The Gorn-Dee-Kerd Chronicles

Atlantis is leaving this planet

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 06:58:31 GMT

And by planet, I mean my apartment. And by Atlantis, I mean me and my family. SEE WHAT I DID THAR?!?!?!

Ok, sorry about that. I just thought I needed a good title to...title the blog entry that announces the fact that WE'RE MOVING!!

Yep, the Gao family is moving away from our current abode of almost 6 years to some place that I think will make my social life a tad more interesting. Why? Because I'm moving back to New Westminster.

Ok, not quite.

We're right on the border between...oh hell, I'll show you. GoogleMap awaaaaaay!

...

Ok, welcome back. Here's a map showing my current location (B) and my future location (A) (click for clarity):

And what is around A? Well, watch closely (again, click for clarity; the A is at the upper left corner):

Look how close I will be to my old hang outs!!! NWSS, Moody Park, that mall that I forgot the name of, but contains Zellers, Safeway and other things! This is gonna be awesome. The place itself is a town house or something, with 2 floors! I've never lived in a house with 2 floors! Well, I have, but we were just confined to living on 1 floor. Anyway, it'll be great. We are moving in at the beginning of August.

Still, I'm gonna miss my current home. I have a comfortable room, some pretty nice neighbors save for one jackass, it's a secure building, and there's a great view, which I've shared with you all in my "Views from the Balcony" series. Well, that series is coming to an end, and I'll be posting some pics that I've taken recently soon. There were some great memories here, and some not so great. Still, whatever the case...I'm gonna miss this place.

Hey, that rhymes.

An Elaboration

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 08:05:57 GMT

For those who didn't understand what my last entry was about, here's what it is: Don S. Davis played Major General George Hammond on Stargate SG1, and he passed away due to a massive heart attack on June 29th. He was only 65. As you can imagine, the entire Stargate fandom was shaken by this news, and rightly so. I've never met the man, but from what I've seen (mostly through interviews and fan accounts...and Stargate SG1, of course) he was the best kind of human being there is. Gracious, humorous, down-to-earth, generous, modest, EXTREMELY talented, you name it. He played Hammond with such warmth and authenticity that he became one of the best-loved characters on the show (again, rightly so), even though he wasn't one of the Big-4 (that is, the 4 characters that made up SG1 that the show focused on). When he's not on screen, he practices his art or interacts with fans. With the former, he produced masterpieces like these:

http://www.donsdavisart.com/

With the latter, he succeeds every time in giving a fan memories that he/she will cherish for the rest of his/her life. To lose such a precious soul...it's difficult, to say the least. It's also interesting that I've had no problems writing any of this down. I didn't have to think; the words came naturally. And they should, as they fit Don S. Davis to a T.

Mr. Davis will be missed by family, friends, and fans from across the world, for he was taken away from us far too soon. To that end, his widow, whom he loved very, very much, would like us to, instead of sending her well-wishes and gifts of mourning, donate to the American Heart Association:

https://donate.americanheart.org/ecommerce/aha/aha_index.jsp

And I'll add this: if you do do this, make it in honor of Don Sinclair Davis. The man deserves that, and so much more.

Godspeed, Hammond of Texas.

Don S. Davis: 1942-2008

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:17:55 GMT

I can't believe this is happening.

First, iTunes. Next, THE WORLD

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:22:01 GMT

Being heavily involved in online stuff (i.e. lots of sites to check out everyday for news) means a MASSIVE backlog when I'm gone for 6 days. Therefore, as the title says, there is a lot to catch up with. Luckily, Gateworld is down right now, so it allows me to pursue other news.

News like...oh, I don't know...maybe how COLDPLAY WAS #1 ON ITUNES IN EVERY. FREAKING. COUNTRY. THAT. HAD. ITUNES.

Don't believe me? Well, look here:

Click on it for the un-blurred version. Or, if you think that's photoshopped, go and look it up here:

http://www.apple.com/euro/itunes/charts/top10albums.html

It HAS been a week, after all, so it's not surprising that that extraordinary accomplishment faltered a little. If all goes to plan, Greece will be destroyed in due time for their rebellion. BUT SERIOUSLY, HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED?! One week onwards and still, all but ONE of those countries STILL have Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends as FREAKING NUMBER ONE YOU GUYZ.

Coldplay has just taken over the world (again, Greece WILL be delt with, shortly), and I'm proud to be one of their loyal subjects. VIVA COLDPLAY!! THEY. ARE. GODS.

That is all. For now.

The Return of the King

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 05:58:40 GMT

Har har har. Nice title, no?

Ok, so the trip was done a day early. Looking at the whole, this really was a good trip. We had AWESOME weather for the days when we needed it, and our car, the Ford Navigator, was AWESOME as well. I had some health problems later on in the trip, but that's only because of an anomalous incident, not because of my usual problems. More on that in my trip report.

I ended up getting around 750 photos and videos. Oh yes, MANY MANY more video clips this time around. I'll have to figure out a way to put them all together, and match them to bitchin' music.

But, for now, I've gotta rest a bit. It was a tiring trip, even though it was highly enjoyable most of the time. As before, let me give you a preview photo of what I experienced:

MUCH more to come!

The Mini Trip Report - Day 1 - Burnaby, British Columbia to Burnaby, British Columbia

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:24:43 GMT

“The Shape Of Things To Come”

For those just joining us, here's how this all came about.

Last year on our family trip (aka. The Great Trip II), I had some problems with dizziness. There were many causes. For one, I never really had a good night's sleep because...hey, who can REALLY sleep in motel beds? Also, because of my fear of throwing up DUE TO dizziness, I tended to not eat much during lunch (where, after a morning's drive, would leave me slightly dizzy), which I guess lowered my blood sugar to the point where I just get MORE dizzy. Not good. Either way, the result was the same: we had to stop the car every few hours for me to rest my head or otherwise I might have gotten carsick. I never did get carsick, but I assumed I was close. This is something I did not want to repeat this year.

And so, to prepare for it, me and uncle decided to do a "pre-trip", a short little excursion to a local attraction to test how well I now fair on the road. Thus, we decided to drive along the Sea-to-Sky highway to this waterfall that Uncle had discovered the last time he went up that way. I, of course, agreed.

I woke up on the morning of June 4th, feeling fairly normal. We had talked about going earlier, but the weather sucked. Apparently, today was the only day where there could be some clear skies. And so, at around 8:30 am, we set off. Right away I can tell that this may actually go well. I was feeling pretty normal, for one.

We drove to Highway 1, the Trans-Canada, and headed towards Horseshoe Bay. The traffic was surprisingly light, though there were slow-downs around North Vancouver. I got cheered up when I saw a clear blue sky at the horizon, hoping that, since we're heading towards that direction, we might catch a break after all.

Well, no luck. Rain started soon after, on and off-like, before we turned north, leaving highway 1 behind and going onto the construction-heavy Highway 99, or "the Sea-to-Sky". The clouds hung over us, cutting off the summits of distant mountains across the Howe Sound. It was a beautiful sight, I'll admit, but there was no way we could stop, get out of the car, and take pictures due to the construction.

