Conference Championship Game - Picks

Ok, I'm going on the record with some picks before two big-time games today.

Big 12 Championship Game Pick:
Oklahoma Sooners 48 - Missouri Tigers 27

SEC Championship Game Pick:
Alabama Crimson Tide 27 - Florida Gators 24

European Stupidity

Europeans are REALLY stupid sometimes....for example, European electricity is provided at 220 V and 50 Hz.

See this map to see which countries use 220 V and which use 120 V/60Hz:


So since Europe is all the same AC Voltage and Frequency, you would think that you could stick German appliance plugs into Swiss wall sockets, right?

NOOOOO......they have to make the shapes of the sockets/plugs different, so they're not compatible.
Talk about STUPID!!!!! This is really, really STUPID!!!!!!!



Why do they want to make things difficult for people? Such morons, sometimes....

Carleton Stupidity

Here is an article on the stupidity of Carleton University's student association boycotting a fundraising event for Cystic Fibrosis.....

Globe and Mail article

The reason?  Cystic Fibrosis isn't an "inclusive" disease.....

Those Carleton University Student Association members are big, huge MORONS......

The Big 12

So.....BCS chaos reigns in the Big 12 - especially if all three leaders, Texas Longhorns, Oklahoma Sooners, and Texas Tech Red Raiders all win out.....who of these should go to the Big-12 Championship game?  (Decided by the BCS standings)

The Longhorns beat the Sooners 45-35, who in turn walloped the Red Raiders 62-21, and the Raiders in turn won 39-33 against the Longhorns.

It seems that the Sooners had the most impressive victory of these three games.

Plus, their loss to the Longhorns included some questionable pass interference calls...

Out of conference games - the Sooners have beaten: Cincinnati and TCU, while the Longhorns and Red Raiders haven't beaten anyone impressive out-of-conference.

And the controversial "who's playing best lately" nod also goes to the Sooners...

And even though I don't have an AP vote, I figured I'd give my two cents, anyway....(assuming all three teams win next week)

The Sooners deserve to go to the Big-12 Championship.

(and Sam Bradford for the Heisman!)

Stanford Idiots and "The Play"

Those Stanford people think they're so smart.....

Well, I don't know if that's true....at least they look really dumb on "the Play" - coming on the field before the game is over....

Watch here!

Stupid Stanford.....

Tip Inflation

About 20 years ago, tipping in North America was 10% of the pre-tax bill, and then sometime around 15 years ago or so, this became 15%. Now in the last 5 years or so, I have heard some people say 20% is a fair tip share.

RIP OFF!!!!

This North American obsession about tipping, tipping for everything, tipping for the hotel housekeeper, tipping for taxis, tipping for the doorman, tipping the guy who carries luggage, tipping the airport shuttle driver, tipping, tipping, tipping.....

I refuse to adhere to Tip Inflation.....BOYCOTT TIP INFLATION!!!!!

Lint....

You know when you wash a pair of jeans, and you look in the pocket and there is a ball of stuff.....lint, I guess.....

Where does the lint come from anyway?

Prediction: Navy Midshipmen to win 2nd in a row

The Navy Midshipmen vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish rivalry is one of the most sacred rivalries in NCAA Football. Too bad this great game will be overlooked by many fans, as neither team is ranked in the Top 25.

Of course Navy had lost 43 straight games until last year, when the Midshipmen squeaked out a win in 3OT against Notre Dame.......

Here's my prediction for Saturday: Navy will make it two games in a row.....Go Navy!

Duzen and Siezen

Well, living in Germany is sure an experience, but there's one thing as a native English speaker that I've never gotten used to: duzen and siezen.....

What do these mean?
Well, duzen means to use "du" to say you (in German), which one typically says to friends, colleagues, kids, dogs, buddies, classmates, basically anything in a social setting.
And siezen means to use "Sie" to say you (in German of course), which one typically says to clientele, service personnel, adult strangers, elders, etc. Basically much more polite, something one would use in a formal or official setting.

