' posts about standards, rules, etc. from July and June.

The phrase "act your age" is synonymous with "be more responsible." Being responsible entails that you don't or have the potential to hurt anyone or anything, be independent, and take the blame if you screw up.

If 'being responsible' is all there is to "acting my age", why is there a certain personality associated with being old ? Why can't an old dude like skateboarding ? There's a personality associated with being old because people in large societies like to follow each other. It's because this type of personality has become a standard.

This "acting old" is a standard. Standards need not be met because they are about being better than someone. They aren't needed to achieve the end to a means. They aren't needed to achieve a result even though a helluva lot of people highly suggest the standard. For example, if you just want to be happy, you can do whatever the hell you want rather than buying into the diatribe that you need to be some kind of money-hungry CEO shark with 3 Bentleys. If the standards need to be followed, then they are called rules.

People act as if the personality for 'being old' is a rule.

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by B.J. on 8/08/2003 05:35:00 PM 0 comments Print this post

New Buy New Buy. . .Good Buy ?

I just got this video processor for 100 bucks.



This video processor will negate any need of a television up there. However, when I was trying to beat on MJ, Wilt, and Shaq in NBA Street 2 with the soon-to-be backcourt trio of Chicago Scottie Pippen, Jalen Rose, and a created Jamal Crawford, I couldn't because the jerky, syrupy movement of the players on my monitor was distracting me all game long. Then when I switch back to a television set, the graphics become more sharper and un-jerky and I beat the crap out of those hall of famers.

Is this type of jerky resolution for console video games on computer monitors as good as it gets ?

Can I fix it ?

Computer people, I know you have the answers for me.

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by B.J. on 8/08/2003 12:39:00 AM 0 comments Print this post

When It Becomes OK to Be an 'Asshole'

asshole - jerky, arrogant, pompous, cocky, discriminating, ignorant favorite and overdog

The only time it is cool to be an asshole yourself (and I'm thinking about beating someone up and concocting assholly opinions) is when you are the underdog. It's a good way to empower yourself. But there are two types: An underdog asshole does not trounce on the disadvantaged (correct) whereas an overdog asshole does and exploits (wrong).

As I type this blog, I am listening/watching to The Best Damn Sports Show Period on Fox Sports waiting for Jerry Krause to show up. The Best Damn Sports Show Period (BDSSP) is a show full of former athletes, owners, entertainers, and high-class hoes weighing in on sports and some of its issues and interviewing athletes in a manner affable and appealing to the 'common man.' If the common man's name was Bubba and has lived on a Montana ranch for 50 years. BDSSP is a show full of overdog assholes.

It's not OK for BDSSP to have this overabundance of athletes weighing in with their opinions because these winner assholes are overrrepresented. With overrepresentation, These 'winners' are trampling their uninformed, ignorant opinions on a plethora of stupid middle-class, quietly desperate guys. An example of this biased and assholly opinion was when one dude who was commenting on the Tom Gamboa situation (a pair of fans attacking baseball manager Tom Gamboa and got off with probation), talked about fans potentially attacking even more with such a ruling. The guy pretty much applied this one situation of a fan thinking that its a phenomenon set to spread for about 1 million idiots to believe.

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by B.J. on 8/06/2003 12:49:00 PM 0 comments Print this post

If You Want to Become an Activist. . .

Still I am the same B-to-the-Jizzay on your fizzay. Crossing you up and shit on the basketball court and whoopin' and hollering for them Chi-town Bullies. I don't think I'm at the point where I'd die for a cause. I just think change is possible, but that there aren't enough people involved and that the way some groups approach civilians is just wrong. These groups need a diversity of opinion in my opinion. Plenty of civilians believe shit should be changed, but are just too disenchanted or scared to do anything because of the confusion and overbearing number of organizations and groups that solicit shit, so it'd help that as many cits and civs get their shit together and fire the contrived shit up to the activist groups' shit.