For those who didn't know, Whistler, British Columbia, is the location of the 2010 Winter Olympics. And, as the road leading from the nearest metropolitan area to Whistler, Highway 99 needed a major make-over. Thus, for a while there, we had to stop and wait as the highway was reduced to single-lane traffic. Still, it was pretty exciting watching the once-quaint, narrow road become a 4 lane highway, straddling the face of a cliff. Fresh pavements, new overpasses, widened roads, you name it. They were all over the place. We also saw patches of green on the sides of the road, which apparently is a kind of chemical that makes grass grow faster. Who knew?

Well, my uncle did. That's how I know.

Anyway, that went on for a while, and before we knew it, we had arrived at something worth stopping for. Anyone who has headed up to Whistler probably saw it and paid no attention to it because it seemed so insignificant. I'm talking about a small lake called Petgill Lake.

We parked our car, stretched our legs, and walked to the edge of the lake. It was so pristine, even though it's beside the road:

You can see right to the bottom! Near the shore were many large granite boulders and, of course, forests:

And, on edge of the lake were these reeds/grasses that made the water just that much more green:

That was just a small taster of things to come.

And so we set off again. I knew of the places we were going to hit, since I used GoogleMaps to research this whole trip. Next stop, the often-seen Shannon Falls.

Before that though, we went by Britannia Mines. The rusted, broken-down bits of yesterday's mining glory that I saw years ago was completely transformed. The step-like building hugging the face of the cliff has clearly been repainted and refurbished, because it looked brand new. Everything was tidier. As I later found out, they've made it into a true museum.

We got to Shannon Falls pretty quickly after that. We drove into the parking lot, and right as we got out of the car, we heard it. Walking a few steps, we saw it:

Well, that wasn't good enough. We walked some more, up paved trails, while all the time the sparkling run off of the falls flowed past us:

Finally, we got to the end of the trail, and there it was in front of us:

Like the trips before this, I have to reiterate that, though it looks nice in a picture, it is MUCH more grand and majestic up close and personal. The size of these things are just MASSIVE. You really have to be there.

From there, we walked back to the parking lot. On the way, I got a pic of the...well, just general area we were walking through:

And the giant Granite dome they call the Stawamus Chief:

And so, we were at Squamish. I don't really care about human society stuff on trips like this, so we just drove past it. Yeah.

Soon we were at a viewpoint that showcased the Tantalus Mountains. Unfortunately, due to cloud cover, the mountains themselves were not to be seen. However, that doesn't mean the view was bad:

You can clearly see the river valley below. Uncle told me that there was another viewpoint nearby that you can access from the other side of the road. More on this later.

Next up: the Brandywine Falls. No, we didn't get transported to Middle Earth. That's really the name. Funny. Anyway, on the way there, we encountered a road that may lead to something else: Garibaldi Lake. It's supposed to be very very beautiful. And so, we got onto the road, but eventually we hit a dead end...just as GoogleMaps predicted. I had hoped we'd see something there but...well, no luck. Oh, other than this:

And so we turned around and headed towards Brandywine Falls. This is something neither me nor my uncle has seen, and boy were we in for a surprise. Once more, we heard the falls as we got out of the car. Going down the trail, we initially encountered a small covered bridge over a turbulent (and clear) stream:

After that, we found out that we had to walk another 400 meters or so to get to the viewing area. Ok, it doesn't sound like much, but it sure felt like it was longer. This was only the beginning of how much I had to walk that day though. Again, more on this later.

Anyway, we eventually reached the viewing area. As we approached it, I realized that this was going to be something spectacular. Before I can even see the falls, I tried to look towards the noise. And there, I saw a cliff face that seemed like it was a hundred meters away! It also told me that we were on the edge of a cliff ourselves. And so, we stepped onto the viewing area platform, and as I edge closer to the railing, I realized that I still couldn't see the bottom of this ravine. The fall emerged to my right, and it was MASSIVE. I assure you, the following pictures doesn't do it justice...but here they are anyway:

Those trees at the threshold of the falls are fully-grown. Just to give you a sense of scale. I seem to have a small bit of acrophobia so I was shaking when I took those last 2 pictures, as I needed to actually peer over the railing. Yikes.

I tried to take a picture of the cliff face on the opposite side, but I couldn't fit it onto 1 photo! So here is the top part, followed by the bottom part:

And the mouth of the ravine:

Just...wow. I couldn't believe how massive that was. I felt so much more insignificant than usual.

Anyways, we walked back to the parking lot, and then headed for Whistler. It was only about noon and we were getting hungry. Now, as I said before, I have a problem with eating lunch during trips, but all through this one I've been feeling great. Additionally, I've grown to mistrust restaurants as...well, the only person I trust with my food is my mom, and even then...yeah, I need psychological help. I know, I know.

But, giving how I was feeling, I decided to take a chance and eat at a restaurant in Whistler village. Uncle had eaten there many times, along with several of his friends, and he can't stop raving about it. It's called Le Brasserie.

Me? At a French Restaurant? Yep, you read correctly. Again, it took some convincing, because I didn't want to eat too much, but I eventually ordered a $12 Reuben sandwich with sauerkraut, marble rye bread (or whatever), Emental cheese (I've only ever heard about it in commercials) and beef tenderloin. It was so weird eating something so upscale at a place that's so upscale! Oh, and I also had fries. Anyway, the dish was delicious, and I opted to take half of the sandwich home so my mom can copy it somehow. I stuffed it in the glove compartment as we left for our final destinations, and later realized that that was probably not a good place to keep a sandwich...especially not when it's kept there for 5 hours without refrigeration. We had to throw it out. Oh well.

Anyway, close to Whistler is Green Lake. Unfortunately, the cloudy sky meant that it wasn't as green as I'd hoped, but it still beautiful:

Moving on. Our final destination is near Pemberton, called Nairn Falls. Uncle has been there twice previously and, while he said it was beautiful, there is one catch: it's about 1.5 miles away from the parking lot. Again, it didn't seem like much. I've done it before, after all...I think. Well, that wasn't the problem. The problem is that I just ate, and walking that long through uneven terrain on a full stomach may cause problems...and it did. Ok, more on this later.

We got there, got out of the car, and started walking. Right away, we were greeted by the run off from the falls, the Green River:

Gee, I wonder why it's called that.

We followed the river on a narrow trail at its edge all the way to the falls. On our right is a steep hill upwards, lined with moss and tree roots, hiding who knows what little critters. On our left is a steep drop towards the river, filled with small plants, fallen trees, and trodden paths taken by stupid people/daredevils towards the river's shore. On and on we went, me getting more and more tired by the minute.

On the way, I took some photos of the mountains behind the river:

It didn't take me long to notice the ice-capped peaks being veiled by clouds. It's too bad I couldn't see all of them, right? Well, more on this later.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, we were nearing the end of the trail; there, the soil beneath our feet gave way to bedrock. Eroded bedrock, actually:

Being a geology freak of a sort, I couldn't help but be fascinated by the grooves and potholes on the rock, obviously created from countless years spent beneath the rushing waters of the falls.