The problem is that there are many cases where the line is very fine between "du" and "Sie". In my group we all "duzen" each other - which is good, because it removes the awkwardness and distance that "siezening" someone creates. Except for my boss and the secretary. And also an older professor who "siezens" everyone else.....but that's really strange, especially when everyone's saying the familiar "du" until speaking to this older professor (or my boss and his secretary speak with each other).

Another weird scenario was when we visited some friends, and the mother-in-law of the guy is around 70-80 years old. Her son-in-law told us to just use "du", but when we did so, she "siezened" us back....what should we do? If we continue with "du", we are being impolite, but if we use "Sie" there's an awkward distance created, and as well, its kinda strange to take back "du" and then continue with "Sie".

Textbooks tell us to use "Sie" when in doubt...but using "Sie" when you should use "du" presents a very awkward formal situation that's also weird......maybe I'm too North American, but I really prefer the "du", and perhaps start with "duzen" a bit too quickly.......

But I also think that some Germans need to be a little less uptight about this thing, and just relax and go "duzen" someone! I would say that Germany is the most strict at the "duzen" and "siezen" separation for a European country.

Thank God I don't live in Japan! (How many people would I offend a day?)

Compiling

Man does programming suck!! Who in their right minds likes it? Hours programming, and then stuck with bugs and segmentation faults......booooooo! Programming SUCKS!!!! BOOOOOOOOOOO!

Luckily, there is one advantage when it comes to programming......compiling! When your program is compiling, it gives you an excuse to:
a) surf the web
b) skype your friends
c) eat a snack
d) watch some youtube
e) catch some zzz's

Quantum Humour

I like this comic alot......I think however, you need some Quantum Mechanics background to understand it....



Suffice it to say, after I read the last pane, the function collapsed to the funny eigenstate...

66-3

Here we go again....Cal beats Washington St. by a score of 66-3.

Offensive brilliance early in the season and lots of promise from Tailback Jahvid Best. Let's see if the defence is able to hold up over the season....Cal, unranked at the beginning has now snuck back into the Top 25.

Circle Nov. 8 on your calendars, hopefully they can knock off the Trojans!

I love Sourdough!

Yes!!! This is definitely good news!

Sourdough healthier than whole wheat!

Best brand names

What is the best brand name in the world?

I think that 黑人牙膏 is near the top, if not the #1 brand name I've ever heard!



黑人牙膏 kicks ass!

So true!

Scooped!

Looks like we'll still be able to hear our favourite song!

Story here

NOOOOOOOO!

How can it be Hockey Night in Canada without the famous theme song?

Toronto Star Article

You're telling me that CBC cannot shell out $500 per broadcast to play this song?
They make so much off the TV advertising that $500 is chump change!

What? Is that a Budweiser I see?

What!? Is that Mom drinking ... a BEER!?

Dad. So silly!

Look what Dad did today!

Mom and Dad. So silly!

Mom and Dad arrived in California last night.

Dad came into my room, surfed the internet (stocks), read a few reference papers on my  research topic and went to bed ~ 11pm.

Mom came into my room, made Dad eat healthy food, unpacked, almost fellasleep in my bed, gave me money to give to Hsiao-Ah-Yi and Stephanie, put food in the fridge and freezer, talked, showered and finally went to bed ~ 1am.

It's as if I never left Toronto.

And then Dad came into my room at 7am to surf the internet again. Sigh.

Graduation

Since someone is going through a graduation ceremony this weekend, this cartoon seems quite appropriate...

Post-Duck

Still think you wanna be a post-duck?

Stranded in Suburbia

Here's a nice article in the NY Times by Paul Krugman.

US Urban sprawl really is stupid....

Elvis Rocks!

Elvis Stojko is the best figure skater EVER, and this just confirms it:

Athletes should think twice about heading to Beijing: Elvis Stojko

Flying Horror Stories

What's this about? They don't even give a seats to airline passengers now?

Article on CBC Website

Man, that is really messed up!

Olympic Logo

Here is how the olympic logo was developed for Peking 2008.....

