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May. 22nd, 2008 @ 09:14 pm Launched Out
Current Mood: energetic
Current Music: Enur - Calabria (Radio Edit)
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The new house: My room is small, but the house is nice and the location is great, less than a mile from countless great shops and restaurants, three T stops, and my job, and right next to a bus stop, grocery store, and drug store.

The new job: Intense. I'm working on ITA's core technology, which means a code base of a million lines of Lisp or so (plus some other languages) and a system architecture beyond the ken of mere mortals. I'm getting a very different feel for Lisp than the limited use that CS classes provided. Lisp can be terribly complex and awesomely elegant. It will probably take me some time to get up to speed, though. My coworkers are friendly and skilled, the food is great, there's a movie night and a yoga class every week.

Other stuff: Went to see the new Indiana Jones movie last night with Xave and other members of DOOMCom. It was pretty sweet. Moral of the story: Harrison Ford is still Indiana Jones.
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Matrix Largo
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May. 10th, 2008 @ 01:23 am Movie and a Meeting
Current Mood: bouncy
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Iron Man is sweet. Missing my SCOPE meeting for photos, not so sweet. Oops. But the meeting still got done.

Although the penalty for delaying said meeting rendered me quite inebriated...
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Jan. 13th, 2008 @ 11:49 pm On Penpals and Politics
Current Mood: awake
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One thing I neglected to mention in my last post is that I've also been making time to keep up with my various penpals. In particular, it was good to talk to Katie (we became penpals after meeting on an airplane) who apparently made good on her plan to "get arrested" since the last set of emails.

On a mostly unrelated note, I went to see Persepolis with the Boston Sunday Night Film Club. I highly recommend it, especially to those who enjoyed the books.
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Jan. 12th, 2008 @ 10:49 pm Glad for a Do-Something Break
Current Mood: okay
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Still tired from work, but I'm trying to make the most of my break.

Thursday evening had a date with a nice girl (a Brandeis student) who I met on OKCupid. Don't know how good of an impression I made, but it was a nice time, so I'm optimistic.

Today I went to the Japanese and English Language Meetup at the Prudential Center.

Watched a few movies this week, too. I saw Leon the Professional and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, both excellent.

I feel somehow saner than I did towards the end of last semester, which is good.
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Wings
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Jan. 6th, 2008 @ 09:20 pm Need to Post More
Current Mood: thoughtful
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It's been an eventful week. Hard work, good food, random musing, a pleasant New Year's Day, more Oliners (Ray and Carl) moving into the enclave, getting back to studying Japanese (especially kanji), watching all of Coyote Ragtime Show, playing a bunch of DDR on double, renewing my MITSFS membership, playing some DnD over IM. Oil hit $100. The results of the Iowa Caucuses were interesting, to say the least (Obama in first? Hillary in third? Huckabee in first? Giuliani in sixth?), and I'm excited about Obama's win.

I spent a lot of time this weekend reading this fantastic blog. I also went to see Sweeney Todd today, and that was as good as I'd expect a musical about a homicidal barber starring Johnny Depp to be (i.e. quite).

I really ought to write down more of my random thoughts. I keep thinking of interesting things, meaning to write them down, and failing to recall them later.
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Wings
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Dec. 5th, 2007 @ 01:42 am Double-Filtered
Current Mood: cheerful
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It's that time again, when I share the best of the best of the latest on the web (from my point of view) for you to peruse at your convenience:

Film and literature: The movie version of Phillip Pullman's The Golden Compass premiers this Friday. It seems that the film has been somewhat sanitized with respect to the book's theological undertones, but that hasn't prevented the Catholic League from denouncing it as some sort of gateway drug to atheism. This has generated quite a bit of commentary in the last few days, with one article discussing the theology of His Dark Materials, another on the relationship between Hollywood and religion, and one focusing on Pullman's perspective on the controversy.

Food: Here's a website that suggests ingredient substitutions and pairings based on analysis of chemical flavor components. In a slightly related vein, here's a recipe for Kiwi Pomegranate Avocado Salsa. DO WANT.