But of course, the centerpiece is the falls themselves. It was unlike anything I've seen, as it wasn't just a "boring" veil of water. Oh no, not at all. I give to you, Nairn Falls:

And that was only part of it! I must stress, once again, that seeing these things face-to-face is the ONLY way to appreciate their full power and magnitude. These waterfalls are very intimidating. To that end, I've filmed a small bit of the falls in action, which I'll put at the end of this report.

Nairn Falls actually have 2 parts. The upper part I just showed you; the lower part...well, it was freaking scary:

Just look at the sheer frothy power of that water! The fence I was standing behind kind of narrows to a point as it attempts to get close to that point in the falls, which means I had to basically wedge myself at the very tip of the fencing. In other words, there was nothing in front of me EXCEPT that powerful waterfall. No distractions. The noise was deafening. I think I was weak in the knees. It was THAT awesome.

But, all good things must come to an end. And so, I unwedged myself from this "lower" falls, went back up to the upper falls to capture them in movie form, and then...where the hell did Uncle go? I looked around, even called out to him, but I couldn't find him anywhere! So I got a tiny bit panicky; just as I was about to call him (even though my cellphone doesn't work in the wild), I heard my name being called. Turns out, Uncle was waiting at the beginning of the trail from this end. He was laughing his head off when I joined him. Haha.

The trek back was...difficult. I got heartburn due to all the exercise and was forced to take some antacids that I knew I'd need at some point (so they were in my pocket). However, there was one more surprise to be had. Remember those cloud-covered peaks I talked about earlier? Well...the clouds moved:

Beautiful.

So after another eternity of walking, we got back to the car. I decided that we should rest a little bit before we start back, which we did. Finally, at around...2pm or so, I think, we started up the engines, and began our long way home, all the while looking at our GPS system, which slowly counted down the kilometers until we got back to the house.

Nothing much happened on the way back; we saw everything in reverse, basically. There was that other viewpoint for the Tantalus Mountains, where we stopped and got these photos:

And then we drove on and on and on and on and on and on and on...and so forth. Clouds continued to drift overhead, and finally, by the time we were near Horseshoe Bay again, we saw the light:

And thus it was, we got away from the clouds at last. From there, we got through North Vancouver, only to arrive at a traffic jam once we passed the Hastings tunnel. Luckily, we decided to take the advice of our GPS and got off of the highway, went awfully close to Bridge Studios, and from there, through a slightly lighter traffic, home.

So overall, except for that little bit with the hike, and the overcastness of the weather, this trip was a complete success! I felt perfectly normal 90% of the time, and I don't think I could've felt better. I can't wait for the bigger trip tomorrow!

For now, enjoy this video of Nairn Falls in action:

Sorry for the redness of the later clip; the sunlight must've had something to do with that, or something. And yes, one of those voices is mine. Guess which one.

Oh hey, and here's a clip of Brandywine Falls taken by somebody else. Take a look.

That's it for now. See you in 7 days.

So where the hell is Global Warming?!

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 23:21:03 GMT

Alright...this sucks.

As some of you might know, me and my family are planning yet another trip this year. Well, there has been SO many setbacks that, if I were superstitious, I'd call it off right now. Those setback mainly comes in the fact that, somehow, this winter has been bitter cold and wet for much of the Northwest, resulting in many national parks, where we want to go, to still be closed because of too much snow!

Our first plan was to go down to Oregon and explore the Cascades that run down the state's central region. Well, yesterday, I found out that 3 of the places we want to go are still closed because of the snow: Mackenzie Pass, Mt. Bachelor, and worst of all, Crater Lake (and of course, I almost spelled "Crater" as "Carter"). So we gave that up. Instead, I stretched my brains a bit and in a matter of hours, came up with a new trip, replacing the one that I've been planning for for a year. We are now going to the east: Glacier National Park, a return to Yellowstone, and the Grand Tetons right below it. Good eh?

Well, no more of that. Turns out that Glacier Nation Park is ALSO closed because of snow. So here I am, 2 days away from the trip (oh yeah, forgot to tell you; we leave on the 16th), and I have to plan ANOTHER new trip. This time I think we're going to leave Yellowstone and Grand Tetons as is, and travel further south to north Utah. Let's see how long this lasts.

The "Mini Trip Report", about my trip to Whistler a few days ago, will arrive...eventually. I promise.

I have seen the faces of God...

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 05:25:44 GMT

...And he has 4 faces, actually. One that looks like Chris Martin, one of Jonny Buckland, one of Will Champion, and one of Guy Berryman. It was odd.

But it felt so right.

Sooooo...I was out cruising the Sea to Sky the whole day (trip report and photos coming up soon), what do I find when I return? Well...none other than the entirety of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends" LEAKED ONTO THE INTERNETS.

Needless to say, I downloaded all of it as quickly as I could, and listened to the whole thing from beginning to end.

Dude.

Liek...I...

Just,

'K, there's...um...uh..........DUDE.

I have seen the faces of God. Or rather, I probably HEARD it.

I heard a face. <-- I want that put on my gravestone.

Ok, enough madness. The point is, it was awesome. All but 2 songs are ABSOLUTELY FANTABULOUS LIKE I COULD DIE RIGHT NOW AND I'LL BE OK WITH IT, while the remaining 2 are short "add-ons" to other songs, and they both have great bits in them as well, though being much shorter (~2.5 minutes each), they don't have time to expand.

Look, just...listen to it. Please. If you have 4 minutes to kill, then pick one of the new songs, find it, download it...ok, if you have 6 minutes to kill, then do all those things, and listen to it. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

The Small Trip

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:57:17 GMT

Ok, it's been a while since I last updated...and I'm fine with that. Yeah.

A few things have happened. Looks like I got all bent out of shape about my wisdom tooth for no reason; sure, sometimes bits of food fell into the hole, and there were a few days where it hurt, but that turned out to be because of another tooth nearby that, I think, has a cavity. Have to get that fixed. The gums on the other side of my mouth were also rubbed raw because I couldn't use the side that my wisdom was on to chew. So, double duty. It hurt. Still, overall, nothing bad happened, so that was a pleasant surprise. Tissue seems to have now covered the bone on the bottom of the hole, which I think means I'm back to normal? Well, I feel normal.

Heh.

Next...OMFG COLDPLAY YOU GUYZ. So over the last few weeks songs from their new album, "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends", have gradually leaked onto the net in one way or another. And guys...THEY ARE FUCKING AWESOME. Oh, they're not all sappy love songs; they're not all stadium rockers; they're not all...uh...well, I think Coldplay's pretty much just done those 2 kinds of songs for the last few years. Still, they were good. But this album...wow. They really explored what they can do, musically. Every song is distinct. From the rebellious anthem "Violet Hill"; to the upbeat, epic, and strings-laden "Viva La Vida"; to the grungy "Yes!"; to the optimistic beat of "Lost!" with tabla backing (I think that's the right name for it); to the heavenly instrumental "Life in Technicolor"; to the whirlwind of noisy electric guitar and distorted vocals of "Chinese Sleep Chant" (by the way, Chinese Sleep Chant = me snoring. Get it? Get it? Hahaha...yeah.); to the sweet, personal melody of "Lovers in Japan"; to the...uh...I think that's all that I've heard so far. But yes, you can see how this is. There are still 5 songs of which I have very little or no knowledge of, and I think they'll all be unique in their own ways.

