Posted 23:05 by Tycho

Not much to report.

I'm brushing up on my French, and will get back to learning Gaelic soon (hopefully).

Another thing I did was plow through the army's official field manual for survival (all climates), evasion and escape. FM 20-71, if I remember it correctly. I'll double check tomorrow. Not only did it detail how to survive, but it also detailed what to do when capture by a [communist] enemy. Granted, the thing was written in 1969, but still, damn they're crazy for communists. It laid out in detail escape plans, as well as how to prepare for escaping from a POW camp. And then went through a very comprehensive guide of how to live off the land while evading enemy search parties and patrols, back to friendly lines.

Yes, you heard that correctly. I am to be prepared to escape from the communists and their rusty sickles, should they somehow capture and imprison me in Siberia and have me working in the gulags.

Didn't go running today--legs needed a rest. Tomorrow will be a short day...1.5 miles I should think. Just give my legs a little more rest while also getting a bit of exercise in there.

And there might be some good news to post over the next couple of days...*crosses fingers*...

Bad news: I'm going to have to miss my friend's first fight. That sucks.

Good night all.


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Posted 21:45 by Tycho

Slainte! First post in a while, I know. I've been pretty busy lately.

I finally put two and two together last Thursday--that my cousin's graduation would be taking place the same day as the white water rafting trip. Ordinarily, such a decision is a no-brainer. This decision wasn't reached so easily. What made all the difference was that she's blood. I kind of freaked out when I realized this (the day before I was to depart to moose country), and tried to figure out what to do, because they were both important--whitewater because I made the commitment to go something like six months ago, and the graduation because she's my cousin. I was given some advice, and I followed it.

That Friday, I was all packed and ready to go. Then the bad news hit--Marc wouldn't be able to make it because he came down with something. DAMNIT! So the ride up was done with 3 rather than 4, and a long ride it was (five hours). Good thing we weren't on horses, because not only would it have taken a couple days, I would have had the sorest ass in the world.

Once there, we set up camp, went to some place down the road for pizza and whatever else was available. Got thoroughly whumped in a game of Checkers, then it was back to the camp site to get the fire going. First, though, we needed firewood. We probably got 30 trees in total, plus sufficient kindling for the weekend. I started off chopping up the trees as they came in with the axe, a position we all swapped off on because it is physically taxing, and we had a raging river to face in the morning. Much of the wood was moist, and so we had a pretty smoky fire--which stings and affects the eyes quite a bit.

It wasn't easy getting to sleep that night. Evidently someone left a bag of Goldfish out, and we had an animal going through the campsite. I heard it pawing around my tent and sniffing around. Whatever it was, it sounded big (coyote?). After hearing it circle around a bit, I dozed off in a deep and restful sleep.........

.........And was awake at 5:30, and up and about shortly after that. Helped Marky start the fire for the morning, and we had a roaring fire going by the time the rest of the campers got out of their tents. Breakfast was good--eggs in a bag, sausages, and hot dog buns (and any combination thereof). We needed every calorie we could get.

At about 0900, a guide came over and asked us to report to check in and stuff. We did so, and got the standard safety lecture, except they didn't warn the rafters to never touch bottom with their feet. Which surprised me because that's an extreme danger--if you do so, you run the risk of getting your foot caught. Best case scenario is having your ankle or leg snap. Worst case scenario is that you drown. Anyways, Chris A (aka Bob) was chosen to be a dummy to demonstrate things.

Once that was over, it was time to gear up. It really does feel like preparing for battle, not that I have any experience there, but you know what I mean. Or maybe not, but I don't care if you don't, because you should. Anyways, once I was in the wetsuit, I immediately had the urge to go to the bathroom. UUUUUGGGGGHHHH!!! Even though its ok to piss in the suit (everyone else before you has!), I decided it wasn't a good thing, since I hadn't even been in the river yet. We boarded the bus for the twenty minute drive up to the head waters of the Dead River. Steve (one of the guides) proceeded to hit on anything and everything that had a heartbeat. And I mean EVERYTHING.

