ModGeek's Yak

Wooden Contradiction

2007-08-08T14:51:00.000-05:00

Several months ago during my last visit to Tulsa, Oklahoma, I noticed signs everywhere that say "Up With Trees". Quite inspiring, actually, and a bit preachy, but inspiring. (At least I wasn't at a U2 concert.) Yes, we get it: Tulsa really loves its trees. I do appreciate the public gesture that promotes positive environmental practices that will make Al Gore proud. However, what's strange is the fact that the signs they use are not made of plastic or metal, but of wood! Ironic, isn't it? If you look at an "Up With Trees" sign, it makes you wonder--was the wooden sign a tree that was voted out by its peers behind it to proclaim Tulsa's commitment to protecting the environment?

See for yourself...
http://upwithtrees.org

Natural

2007-07-28T01:01:00.000-05:00

Click on image to view larger version

My comic strip above is published at stripgenerator.com: http://modgeek.stripgenerator.com/2007/07/28/natural.html

Bugged

2007-07-27T23:25:00.001-05:00

Click on comic strip above to view larger version

This strip is published here: http://modgeek.stripgenerator.com/2007/07/28/bugged.html

I went to Stripgenerator.com to create the comic strip above. It's pretty cool once you figure out how to resize and move the images about. You create your strip on their site.

Earlier, I downloaded a trial version of Comic Book Creator (www.mycomicbookcreator.com). The installation on my Vista machine seemed to have gone well but then the program stopped responding. It would have been a cool app.

The Era of Intoxi-Chic

2007-07-25T23:45:00.000-05:00

What's up with all these young Hollywood and alcohol-related headlines? It seems that we've entered the era of Intoxi-Chic where young celebrities such as Lohan and Hilton are the reigning princesses. Why? Is it because Kabbalah bracelets are so out and alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelets are so in? It definitely is a fashion trend. Just like everything else in Hollywood. What did you say? Who am I wearing? Intoxi-Chic!

Watch out, parents! These are the people your kids are emulating these days.

Bar Talk

2007-07-21T08:27:00.000-05:00

My new work schedule allows me to take Friday afternoons off. This has been working very well for me so far. So yesterday I decided to sit at the bar of [a famous New Orleans restaurant and bar] and have a couple of cold beers and some greasy fried goodness. Here I was, just got off from work a half hour past noon, sitting at a bar drinking away the stress and stuffing my face with catfish that was probably caught 5 days ago, or longer. Superb choice!

I went to that restaurant because of two things that I absolutely love about it: (1) scrumptious food, and (2) free Wi-Fi. I sat at the bar, ordered by first glass of refreshing light beer and a humongous plate of fried catfish, and turned on my PDA. I was the only person at the bar. I wondered, Are the rest of the city's alcoholics taking the day off? As I was going through my e-mail, a guy who was walking behind me asked, "Is that an iPhone?"

I looked up and turned to him. "No," I answered, "it's not. It's a PDA."

"Oh, for a minute there it looked like an iPhone with that big screen. So you're surfing the web or something?"

At this point I really didn't want to hold a conversation while checking e-mail, but I was already obligated to be engaged in our chat. I said, "Yes, I'm surfing the web and checking e-mail."

"Can I hold it?"

I was in the middle of reading e-mail and wasn't going to hand him my PDA. At least he asked before reaching for it. I politely said, "No. I'm kind of in a middle of something right now." That was supposed to be his cue to leave me alone, but it didn't work.

He then asked, "OK. So how much do you pay for your Internet?"

"My Internet? Oh, you mean, on this?" I pointed to my PDA.

"Yeah."

"Nothing. It's free. This place has free Wi-Fi."

"Wife-what?"

"Wi-Fi."

I could tell he still didn't get it, but he said, "Oh, OK. Well, I'll let you go back to your Internet." He walked off and went around the bar area into the main dining.

