I Should Know Better

First off, yesterday was a good day, until water started falling from the sky bursting through a crack in my ceiling and getting my mattress, comforter, and sheets wet...

The manager doesn't really know what happened, but he went upstairs to check and they said that they didn't have any running water, so he's speculating that it was a pipe from outside that leaked in. Of course, I think that's bull and that the people living upstairs obviously screwed something up (like overflowed the kitchen sink), then lied about it to cover their asses if I decided to get compensation. It doesn't make sense for it to be an outside pipe since it didn't rain yesterday and it doesn't make sense to be an interior pipe since the water stopped leaking after about 30 minutes, so obviously there was a lot of water at one point and it stopped at another (sounds like overflowing and a cleanup job to me). Plus, they have a history of doing this crap since someone overflowed the bathtub earlier in the year, screwing up the ceiling in our kitchen.

Anyways, outside of that misfortune (had to sleep on the couch last night...), things haven't been too bad. My purchase yesterday is already up 0.7% (woohoo) on strong 1Q earnings. So I"m worth $17 more than I was yesterday. Awesome.

So, to the point at hand. I know, I know. I should know better, but when in the hell did people get this dumb?

YouTube posted an awesome video(it's in the playlist to the side and I might embed it below) of molecular processes in the cell on the front page of the site. If you get a chance to watch it, it's very revealing about the inner processes of the cell and the mechanics of molecular interactions. Educational, and gorgeous. Most of the comments on YouTube agree with me. But for some reason, because people are idiots and can't leave well enough alone, the comments degenerated into a science vs. religion debate between intelligent design and scientific randomness (to be honest, that's what it really is...randomness...). Now, I hate to be a prude about it, but if you're going to argue for a God, don't do it in that forum in that way, it just makes you look dumb (or reveal that you really are dumb). In fact, what happens is demonstrative of what's wrong with much of society in general: A lack of comprehension and understanding and the use of "faith" as a mechanism to compensate.

I hate to single some people out, but dear god, can people get any dumber?

What do you mean saying God did it is insulting towards human intelligence? A man and woman and can come together and get pregnant no matter what their intelligence level is. But the baby still grows in the womb. The woman does nothing to create even one cell in that life. But it is created. Hmmm...the only intelligence needed is His.

That's what one user on YouTube said about fertilization. The problem with that idea is that babies don't come out of thin air (although it could be conceivable, it's extremely unlikely). Babies aren't magic. And the woman does everything to create EVERY cell in that life. Fertilization obviously means egg + sperm = zygote. Since the baby comes from the zygote, yadayada, there's gotta be an egg, yadayada, and that egg forms from meoisis of the cells of the mother, etc. Dumb.

 How can we deny A Creator seeing this well-structured organized-proportionated tiny creations.Ask yourselves did you create yourselves or do you beat your own heart. Even this tiny cells have a life purpose, teaching you the omnipotence of The Maker.Little do we know!Our purpose of creation is to acknowledge our Creator through His signs we see night and day. Believing in God is nothing but being grateful to your Maker who gave you life when you was not even a cell.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Actually, I do. It's a cell. It's there because it learned how to replicate itself in an imperfect manner from another cell. At some point one cell ate another cell and a plasma membrane surrounded another cell forming a "Eukaryote". Big words, I know. And at some point those cells specialized themselves so that I can beat my own heart and make more parts of me when I need them. Great thing these little proteins can do. But where did these proteins come from? Other proteins, from other proteins, from RNA, from Ribozymes, from random polymerization of organic compounds. Thus the Theory of Random. Love it.

so yu beleive in evolution let me ask you. What is the most primitive organism from which everything has evolved from . one molecule and that molecule created by chemicals where did the chemical come from?. In the end something supernatural to which time does not exsist must have created something. So this futhermore proves there is a supernatural being a being God. If you have any thoughts about this, reply to me

Again, Dumb. That argument makes such a huge logically leap from "where did chemicals come from" to "there is...God". Chemicals obviously came from quark interactions that formed protons, neutrons, and electrons, which interacted to form atoms, which interacted to form molecules in a stable state. And where did those quarks come from? Likely from other forms of transient particles that step from condensation of energy that stemmed from a "Big Bang" which was not in fact an explosion, but, according to Hawking, a bubbling that grew bigger (inflation) and was able to sustain itself instead of popping. Now what was before the Big Bang? The same that's there now - "nothing" - we just can't experience it, because we're in this universe instead of in that "nothingness".

15 billion years of chance? I thought evolution said the earth is only 4.5 billion years old. By the way, God isnt limited by time, He actually created time. The beginning and the end are all the same to Him. He has always been and always will be, even when time is over.

Awesome.

Ok, here's the video:

The Legend of Zelda and Link and His New Horse Named Duck

I'm an investor! I bought into Janus Contrarian (JSVAX) today at 18.53 a share for 136 shares. Hopefully it'll keep beating the market like it has the past few years as a fairly stable long-term large blend fund. The management costs are a little high, but I'll pay an extra .6% if it means an extra 7% growth on my portfolio over an index fund. Hopefully, in the future I'll be able to put some money into a lower fee index fund and a higher fee, higher growth emerging markets fund to capitalize on my ability to run a higher risk portfolio. I've got 35+ years until retirement, I think China can outpace the US in those 35 years...