BUY THE FREAKING ALBUM, I DARE YA.

For those who want to listen to some of these...look around the 'net. You'll find them. Actually, go here: http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/index.php, sign up, and look around the Multimedia forum (which can only be accessed if you sign up!).

Lastly, let's talk about the title of this entry and why it is what it is. Well folks, to make sure I can actually go on "The Great Trip III: Reloaded" (yes, I added that last bit) without feeling sick the whole way, I'm planning to head up to Whistler tomorrow as a sort of "pre-trip"; weather is supposed to be semi-good, so I'll be bringing my camera along and there will be a small trip report! Hopefully, I'll feel fine, and TGT3: Reloaded will go as planned!

-1 Wisdom Point

Wed, 21 May 2008 19:42:28 GMT

Well, it had to happen, apparently. After many months of hoping it was forgotten, my dad sprang a surprise on me yesterday by telling me that I was to get my wisdom tooth "checked out" today. Obviously, it was a veiled attempt to get me into the dentist's office so it can get pulled, as that's what happened.

I knew something was up the minute the dentist told me to sit in the patient's chair. Well gee, if we're just going to check it out first, then why the hell do I have to get in a chair that's for people who are getting things done? My dad was so transparent; he didn't even wait for the dentist to finish explain everything before urging him to pull it. He gave me 2 shots, which made it feel like a tongue depresser was permanently lodged in my mouth; it made me nauseous for 30 minutes. Then the tooth pulling process, though more-or-less painless, was nonetheless disturbing as I heard the tooth crack and...stuff.

I decided to keep the tooth because...well, maybe I can use it for voodoo. I'm currently swallowing a good bit of blood every few seconds as my mouth remains numb, and lunch is looking to be faaaar away. Well, this is only the beginning. The next few weeks are sure to be hell. Even if the pain won't be intense, there will be a bunch of other crap that I'll have to endure, no doubt.

I think I'm going to take revenge on somebody.

I don't do this often...

Sat, 17 May 2008 21:33:22 GMT

...but I just saw a pretty powerful video on YouTube, and I thought maybe y'all like to see it:

Excellent song, excellent editing, excellent video; and it says to me one thing: those who want power should never have it.

Of Marathons and Marks

Sat, 10 May 2008 20:31:44 GMT

Ok, so I've been putting this off for a while now, since I've been busy. With what? Why, nothing other than a SUPER STARGATE MARATHON!! Yes, I am going to watch every Stargate movie and episode out there. There will be about 300 of them by the time I'm done, which is currently scheduled as being the end of July. So, for the next 2+ months, I will be watching a minimum of 3 Stargate episodes everyday. I've already started it a few days ago, and it's been great catching up on early SG1. It's definitely better than I remembered it.

Let's see how long I can keep this up.

Meanwhile, my marks for my 3rd year at the University of British Columbia (spelling it out for those who don't know me personally) are out, and for the 2nd term, here are the scores:

1. Near Eastern Studies 312 - 90%

90% is pretty damn good for me in this case, since it's an arts course. On the other hand, I had help, since the subject of this course is, get this: Ancient Egyptian Religion. I actually moved into this course thanks to my friend telling me that they refered to Stargate during the first class. It was hilarious and facinating listening to the lectures, as the various Goa'uld names were mentioned over and over. Though Stargate did get things wrong: Ra is actually "Re", proncounced like Ray (so Kawalsky's joke about Ra's brother "Ray" in Children of the Gods hilaritized me to no end); Apophis was the demon serpent and NOT a God in Ancient Egypt; he was never portrayed as a man, but just a snake, and he wasn't the God of the underworld - that title goes to Osiris, thank you very much.

But anyway, it was fun hearing Horus, Anubis, Ba'al, Bastet, Montu, Thoth, Seth, and various other Gods'/Goa'ulds' names mentioned, even though the lectures were often long and without-breaks.

The best thing about this class though, was the fact that it only had 2 things on which marks were based on: the Midterm, and the Final, each worth 50%. Normally, people may hate this since, if you screw up one of them, you're basically screwed, period. Well, I don't buy into that, since I usually don't screw up at all. Haha. But anyway, I got 90% on my midterm, and after a few days, the prof decided to make things that much more simple: instead of counting both the Midterm's and the Final's marks and then averaging them, he'll only count the highest-marked one, with that mark being your overall course mark! That meant that, if you're happy with your midterm mark as being your overall course mark, YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO TAKE THE FINAL!! Well, it was a no-brainer for me in this case, and so I took my 90% and stopped showing up to class or caring about it, and I still ended up with 90% at the end. Switching to this class was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

2. Statistics 302 - 95%

Out of all the math subjects, Statistics was my worst in highschool. All that Combinatorics crap screwed me up something fierce. So I thought I should try my hand at bettering that part of my academia nut; that, and I needed some statitics for my Quantum Mechanics courses. This course covered Combinatorics and Probabilities in general. Anyway, the course was difficult at times, but overall it was handle-able.

3. Math 317 - 97%

This course was fun. It was dedicated to Vector Calculus. You had line integrals, work integrals, flux integrals, and various theorems that made working with real life stuff much much easier (i.e. wind currents, electric field lines, etc.). It was amazing to see how the work done around a path can be calculated just like *that* with the Fundamental Theorem of Line Integrals, for instance. Then there was Stoke's Theorem and Divergence Theorem and...am I boring you?

This course was pretty easy, to be honest. I ended up getting the highest in the class on both of our 2 midterms. Still, I was hoping to get a higher final grade (I have high standards), like...100% or something. I guess I either screwed up on the final, or they lowered everyone's marks with scaling. Oh well.

4. Physics 313 - 98%

This was a HUGE surprise. The course was dedicated to Thermodynamics, which I SUCK at. My sucking at it in Highschool didn't change, and I continued to suck at it in this course. There are just too many conditions to keep tracks of. Is it reversible? Is it isolated? Is it an ideal gas? Can you perform this approximation or not? Etc. etc. I hated the course...but I guess they REALLY scaled the marks up, lest half of the class fail it. Ha.

Combined with my marks from the previous term, my overall average for Year 3 is: 94.1%, which is 0.1% higher than my Year 2 average. Ok, so it's not the 99% I predicted based on linear extrapolation, but still...at least I didn't go down.

And that, as they say, is that. Next on my Stargate marathon schedule: There But for the Grace of God.

Killing Time with GoogleEarth

Sat, 03 May 2008 23:20:03 GMT

Yeah, so I love geography, geology, and all that stuff. Therefore, you just know that I'd get hooked on GoogleEarth when it came out. And I did.

It started off simple enough. I picked my brain for all the cool places that I can remember off of the top of my head, and I "went there" with GoogleEarth. It was awesome. Later on, when our family began going on trips again, I would basically use GoogleEarth to go on an identical virtual trip to anticipate what I will see (it doesn't ruin the experience though, because, as I said in my previous trip report, seeing pictures of the stuff on GE is no substitute for the actual grandeur of nature). For our next trip, I've used it to choose between difference routes. For instance, there are two ways we can leave Crater Lake; 1, I found, had 5 waterfalls along the road worth looking at, and the other only had 1, with nothing more of interest.