Webapps: Here's an incredibly fast dictionary, and heres a tool for determining how walkable a community is (in terms of distance to various sorts of amenities). I may have posted the second one before, as I came across it soon after it first went up, but it now has the added advantage of actually working.

Programming: I read a very interesting essay on code design patterns (not of ideals but of design in imperfect practice) entitled Big Ball of Mud. There's also a page of evil C code examples.
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Aug. 15th, 2007 @ 08:31 pm "The Kids are Lovin' It"
Current Mood: thoughtful
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Just saw Jesus Camp. Very solid documentary. While not totally unbiased, the lack of narration made for a more balanced perspective, and the completed documentary was apparently approved by the group filmed (or at least their leaders). (Ted Haggard has since disavowed it, but evidently no one else in the movie has objected to how they were portrayed.) On the one hand, the group of Pentecostals that were the subject of the movie really believe. It's emotionally powerful stuff. On the other hand, some of their beliefs don't make sense, even from a perspective of biblical literalism. Why should Christian fundamentalists be all about denying global warming, for example? It suggests other worrying beliefs beneath the surface (i.e. a sort of apocalyptic disregard for the environment, an impulsive (or even hateful) opposition to science).

Of course, it's unfair to say that the subjects of the movie represent all Evangelicals, but the movie didn't seem to suggest that. However, it did use the group as an apt example of the Evangelical Christian influence on right-wing politics (and vice versa).

Also, how the children are educated / indoctrinated is more than a little creepy. I'm a bit with Dawkins on that one. It's really easy to indoctrinate children, and cognitive dissonance is a powerful force. In some of the more emotional scenes, it's hard to tell if the children are having a positive spiritual experience or deeply suffering.

Dan, I suggest that you watch this movie. This time without jumping to hasty conclusions and cutting it off midway through.
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Bookhead (Nagi)
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Aug. 1st, 2007 @ 12:23 pm Canada and Back
Current Mood: lazy
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The weekend was good. My sister's stage combat performance was made of awesome (clearly she drilled the hell out of it), and the film program (which my brother was in) had made some of the best short films I've ever seen. Camp aside, the bed and breakfast was relaxing, and we had an excellent dinner at M.T. Bellies (which I wish was a bit closer to home).

Xave's in town this week, so Monday evening the whole gang got together for dinner (at Tommy's) and a bad movie (seriously, a really bad movie; we were shooting for "so bad it's funny" but it didn't work out that way).

And I ordered a Nintendo Wii from Circuit City! (Although I did have to get the "bundle", the extras were things I was definitely planning to buy.) WiiTracker works! I won't totally believe it, though, until it's in my hands.

(Also, that means my supply of cash is running pretty dry. I really should be doing some actual work for money. Ah, well...)
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Jul. 28th, 2007 @ 01:03 am D'oh
Current Mood: hot
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Planned to go to bed early today, as I'm going with my parents to Canada this weekend to visit my siblings at camp. But I decided to go to The Simpsons Movie with my friends instead.

It's so humid, too. Don't expect I'll be getting much sleep...
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L33t zombie
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Jul. 25th, 2007 @ 12:37 am "We're the Decepticons.... We're Here to Help"
Current Mood: chipper
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I've been on quite the movie bent lately. Saw Transformers on Sunday with Andy and Dan. I enjoyed it, as it had some of the best giant robot battle sequences to ever grace the big screen. Andy, on the other hand, was disappointed, noting that it could have used less plot and more giant robots. I'll admit it could have been better, but I guess I'm just easily entertained.

This afternoon, I watched Saw II on DVD, which was pretty much right in line with the first movie in that series.

In the evening, I saw Sicko with Dan. Surprisingly down-to-earth for a Moore film (although he still can't resist some of his usual deadpan humor and publicitytastic shenanigans), and it makes its case quite well, I think.
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Pirate Hat
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Jul. 20th, 2007 @ 12:32 am Spectacles
Current Mood: okay
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My parents have headed out of town for a dance weekend, so I'm the only member of my family in Cleveland. Feels odd being the only one in the house.

Dan and I have been watching a lot of movies lately. Yesterday, we watched Idiocracy (which was dull) and today we watched Lord of War (just as awesome as the first time I saw it).