Anyways, to the meat of the post. I got Zelda Twilight Princess in the mail today, and I'm really disapointed in the lack of sound. Otherwise, it's been pretty fun. I just played through enough to get my sword and my slingshot, but the wiimote controls are pretty cool so far. Here are some screenshots to keep people happy :P

This Coulda Been About Rayman...

I was supposed to get the new Rayman Raving Rabbids by now, but the guy I bought it from on eBay has failed to ship it and has failed to contact me back since I first paid him through Paypal. I've emailed him twice, once through his paypal email and once through his eBay account and neither have resulted in a response. So, I think tomorrow I'm going to bring it up with Paypal and get my money back...

Anyways, since I can't play Rayman, and I was going to show these videos when I got the game, and I can't get the game yet. I might as well show them. They're pretty funny if you're patient enough. And hopefully while you're watching it, I'll get Zelda Twilight Princess in the mail...

The Boys are Back?

Boom!

Since nothing happened today except a solid midterm, I'll just say.

Boom!

Entourage is back to finish off its third season after a ridiculously long hiatus on HBO. Here are a couple trailers to keep you entertained for your visit.

Well. It's over.

I guess my birthday is over. Thanks to everyone that wished me well on Facebook, on AIM, or in-person. Makes me feel happy to know that people check Facebook and are willing to put in the effort.

Hopefully I got back to everyone that posted, if not, I'm sorry, but I'd like to thank you again :P

Not much else happened today though...still need to study for a Psych midterm tomorrow though...

I did get approved for a credit card online though, which means I have a credit score, which is awesome (and I get a bonus $250 for it too).

Welcome to the Grindhouse - Part II of My Birthday Saga

Maggie and I went out to SF today to get lunch, dinner, do a little shopping, and see a movie.

Unfortunately, since it was Easter Sunday, the Westfield San Francisco Center was closed which screwed up a lot of the shopping plans (although in retrospect it still ended up being a busy day).

We stopped in the Gap store across the street, walked down to Macy's to check if Cheesecake Factory was open, but realized that Macy's was closed (thankfully Cheesecake was not). So we walked back and tried out the Betty Boop diner between Union Square and Market.



After lunch (We had some bread bowls, curly fries, and a shake). We went down to the Metreon for Tarantino's new movie, Grindhouse (see the sidebar for a trailer).



Anyways, here is a pair of before and after pictures just to describe how we felt about the movie.

Before:


And After:


As you can see, I was much more excited about it than Maggie. It was pretty ridiculous, gory, absurd, and Death Proof was worse than Planet Terror (which disappointed me). But there are enough laugh out loud and out of your mind scenes to make it worth more than the price of admission. If you've read any other reviews, you know what I mean. If you haven't and you don't, then don't expect too much, but enjoy the fact that it's a work of art in progress. Rose McGowan + Machine Gun/Rocket Laucher = Awesome.

After the movie, we went to The Cheesecake Factory. My Hibachi Steak took forever to get to the table, but they apologized instead of hiding the fact that the server hadn't showed up to check in on the table in over an hour (like the last time I went). Still, it was good enough and I got to enjoy a lovely Chocolate Raspberry Truffle cheesecake to end the night. I've got more random pictures in my web album, too, if you're curious.

I've got a Public Health midterm tomorrow, but I'll be 20, so I guess that makes up for it. Otherwise, I'm out. 'Til next time. Adios.

It's My Birthday - Part I

First off, a couple of things with my blog: I'm thinking about making the posts expandible so you can see more of them at a time on the main screen, instead of forcing a scroll just to get to older archived posts, but until readership increases to the point where it matters, I probably won't bother trying to code the CSS script for it.

Also, if you've noticed, I've added a few more clips to the YouTube player in the sidebar, so you can amuse yourself with those. I'll link up a larger version of each of them at some later point and upgrade them from backup videos to "Video of the Week status" at that point.

As far as life goes, I had dinner tonight with a bunch of friends thanks to the lovely planning of my beautiful girlfriend Maggie. Unfortunately, with midterms coming up the next week and some other plans interfering, only 5 of us made it out, but I still have pictures and it was still very good food.

David, Yuan, and Tyler joined me and Maggie for dinner at Joshuya's Sushi Boat? House? Something? I don't know. Anyways, it was pretty crowded for some reason and it took awhile to get seated. When we finally did get a table, the orders took awhile to get there and they lost Tyler's gyoza. I've never seen them so flustered, but oh well.

After that we headed over to their apartment, hung out, played some games, and had a great big old cookie cake with my name on it. Cool.

Here's some pictures, check out more in my web album if you feel inclined.




The first one is the cookie cake with my name on it. The second was the sushi I split with Maggie (from top to bottom - cherry blossom, Joshuya, and spider rolls).

More tomorrow after I hang out with Maggie tomorrow in SF.