Obvious which one I chose. Prepare for mucho waterfall pictures in late June.

But, it was only 2 days ago when I discovered something I can do on GoogleEarth that wasted time like nothing else: River-Following. It's simple: pick a river, preferably a long and well-known one, and follow it to its source. Along the way, pay attention to the landscape around the river channel and see if you can pick out those shaped by the river (i.e. bluffs, meander scrolls, oxbow lakes, etc. etc.); also, make sure you're actually following the river and don't get accidentally sidetracked because of tributaries. For a geography buff like me, this is damn fun.

I've already done it for the Missouri, the Mississippi, the Fraser, and now the Nile (yes, both the White and the Blue Nile). Try it yourself.

Once more with Feeling

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 06:41:57 GMT

So that's that folks. I just finished my last final today, and now I'm free for the summer. I'm planning to do a lot of nothing, followed by another bout of nothing. And, if I have time, I will do more nothing. I will be busy...with nothing.

Well, ok...maybe not nothing. The reason for the Buffy-musical-episode-title blog entry title is because of The Great Trip III. Oh yes, we're gonna go again this year, most likely. The target date is June 14, and this time, we will be pretty much revisiting every location in Washington and Oregon that we kind of missed in the past due to bad weather. I'm talking about Mt. Rainier (from Sunrise), Mt. St. Helens (Johnson and Coldwater Ridges), most of central Oregon with them volcanoes and...well, volcanoes mostly; Crater Lake again (hopefully this time with clear skies), and Olympic National Park, which was cloudy and foggy during our 2 previous visits. The trip should take about a week, though really it may only fill 5 or 6 days. This time, we're going to make sure we get to see all of these sights. If it rains one day, then we'll wait it out. Simple as that.

As usual, pictures and maybe even videos await you when I get back.

Moving on. I got my Stargate: The Ark of Truth soundtrack in the mail today (autographed by JOEL GOLDSMITH...DUDE!!!)!! Woooohooo!! Verdict: AWESOME. I like music. I LOVE music. In fact, the legend goes that my mom played music while pregnant with me, so I got started at an...early age.

Fast forward to today, and I was pretty much blown away by this soundtrack. You don't have to be a Stargate fan to appreciate it. You just have to like music, basically. Every track has something unique to it that makes it special. Be it a powerfully epic choral backdrop, or melancholy notes forming scenes in your head of fallen grace, or action-packed techno music used for fighting sequences that are just as bitchin'.

Stargate: The Ark of Truth had it all, in spades. I would highly recommend getting the soundtrack. Really. It's good music.

Really.

BUY IT.

ALIENS!!!

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 08:20:48 GMT

Or not...decide for yourself:

I just shot this a few minutes ago from my bedroom window. I wonder what that purply-pink light (in case you didn't notice it) was. Before I shot this, the light had appeared and hovered there for a moment, its brightness changing a little. It didn't take me long to grab my camera and shoot it.

The weird thing is, I just bemoaned my bad luck at not seeing an UFO yesterday (after watching an UFO documentary, natch). Funny how fate works sometimes.

Do note that we are heavily overcast at the moment. Whatever it was, it was flying low.

Heh...my emoticon has never been more appropriate.

The Age of Isolation Approaches...

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 04:39:26 GMT

Well, time's flew past, hasn't it? This is my last week of classes. After this, it's 2 weeks of study time, then 3 finals in quick succession. Oh yes, I only have 3 this term. Yippy-Hooray-ness and chocolate guns to all for happy munching onto.

But what happens after that? As always, I've decided to take the summer off and relax after the gruelling chore of commuting to and from UBC everyday. Oh, and learning, too. For 4 months, what will happen? Actually, the question should be: what won't happen? The answer: nothing. Wait...let me just work that out.

Uh...nothing, won't happen...nothing will happen...shoot! I gots it backwards!

Yes, that's right, everything will not happen. Yeah, that's what it is. So, like every other summer, I'm planning to do nothing, except for MAYBE another family trip. Maybe. But really, this big doing of nothing basically amounts to one thing: I'm going to be in front of the computer for a long time and I will interact, face to face, with no one. Hence the title of this entry. Once more, I will isolate myself from society and participate in the much-more-exciting world of the Internet.

However, perhaps it's time to change that? Almost always, around late July, there will happen to be one night where I'm sitting in front of the computer (of course) and realize just how cut off I am from the rest of society. My thoughts would drift back to the good times I've had with my friends, both old and new, and I would get depressed. Then I'll discover something cool on the Internet and the whole cycle begins again. Would it be wise this year to do something else? To participate more? To go to more parties and/or other social functions?

Nope. Not my kind of thing, and I doubt it ever will. I've developed the horrible problem of getting-extremely-nauseous-before-any-important-event, which plagues me to this day. You name anything out of the ordinary, and chances are I'll be nauseous before doing it or, more likely, I won't be doing it at all.

So, it seems the cycle will begin again; and 3 months from now, that night in July will come, and nothing will change.

Switiching gears for a moment, go here:

http://www.soundtrack.net/features/article/?id=252

If you like music, then you should read this. It's an interview with the masterminds behind the soundtrack of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Even if you don't know much about the show, you can still appreciate the music by simply listening to the samples provided within that link. Come on, take a chance and waste a few minutes of your life on this. It won't hurt, and then you'll know how I feel.

To be an Avatar fan...

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:39:46 GMT

...You have to show great strength and patience, for you will have to endure excessively long waits for new episodes, during which no info will be released whatsoever. Those who are weak will collapse into states of perpetual depression and sadness, for all things look hopeless.

BUT THEN, WHEN GOOD NEWS COMES, YOU WILL HAVE TO LEARN TO SPAZ LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SPAZZED BEFORE!!

Such is the state of Avatar fandom for the last few days. First, Avatar WON the Kid's Choice Awards!!! Thanks to all who voted! This is the first year Avatar was nominated, and at once, thanks to the fans' many, MANY votes, the show took over the spot of "Best Cartoon", taking it away from 5-years-straight winner, Spongebob Squarepants. DEATH TO THE SPONGE, we all shouted. Thanks to us, the number of votes more than doubled this year. The Avatar fans have spoken!

The lesson is clear: don't mess with the Avatar fandom. We will FUCK. YOU. UP. Seriously.

Then...reality hit us again. It's been 3 months since new episode aired, and no news is forthcoming as to when the next one will appear on the tube. We were hoping for a press release today, or at least a mention on Nick's "April Highlights", but alas, nothing. Just when things looked grim...this happens:

"Into the Inferno: Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender Finale

Get an insider's look at the explosive 2-hour movie event as the adventures of Aang, the last Airbender culminate in a head to head battle with the Fire Lord Ozai. The panel will be packed with exclusive sneak peeks of upcoming episodes, production art, the official trailer for the highly anticipated finale and a Q&A with special guests, show creators Bryan Konietzko and Mike DiMartino. Moderated by Megan Casey, Executive in Charge for Nickelodeon."

http://www.nycomiccon.com/images/100453/2008_PDFs/panels.pdf

That's right, the light at the end of the tunnel. 19 days from now, the All Mighty Creators themselves will give us new spoilers, new footage, and OMG THIS IS GOING TO BE SO FREAKING AWESOME!!