Our guide was Josh, who turned out to be a cool guy. He got us ready and said that we were probably going to be taking a swim--the river was running at over 10 000 cubic feet per second, due to snow and ice runoff from a harsh winter. We soon learned that the water was cold. Chris was first to take a dip when we eddied out, and he told me the water was fine. What a liar. I jumped in and nearly got a heart attack from the thermal shock--Josh then told us that the water was probably 40 degrees (AFTER I jumped in...notice his good timing!). Chris dragged me back in, and away we went.

The river was good, and we had a few good, hard hits. One hole nearly threw me off, but everyone was on the ball, and caught my legs. It was one helluva sit up to reach the hands that were trying to get me back in. We hit another rapid that nearly dumped three of us into the thermally challenged water. One person fell out, not from a rapid, but from stepping out of the boat and having no dry land underfoot. We lurched out for a snack break, and I marched off into the wilderness to answer Nature's Call. Once on the river, it was time for Big Poplar Falls, which was great...1.5 miles of pure Class V rapids.

Afterwards, we changed up (I was almost dry after getting out of the suit--polypropylene is an amazing material!), and headed over for a much needed meal...which was steak, rice pilaf, and the best cole slaw I think I've ever had. Then it was time to look at pictures. There was a sequence of shots of our raft that showed me about to be dumped into the rapid, which everyone had a good laugh at. Some of the hits were amazing...the boat was there...boat was there...boat was there...boat disappears into a hole, and water is flying.

I've have to say the funniest thing is in the movie of this one hapless raft on its trip through Big Poplar Falls...you see the raft fast approaching a large hole, and then you see the guide stand up, and let loose with the throw bag (basically rope in a bag) to someone who got dumped, and then the raft smashes into the hole. A true whitewater rescue.

Then I warmed up around the fire and just relaxed...and got to play a bit of kickball with a deflated volleyball. I said I was good for a homerun, but all I got was a double. Meh, ah well. Later that night, just hung around the fire. Heard a certain someone cry out into the night (evidently he has vicious night terrors). Went to bed earlier than the other guys, but I was knackered.

My first thought of the morning was "Hey! It's only 6! I can just lie in my sleeping bag for another hour!". The second thought was "SHIT!!!"--it had begun to rain. Reveille was therefore at 6:15 for everyone, rather than 7:00. We broke camp, cleaned it up, and put out the embers to the fire to an extent--not cold to the touch, but the rain would take care of it. Went a half hour down the road to this breakfast place...which serves amazingly good meat omelets. The coffee was a little weak, but I couldn't complain (it was coffee!).

Ride home went quickly. Feet of lead were especially helpful in this regard.

The first thing I did when I got home (after dragging my stuff into the house) was go out running. A nice 2.5 miler. I had been itching to run, and it was a great release, and I felt great the entire way through.

Monday (yesterday?), I got up and went out for a 3.5 mile run, and felt good, though definitely exhausted at the end. Tuesday (today?) was another 2.5 mile day, and I could feel myself as being noticeably fatigued before getting too far into the run. The middle part of the run was the hardest, while the last bit was amazing, because my breathing pattern changed and became nearly perfect...or what felt like nearly perfect.

Wednesday (tomorrow?) will be an "off" day for me, to give my body a chance to recover. Probably go for a walk, or something non-strenuous like that. Or maybe just completely relax. I have no clue.

I think I'll stop boring everyone now...assuming anyone actually read this entire thing.

Slan agat.

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Posted 23:01 by Tycho

Cead mile failte. Conas ta tu, inniu?

Today, I was woken up by beeping. At first, I started scrambling around looking for a bomb, but then said "screw it" and tried to get back to sleep. When the damn thing wouldn't stop, I got out of bed due to its constant and periodically annoying beeping. Turns out that one of the detectors was getting low on battery power. The damn thing finally stopped beeping, and the battery was replaced (I think).

From there, I rummaged around for some oatmeal, and found it stolen by the vindictive PFTETOO (People For The Ethical Treatment Of Oatmeal [pronounced "Pffffteetwo"]). Already not happy due to beepy wake up, and subsequent inability to turn beepy thing off, I found my favorite oatmeal hoarded by grain activists! Thank goodness they stole the oatmeal and released it back into the wild. I would have been really pissed if it were the whiskey instead.