Baseball 2008

Ok, the season's just started, so I'm going to pick the teams I'm cheering for this year. We'll see in October if any of them actually accomplished anything....

AL East: Toronto Blue Jays

AL Central: Cleveland Indians

AL West: Texas Rangers

NL East: NY Mets

NL Central: Chicago Cubs

NL West: San Diego Padres

Martin Luther and Wittenberg

So I went to the quiet little town of Wittenberg that wasn't so quiet around 500 years ago. Here's where the Protestant Reformation began! Martin Luther and his insights of "justification by faith" captivated Christians and changed the course of human history!

Here is the door of the Schlosskirche.  This was where Martin Luther hung his 95 theses for debate, challenging the efficacy of indulgences.  The original door burned down, and this rebuilt door inscribes his 95 theses in commemeration.

Here a statue of Martin Luther, in the Wittenberg town square.

This is the Marienkirche, where Martin Luther preached.  This is the pulpit (probably rebuilt though) where Martin Luther would have preached his Reformation message from!

"Faith is a living and unshakable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake." 

Olympic Torch and San Francisco

The Olympic torch is coming through San Francisco within the next few days. Protestors that are pro-Tibet have voiced their opinions, including one brave soul who climbed the Golden Gate Bridge:

(Picture from SF Chronicle, read the article here).

This week's protests on Tuesday and Wednesday should prove interesting... anyone who wants to join the protests can view these websites:

http://www.sfteamtibet.org/
http://www.sftorch2008.org/

Boycott the Genocide Olympics

The stuff going on in Tibet is downright unjust....

Cultural Genocide in Tibet committed by China

Why are countries such cowards when it comes to China's outright gross violations of basic human rights?

BOYCOTT THE GENOCIDE OLYMPICS!!!

Family Day

Dear Mom and Dad,

I hope you had a great family day!

Billary in trouble

Man, how the mighty have fallen...Billary Clinton is truly reeling after the Potomac primaries and this:

Clinton Ex-Campaign Manager Backs Obama

This primary season is soooo interesting!

Homework Sucks!

I knew it!!!!!

That's why I just didn't bother doing my homework!

Read Article

Are you freakin' kidding me!?!?!?!

Geez! What's up with these st00pid airlines!?!?!?!?! I hate flying more and more!

What the heck!?

Pats NOT perfect

He he he he,

Stupid Pats are not perfect after all.....

Randy Moss still has no Superbowl ring.....


He he he he he......

(Get this straight though, I am no Giants fan)

They got me' name right!

Cool, this time I was interviewed, they got my name correct.....

YES!

Link to Interview Summary

What would Martin Luther King Jr. say?

The Toronto District School Board trustees have approved a plan of the first publicly funded black-focused schools. The Globe and Mail has an article on McGuinty's unwillingness to take a stand:

Read the article

Isn't this a step backwards? Why are we encouraging segregation?

MOM, I lost some weight...

I lost about 4 pounds when I went to Germany. This proves that traveling to Europe and eating meat and potatoes is good for your diet.

SO THERE, MOM!!!

The Goal

I think its pretty obvious that an OT win is far more superior than a stupid shootout.....

Here's a great goal:








To the junior Nats, congratulations!

Boooo! Booooooo!

Booooooooooo!

Four weeks is not long enough of a trip for Europe. If anybody is going to visit in the future, make sure they stay at least 6 weeks.


Boooooooooo! Boooooooooooooooooo!

No hablo español!

Welcome to España! A week trip to Barcelona, Sevilla and Granada proved how good Spanish life is. I highly recommend southern Spain to everyone. I recommend a trip to: Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada, Malaga, Cadiz and Ronda. Take up some sun in Costa de la Luz and maybe take a ferry from Algeciras to Tangiers. I would say that a one month trip to Spain ought to do it!

Travels to a far far land...

Here are pictures from a mysterious land known as Europe. Here are pictures from Budapest, Praha, Wien and Dresden. It's up to you to see if you know which picture belongs to which country.