Such is the mindset of a fan; only the strong can survive, like me.

WOOOOO!!!

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:31:09 GMT

Lookit!

That's right! The DVDs have arrived!

Ok, for those of you who are completely lost, let's use the real life magic of flashbacks...

*wavy wavy wavy*

"A year and a day ago, Joe Mallozzi, Executive Producer of Stargate Atlantis, started his now-famous online blog, and I was there from nearly the beginning, reading everyday's entry with nearly no-misses. Well, a year later, it's time to celebrate the anniversary, and Joe did that by giving us fans a 20-question quiz. The first person to get the answer right will win, get this, the complete 10-season run of Stargate SG1 on DVDs! A networth of some $200.00! Fake snow? Move over for something that's actually worth the greens!

So, long story short, I, with my life-less-ness and super-blog-searching abilities, won the contest, and I will be receiving the DVD set in a few months (Joe will ship it to me in the new year). What a great late-Christmas present it will be!!"

Source

*/wavy wavy wavy*

Ok, so much for "late Christmas present", but Joe Mallozzi had a good reason: he couldn't find the 10th season DVDs, until now. The point is, after months of waiting, I finally have them! Like I said, they're worth $200+, so it's pretty unique that an Executive Producer would give them away in this fashion. All I did was overwork the search function on his blog, after all.

With this, my DVD collection just grew by 50%. Oh, and also, they included a US Air Force cap along with the DVDs! I'm no military person, but that's still a nice thought thrown in there...or maybe they want to enlist me? Are they that desperate?

Heh, just kidding of course. The Air Force is made up of good people. I mean, my uncle was part of it, after all. Hmm...I wonder if he'll like the hat.

So that's that. Now, I've got 214 episodes of DVD-quality Stargate SG1 to watch! And one of them has full-frontal female nudity! Really!

This has to be known

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:43:43 GMT

Ok, there's a reason why I haven't posted in such a while. Frankly, I wanted the KCA entry to be up until the KCAs themselves, so more of my many, many readers will vote. Of course, the fact that the link I provided would die didn't enter my mind. If you had clicked on that link in the last few weeks, you'll find an error message. Here's the new link:

Link

You can vote at least once a day; many many more times if your computer allows you to vote everytime you refresh your browser. Anyways, that's not why I'm posting now.

Something important's come up. No no, my life is still as boring as ever, though I did get to omit one of my 4 finals this term (booyah!), but that's not THAT important. No. Today, I made a discovery of something big. Something huge. Something...massively-hugely-big-great-size-ish. Basically, it's large. How large?

Oh, about twice the size of the continental United States.

Now, I may be the last person to find out about this, but I doubt it. If more people knew about it, it would be all over the news, logically speaking. So enough beating around the bush. I'm posting today because of my discovery of the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch". Sounds interesting and forboding, no?

The GPGP is, like I said, a MASSIVE collection of garbage, mostly plastic, that's circulating around the Northern Pacific Ocean. Or more precisely, the Northern Pacific Gyre. I don't know how to pronounce that last word exactly, but here's what it is: due to ocean and air currents, there is an area of low/no wind in the northern Pacific Ocean, such that the ocean currents themselves...well, let's be honest, there is no current. Instead, what we have is a calm piece of the ocean surrounded by a swirling ocean current. Oh, it's a big piece. The outer currents act like a suction, and anything floating in the northern Pacific tends to drift into this calming and inescapable patch of water. Obviously, this gyre has been there for a long time. BUT, before plastic, everything sucked into it has been biodegradable. Well, no more of that. For the past 50 years, plastic thrown away on land that had found its way to the nothern Pacific, and those that have been dumped from boats (in the northern Pacific) for whatever reason, have drifted into this Northern Pacific Gyre. There, they stay, permanently. So, what we have today is basically a big soup of plastic crap floating hundreds of miles from the nearest land across the top half of our largest ocean, and it's increasing in size at all times. Oh, but this isn't even the best bit, because plastic do indeed breakdown, sort of. For more info, go here:

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23156399-2,00.html

For something more personal and...colorful, go here:

http://www.viceland.com/int/v15n2/htdocs/oh_this_is_great.php

I'm no EcoWarrior, and I don't plan to be one. All I want to do is make this known. Whatever the information inspires you to do, if anything...is obviously up to you.

I need a favor

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:16:52 GMT

Ok folks, you know I love Avatar: The Last Airbender, the greatest show on Earth. Well, the show's been nominated in Nickelodeon's Kid's Choice Awards, and even though it's ultimately irrelevant, it would mean a lot to us Avatar fans if you'd help us out by making it the winner!

Starting March 3rd, voting begins on the nominees here:

Link

It shouldn't take too much effort to find out how to vote, so please...vote for Avatar. If the awards allow multiple voting, then please vote multiple times. I'm only asking you to take a few minutes out of your busy lives for a simple cause...so yeah, please vote for Avatar tomorrow, and if multiple voting is allowed, everyday after tomorrow until March 29th, when the awards will be aired on Nick (I'll deliver the good news...if there is one!).

Thanks guys! Much appreciated.

The Great Trip Report II - Day 7 - Astoria, Oregon to Burnaby, British Columbia

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 04:40:13 GMT

“The Final Leg”

We come to it at last, the final bit of the trip report. Well, I never thought it’d take this long to finish it, but hey, life’s weird like that. Unfortunately, I’ll have to end the report on a fizzle...no, wait, a whimper, as today was basically about getting home. Still, there were some sights to see.

The morning was fairly uneventful, but finally I got a chance to see the thing I was waiting to see as we neared Astoria the previous night: the Bridge.

Across the mouth of the mighty Columbia river, the mighty Astoria Bridge (totally made that name up) was miles long as it crossed the river's delta-less exit point. From our hotel balcony, we got a good look at it:

Well, it was time to leave, and to cross that bridge. But first, we were going to get a free breakfast, because we apparently paid for it by staying at the hotel. I didn’t eat anything, as usual, and instead took another photo of the bridge:

Boredom set in as I waited for my folks to finish, and finally, when they were, we followed our GPS system out of town and onto the bridge. Here are some of the last photos I took on this trip (and the last you'll see):

The weather wasn’t good, which was a problem. We had considered the possibility of visiting Mt. St. Helens if the weather was nice...so that was out of the question. Oh well, next time.

Crossing the bridge also meant arriving in Washington State. After driving for a while and spotting a few fishermen, my dad wished to stop and have a good look at the river, as we were driving alongside it. However, any body of water that’s not close to a glacier looks kind of...cruddy, when the sky is overcast, so there wasn’t much to look at.