I settled for one of the best cereals on the planet--Cheerios! I like Kashi much much better (mmm...whole grainy goodness). There's a hilarious story behind it, but it is rather crude, so I'm going to leave that off of here.

Then it was on to play Deus Ex until I fully awoke. Much to my displeasure, I had yet another run in with something beepy--namely an explosive stuck to a wall I didn't see until I tripped it (though I certainly heard it). I reload my game, avoid the bomb, stick my head up through the manhole, and got it promptly blown off by a rocket from a -- you guessed it, a beeping hulk of a sentry robot!

So, as you can see, after today, my tolerance for beepy things is down to "little or none". My alarm better come with a damned good warantee if its to survive the morning.

After those unfortunate run-ins with things that go beep, it was finally time to go out and do some running! It was a beautiful day to do so, and I had been looking forward to it the whole two hours I was awake.

Decided to go for a full Marina Bay loop due to how nice it was out (how mistaken I was!). Went out, started off at a reasonable pace, but didn't hold it--I foolishly increased it, which caused problems later on--the last part of the run was hell because I had become dehydrated. Despite having a bit of a hard time, I felt like a million bucks after I got back home. Good run! Tomorrow is definitely a rest day, meaning going for a nice walk or a bike ride.

Supper was uneventful, except for having more horseradish mustard...which was incredibly awesome, by the way.

Just finished watching Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Nothing like a good ol'e Indy Jones movie to finish off the day...well, besides James Bond. I hate to say it, but Indy can't really beat Bond.

Slan agat. Good night!


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Posted 23:51 by Tycho

Bon matin!

Today...er...yesterday was good, but tiring. Got up at about 11 or something like that, and marvelled at how nice it was outside, which got my psyched for going out to run. Ran 2.5 miles in about 19:30, followed that up with a 40 minute bike ride, and then some calisthenics.

Other events of the day included continuing to reread The Andromeda Strain, watching The Longest Day, and eating. Lots of eating. Oo! Got new headphones today, and other than needing a longer cord, they're ace! Cheap-ass Radioshack tried to sell us crap, but Best Buy wouldn't let that happen! I was a little miffed that the guy at Best Buy tried pushing for us to buy a [slightly] more expensive pair--especially when he said "this one has more decibels"...and I kinda just shook my head and cried at the insanity of it all. Especially since the cheaper one had the better specs.

Its like going to a butcher and asking how much the beef is, and he responds "this beef is contaminated, so I'm selling it at a discount".

Good morning, everyone, and time for me to catch some extremely needed sleep.






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Posted 21:35 by Tycho

Today...was a good day.

Started off a tad too early, but that's ok. It was only 11 :-(.

Left for a run at about 2:30 or so. Went 3.5 miles, 6:58 mile pace. No messing nor stopping, except at the lights on Quincy Shore Drive (because, you know, getting run over is amazingly fun).Felt amazingly at peace afterwards.

Air Products and Chemicals got back to me--its a no go. Ah well. Good experience was gained.

In the afternoon, I watched the Red Sox World Series Ring ceremony--my father recorded it for me. Really good stuff. Much as I hate the Yankees, they do have class. Though I must say that I found it quite satisfying to see that it was them that had to witness the ceremony and not another team. And then I watched the day the pope was elected. Much good stuff.

Started rereading The Andromeda Strain...great book, and I want to get my hands on the movie.

Stuff.

I also saw someone on Jeopardy lose by a single dollar. Ouch.

"Somebody get a medic! A little boy got stuck in the escalator!"



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Posted 21:34 by Tycho

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all you mothers out there. Without your help and guidance, none of us would be what we are today.

Now, for the news of the day:

1. If I didn't mention it before, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

2. Food is good. Yum.

3. Getting an internship is difficult.

Enough about today. Yesterday was fun, but I was wicked wiped towards the end (read wiped = tired for those non-slanged people out there). As such, I tend to do and say dumb things. And I have terrible aim with throwing things, such as the paper than you can roll napkins in.