On a completely unrelated note, my glasses have gone missing. I'm pretty sure they got home last night (would have been hard for me to walk home outside without noticing I wasn't wearing them), and I couldn't have taken them out of the house since. But I've checked all the likely places and as many of the unlikely ones as I could, all without success...
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Jul. 18th, 2007 @ 12:15 am Foiled by the Laws of Supply and Demand
Current Mood: cheerful
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I plan to buy a Wii ASAP, but they seem to be sold out everywhere. I did buy a few PS2 games, though, including FFXII.

Yesterday evening: Went to the latest Harry Potter movie (quite good) with Dan, went to IHOP afterwards.

Today: Lunch at Mongolian Barbecue with Dan, watched some of Borat but was underwhelmed, parents took me to dinner at some Turkish restaurant.
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May. 30th, 2007 @ 11:42 pm Mid-Week Hiatus
Current Mood: satisfied
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Today was an odd but busy day. I woke up, ate breakfast, missed the bus twice, took the train to Ebisu, bought books, ate lunch at the aptly-named Bagel&Bagel, spent an excessive amount of time hanging out in Roppongi (for no reason in particular), encountered another discount English-language bookstore and bought a few more books, saw Pirates of the Caribbean 3, and practiced kanji at a cafe.

POTC3 was quite a bit darker than the previous movies in the series (it starts with mass hangings and doesn't bring in the swashbuckling dark humor until quite a bit later). Some of the camera work on the fight scenes seemed sloppy, made it really hard to tell what was going on. On the other hand, the rest of the technical stuff is as well done as before (or better), the pace is good, the dialog is witty, and Jack is several hundred percent more insane. Overall, very awesome. (I was a bit annoyed by the unnecessary (but very brief) epilogue tacked on after the credits, though. Normally, that positioning would make it less annoying, but the theater in Roppongi Hills apparently doesn't bring up the lights until the whole movie is over, credits and all.)

On a completely unrelated note, there's been a big measles epidemic on college campuses around Japan recently. A lot of campuses have even shut down to contain the outbreak. KUIS has had a few cases, but they're not doing anything drastic yet, although contingency plans are in place. I'm vaccinated, but I've heard rumors that this strain isn't covered by the vaccinations given in the US. (No idea if that's accurate, though...)

I have a presentation in Kaiwa tomorrow and a kanji midterm on Friday.
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Mar. 20th, 2007 @ 02:52 am One Week to Go
Current Mood: calm
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I think my paperwork woes are finally over. My passport came today, and I sent off the visa application. I was a bit worried on Friday when the expediter (A Briggs) said that my passport would be delayed again especially since the passport office said they had just sent it out. Fortunately, they were wrong. A Briggs did a poor job... but it could have been worse.

On Sunday, I saw Forgiving Dr. Mengele at the Cleveland International Film Festival. A very interesting documentary on the story of a holocaust survivor and the powerful (or dangerous?) idea of forgiveness.

Friends are getting back in town for spring break, which is cool, but weird, since I haven't even started spring semester yet.
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Mar. 15th, 2007 @ 12:05 am Not Much, Yet Again
Current Mood: awake
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The only thing eventful about this week is that my passport is still not here yet. It was going to arrive today, now the expediter says Friday. Everything's still going to be done on time, but the U.S. Dept of State seems determined to get things done at the last possible minute. (To be fair, they're probably trying to minimize the amount of people who are really angry, at the cost of raising the number of people who are somewhat pissed off.) I'm not worried, but my mom is, which makes my life less pleasant (she feels compelled to point out all my faults (along the lines of "you can't do that in Japan") and worries out loud in my general direction).

I saw 300 with Markos last weekend. It was awesome, but not for everyone. If this review makes you want to see it, then you'll probably enjoy it.

I also read World War Z. In one sitting (~350 pages). At Markos house, after the movie. For that, I stayed up all night. I also watched Marcos play all of Half Life: Blue Shift. Yeah...

I'm still sleeping far too much, odd hours... I hope I'll be able to adjust to Japan schedule all right.