But, and this is why I’m a good person...I remembered how I’ve been ridiculously rude to my dad over the entire vacation, yelling at him for various reasons that, looking back, was just stupid and childish (although, to be honest, he wasn’t exactly innocent). Thus, I agreed with him, and we stopped. We marched down towards the river and I attempted to take some photos of him. However, the light just wasn’t in our favor, and even after switching cameras, we still found our photos to be too dark. I was determined to make this a good photo of him, to make up for my rudeness, but still the photos didn’t turn out right. Still, I hope that he understood what I was trying to do. He can be so frustrating at times...but he’s still my dad.

Moving on. From there we drove towards I-5 and the final part of our trip. The western countryside of Washington was quiet and calm, and quite lovely for a visit...although it was a tad boring. Getting back onto I-5, we found that the dividing lines separating traffic were crooked! We figured that whoever painted them must have been drunk at the time.

Time ticked by, and we kept going north. Finally, we reached Seattle...and a big honking traffic jam. Turning on the radio, we found that there was a massive traffic accident a few dozen miles ahead, and we were left to basically waiting and inching forward bit by bit. Still, we quickly realized that things were much worse for the poor folks going in the opposite direction. That seems to happen a lot.

Finally, after what felt like (and could’ve been) hours, we got out of there, cruised up the last bit of I5, and returned to Canada after spending less than a minute at customs. Nearing home, my stomach began to plague me once more due to the weird sense of nervousness at seeing my room again. It was weird. But anyway, eventually, we got there, and I was the first to open the door. Like the previous trip, everything looked surprisingly gray and lackluster, as if (and rightly so) we were entering an abandoned house. Everything looked so...foreign.

I took a shower, and immediately set to turning on my computer and spending the rest of the day in front of it, catching up on everything I've missed. Things were back to normal.

The trip really did a number on me. My missed and often-tiny meals have made my dizziness much, much worse. For the next few days, I had terrible dizziness spells after lunch, and I was dreading school. And yet, when school started, everything seemed to have gone fine. The fact is, I knew exactly why I was feeling so badly, and hopefully it won’t be repeated next time.

And yes, there will be a next time. In fact, I’ve already got the plans in my head. Could you be reading “The Great Trip Report III” a year from now? Well, no, as hopefully next time I can get the whole thing out before the February of the year after!

For now though, enjoy this last version of the trip video, with Enya’s “The Sun in the Stream” providing the background music:

Well, that is that. I hope my photos and descriptions have entertained you. It was a great trip at the end of the day, and hopefully, it’ll happen again.

The Great Trip Report II - Day 6 - Crescent City, California to Astoria, Oregon

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 01:47:52 GMT

“The Flaw in the Plan”

Ha! Harry Potter reference! Ok, let's begin.

Every Great Trip requires a day where things fall apart. For the first Great Trip, it was Day 2, when my dizziness caught up with me and forced us to change our trip plans completely. On this trip, it seems that that was Day 3. Well, it should be obvious what this long and rambling preamble is telling you: I was wrong. That day is Day 6.

The day started off badly. Apparently, some time during the night, I had accidentally used too many blankets. When I woke up, I felt both dizzy and sick to my stomach. Bad times, bad times. Of course, as usual, I recovered after about half-an-hour, and we were off!

Out of Crescent City, we headed for the California-Oregon border. On the way, it was clear that it was going to be very foggy. However, due to the fact that we were basically on a cliff side facing the ocean, meaning we’ll be going through some quick elevation changes, it became a fun activity to watch as we go in and out of fog banks constantly. In fact, we noticed how a tiny stretch of fog, maybe 3 meters across, lingered over a bridge over a small river! It was pretty wild.

The story of the Oregon Coast is a sad one. Almost 10 years ago, we traveled across this beautiful area...in the dead of night. And I was asleep at the time. Ever since then, I was looking forward to finally seeing the great ocean amidst the rocky walls for myself, and they did not disappoint.

Several kilometers into Oregon, we came upon the first of several beauty spots. For starters:

Moving on, we arrived at some...scenic corridor with a name that I’ve long since forgotten. This was our first real taste of what the Oregon Coastline was like:

Breathtaking, no? Well, there are plenty more where that came from. Here are some of the photos I took that I thought were particularly beautiful:

Yeah, so there were a lot. Onwards we went, passing more vista points than we can count. Overall, the first part of the day wasn’t bad at all as we cruised the beaches and went through various towns along the coast (there were many).

Unfortunately, all good things must end. After some time, I started growing dizzy once again. As always, I took out one of those Chinese balm things and started sniffing it. I know it sounds weird, and it doesn’t really work, but I really just do it out of habit. Well, it definitely wasn’t working, as it was getting worse and worse. Then, accidentally, I spilled some of it on my glasses (don’t ask), with some of it getting into my eye! Well, it stung like hell and I really couldn’t take the dizziness much longer, so we pulled over.

For the next hour or two, I sat on the cooler, which we took out of the car and put on the ground, enduring my hurting eye and my spinning head. It was one of the worst moments of the trip as my family waited for me to regain my health while they stood around/sat down/whatever to kill time. It was a horrible feeling, knowing that I was letting them down.

Right then and there, I realized the flaw in my trip plans (and THERE’s the title!). I had forgotten to take into account the amount of time I’d need to rest during the trip. I did not realize that we weren’t going to drive the whole way through. Because of this, we missed seeing most of Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, and various other things just because I was there wasting everyone’s time. Again, bad times.

However, as usual, it eventually went away, and we got back onto the road. Along the way, we stopped at this little spot close to the water:

The wind was pretty strong, as you can see by the last photo there.

And on and on we drove. Eventually, we reached the twin cities of North Bend and Coos Bay, where we encountered a beautiful bridge:

Signs by the road told us that we were entering the Oregon Dunes National Recreational Area, and indeed we were. All along the highway, we began to see yellow mounds of sand rearing up not far away. So, a few kilometers later, we exited the highway and entered one of these areas. There were dunes alright. Unfortunately, as we were now behind schedule, we did not take the chance to actually get to the dunes. Instead, we just took some pictures:

Yes, that’s right, there were dune buggies down there! I supposed we wouldn’t have been allowed to go down there anyhow, with those things cruising around. Oh, and there was one of those coin-slot-operated telescopes nearby. Feeling a little creative, I pointed my camera into the viewers, and got this:

Not bad.

From there, the journey continued without much incident, or anything happening, much. We passed through town after town, sometimes stopping for gas or food. Finally, after what seemed like hours, we approached the ocean again, and I took the following pics (I know it’s a little tilted, but the wind was fierce):

Thus concludes all the photos I took on that day. Oh, you think it’s over? Hell no. The most exciting part is coming up!

Oh, I forgot to mention. Apparently, we crossed the world’s shortest river, the “D” River, in Lincoln City. Now, I don't think it's actually the world's shortest river, but who cares, that’s what the sign said.

Moving on, literally. For the next few hours, we drove on. The highway curved inland, so the ocean was, once again, far out of view. Well, no matter, because we would be stopping for the night fairly soon, at the town of Tillamook. Originally, we had wanted to stop at Astoria, on the mouth of the Columbia River, but after my little incident with the dizziness, that was no longer an option, or so we thought.