These are some of the links of what I believe are problems that really need to be solved:

Challenging Corporate Authority

Basically these links are about making this US of A place an actual democracy, where the power is in the people be it a single mom working at Vons (Safeway of the South !) on Sunset or a sleazy Manhattan Beacher with a two-story house, No Soliciting signs, and 3 gigantic pitbulls to protect shit he shouldn't have overpaid for in the first place.

180/MDE

Alliance for Democracy

Citizens Council on Corporate Issues

Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County

Program on Corporations, Law, and Democracy

Polaris Institute

Reclaim Democracy!

Workgroup on Citizen Authority

Environmental Justice

Unlike the traditional environmentalist movements, this cause is about helping out disadvantaged folks' environment. It's about treating a South Central Los Angeles the same way as a Beverly Hills.

South African Exchange Program for Environmental Justice

Southwest Network on Environmental and Economic Justice

Indigenous Environmental Network protects Mother Earth

U.S. EPA

Labor Solidarity

Basically, this is about letting the workers have a life.

Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment

Campaign for Labor Rights

International Labor Rights Fund

Labor Notes

National Labor Committee

National Mobilization Against Sweatshops

Responsible Shopping Guide

STITCH

UNITE

United Farm Workers

United Steelworkers

United Students Against Sweatshops

U.S./LEAP

U.S. Dept. of Labor No Sweat

Workers Rights Consortium

I got a directory of these problems-solver organizations from this book.

And if you want stuff on just the antiracism, environment, farming, health, and popular education, there's more in that book.

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by B.J. on 8/03/2003 08:00:00 AM 0 comments Print this post

[Edited on 11/07/03 because it sucks ass. There's basically two things on this post: terms used by Jews, and the lyrics to Thugz Mansion. I really had nothing to say at the time, and so I just put out anything to get me back blogging.]

Dog Daze

I've spent the last few days re-organizing all school work and important papers to make the shit more useful to me. All of a sudden I bumped across one of the best fictional books I've ever read, The Assistant, a novel about these people of Jewish background struggling to make it in the US of A, and this Yiddish vocab sheet my Modern American Novel teacher in high school made along with it. Some of the words have variant spellings, but its the spelling used in the novel.

antisimeet - an anti-Semitic person

balabos - "head of the household;" landlord; male employer.

catarrh - inflammation of the mucous membrance of the respiratory tract

gelt - money; funds

gesheft - store; business

goniff - thief; swindler; burglar

goy - non-Jew

goyim - non-Jews

landsleit - landsman

macher - craftsman; a maker of things; a "wheeler-dealer"

parnusseh - livelidhood; income

pisher - a nobody; a "little squirt;", one who urinates

pogrom - organized massacre

schlimozel - a luckless person; a misfit

schmerz - pain or ache in one's life or lovelife; not necessarily a physical pain; more emotional

snapps - alcoholic spirits; liquors

schwer - bad; badly

shabos - rest; Sabbath day

shikse - a non-Jewish woman

soporific - to cause sleep; drowsiness

wop (without papers) - a term of bigotry in reference to an Italian person

In this summer of Bingo, I guess you could say that it's been a struggle. . .a helluva struggle to keep awake during these soporific times. The song for a moment like this goes out to Cressa, da Hane and her Neeeemaoooooooo lips. Not that I can relate to the lyrics about being impoverished, but this song just has the feeling of the dragginess of summer.