The guy must be in his late 30's, early 40's. I'm surprised he didn't know what Wi-Fi is, but it sure helped in stopping the unwanted conversation to a screeching halt.

It's just strange how some people have no common-sense manners anymore. I'm not saying that he was totally disrespectful. He probably just wanted to start a friendly conversation, or maybe read my e-mail or steal my PDA. Anyway, common sense tells me that if you see someone doing some reading (newspaper, book, laptop, PDA, or iPhone) then that person is in his/her own zone and may not want to be disturbed, unless if the person is in a restaurant and the literature in hand is the menu. Like I said, at least he was polite to ask if he could hold my PDA before grabbing it from my hands. What if I was writing a nasty e-mail to the company who wouldn't provide service on the software I purchased online that didn't work well on Vista? I wouldn't want that guy to see the select expletives I jotted down. Or what if I was reading a paperback romance novel that I disguised as a Koontz bestseller?

About a half hour and second beer later, I asked for more napkins from the bartender. She grabbed some but accidentally dropped them. As if by reflex, she immediately said "Sh**". Then she realized that she said that in front of a customer so she profusely apologized.

"Sir, I'm so sorry, so sorry," she said.

I smiled. "Don't worry. I'm sitting at a bar, aren't I? It's just appropriate."

Now that's common sense.

Don't They Get It?

2007-07-20T17:10:00.000-05:00

There's this new phenomenon on TV called American Inventor. Shut up and quit denying that you love that show too. So for those who are not regular viewers of the show, it's a reality show/contest where inventors get to present their invention before a panel of four judges. It's like American Idol where there are good, talented people, but most just don't get it.

Oh, you know what I'm talking about. In American Idol, there are contestants who are there simply for entertainment purposes. When I say "entertainment", I mean laughable stuff. There are people who are tone-deaf and yet they believe in their hearts that they're the next American Idol. The look on their faces when the judges had to tell them the truth are priceless! Like, "What? I'm good. I'm talented. What do you mean I can't sing?" Such absurd reaction to the truth. I guess if you've been brain-washed into thinking that you're as good (or better) than Celine Dion or any of the so-called divas that society embraces these days, then the truth would be a jagged little pill to swallow.

In American Inventor, the same thing happens. One person "invented" spinning hub caps for bikes. And he said it was going to change the world. Another person brought in a CD player and played her stress-relieving song that she "invented". (The judges told her that she's in a wrong show.) And yet another spent tons of money reinventing Scrabble by using numbers instead of letters. How original! Are these people just insane or do they just don't get it? These people actually thought they had a shot in winning the contest. If I were one of these clueless people, and I stood in line for 10+ hours just to present my idea in under 2 minutes, I would have measured my success rate by comparing my invention with the invention of the others standing in the same line. Here's what I think should have happened:

[Standing in line at American Inventor]

Me: Hello. That looks interesting. Can you tell me about your invention?

Girl: Well, I invented this emergency flotation device that looks like a belt that you wear around your waist during a flight, and when needed you press this button and the belt gets inflated and turns into a one-person, motor-propelled raft powered by water. What about yours?

Me: (Hiding the CD that contains the song that I "invented") Oh, me? Nah, I don't have one. I'm just here to cheer all you real inventors on. Good luck! (Exit)

In the scenario above, I spared myself from the humiliation on national TV! Now if the others would follow my simple example, then they wouldn't look so dumb.

Kitty Control

2007-07-15T18:22:00.000-05:00

Now that the temperature's been warm lately, I wanted to keep the air circulating in our condo unit. The second floor's thermostat is actually in the bedroom that we've converted into an office where there are millions of wires and crap all over the place. I wanted to keep the doors open on the second floor so that the air is regulated properly. But Sophie the Siamese cat tends to go on a chewing frenzy when she sees the shiny ends of USB and power cords when no one's at home. She also loves sitting on my chair in front of the computer because it's really comfy--and I have no problem with that. And besides it's not like she's going to be logging into my computer and start sending nasty e-mails using my account. But when she started chewing the cords and other stuff she thinks are delectable, I decided to put little miss kitty under control. I've finally resorted to placing a baby fence at the top of the stairs to keep her out when we're out of the house while keeping the bedroom doors open. I'd take them down at night when we're home.