Other random things:
  • There's an atheist in congress. Which is cool, I would have guessed there weren't any. The Secular Coalition has more on that story.
  • Xepher and So Deep on the piano. Nifty.
  • This game seems like a cool enough concept that it might motivate me to buy a 360. Wonder how it will turn out... (If I got a 360, I'd probably get Mass Effect, too. It looks like they're getting a lot of good RPGs.)
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Feb. 27th, 2007 @ 11:58 pm Stuff + Sleep
Current Mood: calm
Current Music: USC COMM 499 Lectures Podcast
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On Thursday, I finished Deus Ex (clearly one of the best games ever) and went to IHOP with Dan. On Friday, I saw Breach (technically very good, but more a historical film than an action film). On Saturday, I went to Que Tal? (good as reported) with Markos. On Sunday, there was a pancake breakfast at Solomon's school, I went to a Cleveland Orchestra concert (lots of Tchaikovsky) in the afternoon with Oma and my parents, and ate dinner at The Mad Greek (really good food) with my family.

I've been really tired lately. Sleeping a ton (about 12 hours a night). Which is nice, but a little worrying...
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Jan. 7th, 2007 @ 12:24 am Ready to Return
Current Mood: calm
Current Music: Bill Convery - Going Home
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It's been a relaxing break. I'm still looking for work in Boston. FitSense doesn't have work for me, but I might be able to get a job at Akaza Research (I had a phone interview the last Friday before the new year, but their HR manager was out of the office most of this week, so with any luck I'll hear back from them on Monday). If I don't get that job, I'll have to start pursuing other leads on Monday. All my other active possibilities seem to have resolved to "no".

This evening, I went to Your's Truly with Xave and Markos, then saw Children of Men (a most excellent movie) with Markos and Dan.

After the movie, this black dude approached us outside the theater asking for money. The weird thing was, I'd heard almost exactly the same sob story before (need money for gas, so very scared, AA meeting, out of gas, gang of kids down by the gas station causing me trouble), and probably from the same guy (I can't be 100% sure due to my poor memory for faces, but the other time was also near Shaker Square). I ended up giving the guy some money anyways, but he probably didn't deserve the benefit of the doubt, so I feel a bit bad about being such a sucker.
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Evil Laugh
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Dec. 18th, 2006 @ 03:02 pm Backlog Links
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Movies: The Iron Giant (quite good), City of Lost Children (awesome, one of the best movies ever), Top Secret! (funny)

Books: The Selfish Gene, Punished by Rewards (both interesting)

Links:
GO MARIO GO
Colbert's Best Interview (old, but so good)
Interesting Essay on Diamonds
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Aug. 29th, 2006 @ 10:28 pm Summer's End
Current Mood: content
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Today was my last day of work. My internship started off rough (bureaucratic mixups, culture shock, sudden change of the project I was working on), but it ended pretty well. People were interested in my prototype, it looks like my project will be turned into something useful for IBM, I learned a ton, made some money, and my performance review was all right (not great, but all right).

Tomorrow evening, I head back to Olin. Thursday, I've got classes (*sigh*). I'm all packed, and my apartmentmates are clearing out, too. The apartment doesn't have internet anymore, so I'm writing this in the MIT arcade.

The past week has been pretty good. On Sunday, I saw 13 (Tzamati) (a film noir thriller) with the Boston Sunday Night Film Club (that was fun, it was a pretty good movie). On Monday, I listened to an acappella performance in Lobby 7 (the acoustical properties of that space are amazing, and the group performing was really talented).

What else did I do this week... I had some tea at Bojau (sp?), so I think I've eaten at every cafe in Davis Square (unless you think Dunkin Donuts is a "cafe"; I say they don't count). I ate some good Indian food. I went into Nick's Famous Roast Beef and had a small heart attack (it was tasty). I beat Saints Go Marching on Heavy. I continued reading the "Beggars" Trilogy by Nancy Kress (very good sci-fi).

All in all, I think this has been a pretty good summer.
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Aug. 19th, 2006 @ 01:24 am Snakes on a Plane!
Current Mood: ecstatic
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I finally saw Snakes on a Plane today. I now see why that movie has such a cult following. It delivers what it promises, and how!
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SoaP Safety
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