Download 2Pac, Nas Thugz Mansion MP3 at kazaa or winmx

2pac, Nas
"Thugz Mansion (Acoustic)

[Tupac Talking]

Shit, tired of getting shot at
Tired of getting chased by the police and arrested
Niggas need a spot where we can kick it
A spot where we belong, that's just for us
Niggas ain't gotta get all dressed up and be Hollywood
You na'mean?
Where do niggas go when we die?
Ain't no heaven for a thug nigga
That's why we go to Thug Mansion
That's the only place where thugs get in free and you gotta be a G

At Thug Mansion

[Verse 1 - 2Pac]

A place to spend my quiet nights
Time to unwind
So much pressure in this life of mine
I cry at times
I once contemplated suicide
And woulda tried
But when I held that nine
All I could see was my mama's eyes
No one knows my struggle
They only see the trouble
Not knowing it's hard to carry on when no one loves you
Picture me inside the misery and poverty
No man alive has ever witnessed struggles I've survived
Praying hard for better days
Promised to hold on
Me and my dogs don't have a choice but to roll on
We finally found a spot to kick it
Where we could drink liquor
And no one bickers over trick shit
A spot where we could smoke in peace
And even though we Gs
We still visualize places
That we could roll a piece
And in my minds eye
I see this place the players go and pass it
Got a spot for us all
So we can ball
At Thugs Mansion

[Chorus]

Every corner, every city
There’s a place where life’s a little easy
Little Hennessey, laid back and cool
Every hour cause it’s all good
Leave all the stress from the world outside
Every wrong done will be alright
Nothing but peace, love and street passion
Every ghetto needs a thug mansion

[Verse 2 - Nas]

A place where death doesn't reside
Just thugs who collide
Not to start beef
But spark trees
No cops rolling by
No policemen
No homicide
No chalk on the streets
No reason, for nobody's mama to cry
See I'm a good guy
I'm trying to stick around for my daughter
But if I should die
I know all of my albums support her
This whole year's been crazy
Asked the holy spirit to save me
Only difference from me Jose Davis is gray hair maybe
'Cause I feel that my eyes saw too much suffering
I'm just twenty some odd years and I already lost my mother and I cried
tears of joy
I know she smiles on her boy
I dream of you more
My love goes to Afeni Shakur
'Cause like Ann Jones
She raised a ghetto king in a war
And just for that alone
She shouldn't feel no pain no more
'Cause one day we'll all be together
Sipping heavenly champagne where angels soar with golden rings
At thugs mansion

[Chorus]

Every corner, every city
There’s a place where life’s a little easy
Little Hennessey, laid back and cool
Every hour cause it’s all good
Leave all the stress from the world outside
Every wrong done will be alright
Nothing but peace, love and street passion
Every ghetto needs a thug mansion

[Verse 3 - 2Pac]

Dear mama don't cry
Your baby boy's doin good,
Tell the homies I'm in heaven and it ain't got hoods
Seen a show with Marvin Gaye last night
It had me shook
Drinking peppermint schnapps with Jackie Wilson
And Sam Cook
Then some lady named Billie Holiday sang
Sittin there kickin it with Malcolm till the day came
Lil' Latasha sure grown
Tell the lady in the liquor store that she's forgiven
So come home
Maybe in time you understand
Only God can save us
Where Miles Davis cutting lose with the band
Just think of all the people that you knew in the past that passed on
They in heaven found peace at last
Picture a place that they exist, together
There has to be a place better than this
In Heaven
So right before I sleep dear God what I'm asking
Remember this face, save me a place
In Thugz Mansion

[Chorus]

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by B.J. on 8/01/2003 07:44:00 PM 0 comments Print this post

Distract Yourself

As I punched thru Loz Feliz Boulevard leaving smoke up in the air contributing to the LA air pollution and marks on the sidewalk, a lightbulb bling blung in my head. I had an epiphany about how to deal with the feeling of giving up while in the middle of running. Half of running is physical, which takes some practice and time, and the other half is mental, which took practice and time. Now I think I've solved the psychological problem of wanting to quit in the middle of a run, so please whoever take heed.

The key to lasting long on a run is to distract yourself. It hasn't been an entirely new idea to me, because this super speedy cross country runner named Graham revealed this secret a few years back when I was AP US Historying, and I've just found my own meaning in it. Distracting myself means to keep looking around at and thinking about various things maximizing my a.d.d. with the goal of keeping my mind off the pain and the drudgery.

That was the shit.

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