Since she's a cat, I was afraid that she could easily jump over the fence, which isn't very high. So I tried to use it this afternoon to test if she'd be able to scale it. Surprisingly, she didn't even try to jump. She sat outside the fence like a poor abandoned cat. She tried to stand on her hind legs to reach the top of the fence, but that's all she did.

Here's a photo of her glowing eyes staring back from behind the fence. It's a little eerie, don't you think?

Harry Potter and the Concession Stand from Hell

2007-07-15T08:32:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went to see Harry Potter and survived. To be honest about it, I thoroughly enjoyed the flick. The coffee worked and the additional caffeine kick from my extremely large diet Coke sent me to alertness bliss. My poor bladder had to wait until the movie was over. Yes, it was worth the wait.

I won't reveal anything about the movie so I don't ruin it for anyone.

What I'd like to gripe about is the 15-minute wait at the concession stand. OK, there were 3 orders that were in front of me and the girl processing the order (i.e. cashier) was also scooping up the popcorn, filling drinks, grabbing the nachos and pretzels... OMG!!! And she was extremely slow. I mean, slooooooow. That was the worst-managed concession crew I've ever seen! Seriously. All I wanted was two large sodas for me and my friend. Three years later it was my turn. I whipped out my debit card and said, "One large Sprite, one large diet Coke" like in under a millisecond or two. "OK," she said. After ringing me up, she started filling my drink order. She then stopped, turned, and asked, "Dr. Pepper and Sprite?" Unbelievable. But I was polite, I smiled, and repeated my order.

Seriously, where the heck do they get these people? The DMV was actually faster. And we all know that's rare. Those people at the DMV don't move any faster because, um, they don't have to. And why? Let's see--well, it's a service that is not in competition with another company, and it's the government. Now let's look at this theater concession stand. This concession stand, or any concession stand for that matter, is not in competition, either. Where else should we go to get our over-priced drinks and salty popcorn? The high prices should have been a clue that, hey, they're a monopoly here and you don't have a choice. The concession stands don't even have to advertise their products or try to persuade you to buy. You're there to watch a movie and your mouth says it's bored so what else is there to do but to keep that mouth eating and drinking non-stop. What if an independent, third-party vendor built a stand inside the theater and sold the same type of products--but faster? Who's going to win that death match? On that note, what if a private company handled the DMV services? In a perfect world these things are possible. But our world is far from perfect. That's why man created movies.

Oh, did I say HP was great?

Harry Potter and the... zzzzzzz

2007-07-14T09:46:00.001-05:00

Ok, all the geeks I know absolutely love Harry Potter and his collection of magical friends. While I am in no position to critique the Harry Potter anthology or franchise, I'd like to say that I don't understand why I can't see why there's such a hype about it.

There's something wrong with me.

I admit that it's a great literary work. Although I've never read any of the books, according to my valuable source (i.e. friend) it's a real page-turner. I don't disagree because many say so. However, I'm not sure why I'm not so into the Harry Potter movies. I love sci-fi (like any other geek) and some fantasy, and the special effects they use on Harry Potter were extreme and awesome. But when I watched movie 4 of the series last night to refresh on it before seeing the new movie today, I dozed off! My friend kept on waking me up and I finally said, "Ok, that's it! I can't take it any more. I have to sleep," and left.

I'm afraid that I'll be sleeping through Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix today so I better beef up on caffeine. Or else that would be an expensive nap in a huge dark room with Harry Potter geeks surrounding me. Oh the humanity!

Yes, I'm a geek. But does falling asleep during a Harry Potter movie void my membership? I'm still a Star Wars fan. Does that count?

If all else fails, I can probably just whip out my PDA and work on another entry on my blog.