Now, for the all-encompassing movie review from Kingdom of Heaven (secondary title: The Crusades.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS---YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
POSSIBLE SPOILERS---YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
POSSIBLE SPOILERS---YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
POSSIBLE SPOILERS---YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
POSSIBLE SPOILERS---YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
















Alright, the film could have definitely done without the father/son "drama" (I say "drama" in quotations because the most exciting part of that section was when you see a man take an arrow through the throat...which was made cooler due to the fact that the blood spurted and he kicked some corrupt-bishop's-cronies asses).

And what about teaching whomever the hell Bloom played the high guard for a sword? WTF mate! You need to be an expert to do that--and he was just taught how to fight with a sword. Not to mention he's asking to get his balls cut off.

<>

The one thing I REALLY liked about the movie was how it handled the two sides. Of course the Christians are the "good guys" and the muslims were the "bad guys", but the way they were portrayed was truly beautiful. It takes a line from We Were Soldiers in which the enemy is not shown as some horrible evil that needs to be defeated, but as fellow humans--just on the opposite side.

Battle scenes were done reasonably well, and while not particularly gory or explicit, got the point across.

Possibly the movie made gore necessary in keeping with Stalin's famous quote: "One death is a tragedy, while one million deaths are a statistic." I noticed that in the massive battle scenes, there was gore, but it wasn't overplayed like in Starship Troopers. The personal scenes, however, were much different. They were extremely bloody...when someone got their throat cut, they'd gurgle and clutch at the wound, while blood is spurting out like water from a garden hose. It reminded me of the scene in Army of Darkness where one hapless man was thrown into the pit of gory doom with a deadite and gets graphically volcano-ized.

The movie gets a nod for using music from The 13th Warrior, and another nod for putting that track at precisely the right moment. They nailed that one down.

And a double thumbs up for the usage of--you guessed it! BOILING OIL! I was giddy with glee when I saw it being dumped on Saladin's troops. Not because of the fact that it basically boiled people alive, but because it is more-or-less historically accurate. Plus its just damned cool.

Overall Rating: 7.5 of 10. Could have been improved, but definitely on the bright side of life.

Military tactics for the most part were good, though I was caught by surprise by the stupidity of some of them, but these moments were rare. Come on...BOILING OIL!


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Posted 22:39 by Tycho

Today I went running for the first time in a while. 2.5 miles...and did terribly--my cardiovascular system has gone to hell. And I also messed on someone's lawn (sorry--I couldn't hold it in any longer).

Then proceeded to walk something like 9 miles with a buddy of mine, and took pictures. And then commandeered a walk light.

Information is Power.




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Posted 22:37 by Tycho

Alright...school year's over.

Let's see, got back home on Saturday, proceeded back to WPI on Sunday. Waited all day Monday to work on getting the project together--got called at 7PM and worked until 4AM or so. Also watched Forrest Gump.

Note: when you buy a large order of crab rangoon at Dragon Dynasty...expect a shopping bag full of them. Not a piddling 9 or 10 of them.

Anyways, got up at 10:30 or so on Tuesday, and mosied on down to the printing lab at 1. Yes, I understand the time gap there...its due to this wonderful thing called "snooze button". Everything was printed up when we got there ($60 worth of printing), and the lady said yeah, its done, but there's a problem with it. I can fix it, but it wasn't my fault, so its going to cost you another $60.

To cut a long story short, we had it reprinted--at no extra cost.

Tuesday night was wasted away by buying a bacon and pepperoni pizza, playing Deus Ex, and then playing Starcraft with my roommates for the last time. pwn t3h n00bxoR5!!!111oneoneone

Need to break out my camping gear soon. Like this weekend.


Oz: "You've killed 17 people, and you're telling me that my wife isn't a good person."

Jimmy "The Tulip" Tudeski: Oz! Oz! It's not about how many people you kill...it's how you get along with those that are still alive."

-------------------

Jimmy: "Oz! Take a look at the soil out there! In two days I've got two tomato pl---"

Oz: "Oh my God!"



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