After driving in and around Tillamook for a good 20 minutes, we realized that the motels/hotels there were either 1). Too expansive, or 2). Full. However, looking at the map, it seems that there were plenty of towns ahead of us, so we drove off, hoping to find cheaper and less-fuller stuff ahead.

Next up, the small town of Bay City. Anything there? Nope. Barview? Nah. Garibaldi? Niet! Twin Rocks? Nada. Rockaway Beach? Zero. Brighton? Yeah, right. Wheeler? Zip. Mohler? Are you kidding me? Nehalem? I wish. Neahkahnie? Huh?

It’s by this time that we grew a little suspicious. It was only about 6pm and already most of the motels were full. Finally, after asking around, we figured it out: It’s Friday. Thus, all the beachbums and partygoers who are due to party-on on the Beach during the weekend would’ve already rushed to these oceanview towns to stay the night! Everywhere we looked, the motels were full.

The Flaw in the Plan is now obvious: We never realized that there was this phenomenon of motel-filling-up-fast-before-weekend of seaside towns! There we were, the sunlight fading fast, and us stuck in a car with nowhere to go for lodging. Are we going to have to sleep in the car?!

Believe me; that was indeed thought of. However, we didn’t give up. Not yet. From Neahkahnie, we continued driving north, with the plan of reaching Astoria after all. Still, on the way there, we looked through every town: Arch Cape, Cannon beach, Seaside (we almost found one there, but it was one large room for all 4 of us, and it smelled weird), Gearhart, and finally...Astoria.

The surprisingly large peninsula-town loomed out of the darkness as a sea of lights as we crested a hill nearby. In order to get there, we had to cross a floating bridge; suffice it to say, it was pretty cool gliding across the road that sat right on top of the water.

Entering Astoria, we became desperate. We were going to settle for pretty much anything, as it was our last option. We drove around most of the town, looking at such expensive hotels as Best Western and the like. Finally, at 9pm, we noticed the Red Lion Hotel down by the shore.

Before I go on, I should probably fill you in on something extraordinary that happened during the first day of the trip: When we got to Eugene, the Motel 6 we eventually stopped at wasn’t our first find. What was our first find? Well, wouldn’t you believe it: a Red Lion Hotel. At the time, it was far too expansive, so we drove away and found Motel 6.

5 days later, the Red Lion was our last hope. We sat in the car, waiting nervously as my uncle went inside to check on whether there were any vacancies. The verdict: there was 1 room left. I kid you not. 1 room left for the weary travelers that have drove across the Oregon Coast.

Well, it’s a no-brainer. We agreed to it, and before we knew it, we were in the last room available. Unfortunately, it wasn’t like the rooms we had in the days before, where uncle and I get a room, while my parents get another room. Instead, it’s just one big room. But really, we weren’t picky at that point.

After eating a bit of noodles for dinner and realizing that I could’ve actually ordered porn on the Hotel’s TV (but didn’t), we went to sleep. An exhausting day, most definitely.

Oh hey, how about that trip video again? This time, it’s set to “Mad World” by Gary Jules. You know, the one in that video game commercial? By now, you should know where all of the clips have come from. Anyway, here it is:

One more to go!

3 Vivid Dreams

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 03:40:09 GMT

Wow, it's been a while since I posted, no? Well, there is one big thing that I'm sort of figuring out right now, but it'll take some time to word it properly. There is also that Great Trip Report II that I'm putting off again and again and again...but I'll get to it, maybe during the Reading Break that is coming up in due time.

What I like to get across today, before I forget about them, are 3 very VERY vivid dreams that I had on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday night. They were so vivid that they actually had an emotional impact on me after I woke up...well, only the 1st and 3rd, because the 2nd one was just WEIRD. So let's get to them:

1. On Saturday night, I dreamed about...well, a girl. She's real, by the way, but she probably doesn't read this blog. Still, I won't mention her name, for my sake. Most of the dream has become a blur now, but there are several points worth mentioning. In the dream, I went to her house, where I met her brother. I distinctly remember him as this short, yet heavily-muscled fella who seemed to able to bench press...a lot. I don't know what a realistic weight is for bench-pressing. Anyway, this was weird, as this girl doesn't have a brother. At some point, she left the room to do something, and this brother started questioning me about her. After some time, we finally got to the question that I seemed to have feared, and which I answered, in very quiet tones...that I loved her. Now, I don't know if this is true in real life, because I have as yet not figured out what my feelings are for this particular lady, but in this dream, this angered the brother.

Some time passed, and she was back. The brother started making fun of me, jeering at me, and being all around a complete jackhole. I worked on a laptop to help her with something, and he insisted on opening and closing the screen while I was working on it, even warping it somehow. Finally, I had enough, and I REALLY went off on this poor bastard. I don't think any of you has seen me when I'm REALLY angry, as I rarely get that angry at all. But, I sure did it this time, and in front of her too. The tirade went on for a while, and at its end, I called him "short". This seemed to crack whatever restraint the girl had, and she asked me, in anguished tones "So what if he's short?! What does that have to do with anything?!" And I said, uncomfortably "Well...it's an observation". As usual, my brain didn't seemed to have worked around this girl, just like in real life.

Then a blur, and I found myself lying on a bed beside her. No, not like that. I was basically lying there with my hand on my forehead, calming down after the argument, while she sat on the bed beside me. After some awkward silence, she said to me "You know, I looked up to you once...but ever since Season 3 (!!) started, you've just looked terrible, there are bags under your eyes and..." that's all I can remember. The "Season 3" might have been "Year 3", as in year 3 of University, but I distinctly remember hearing season 3. Anyway, this was the part that really got to me, that I have fallen in status in her eyes. Around then, I woke up, and basically lay there in bed for a while thinking about this. Her words felt like a punch to the chest, you know? I actually felt down for a while, knowing that I disappointed her. This girl is a big part of my life right now, and I can't quite figure out what I want, so this dream didn't help.

2. This was the "Sci-Fi Dream", sort of, and the dream that I would actually tell my friends to get a laugh. It went something like this: It was confirmed by the Executive Producers of Stargate Atlantis that Tom Cruise (!!) was going to star in the show's 5th season! Already, it's nuts. Then, I suddenly become this omniscient observer, watching my "protagonist"(who was a balding white guy) find a way to stop Tom Cruise from starring. But how will he do it?

Why, with Time Travel, of course! Yes, somehow, his cellphone (it was a flip phone!) allowed him to travel back in time! And so, he uses it to travel back in time and space to Tom Cruise's house to convince him to not take the job. His house, by the way, was full of kids. Kinda like Michael Jackson's house, I would imagine. I guess I get my celebrity nutjobs confused in dreams. Anyway, my main character travels back in time, and pleads with Cruise to not join. Just at that moment though, a kid runs by to a sink that was nearby, and turns on the faucet. Why is this important? Because, apparently, running water makes my guy jump through time! Suddenly, everything changes as he travels to the future...and here things get fuzzy for a while. Another bit of running water, and he jumps again, this time to the far future, it seems. The house is now empty, and suddenly there is a horror movie feel to it. My guy looks around and walks out of the room, while I, now no longer omniscient but physically there, waits for him to come back.

Suddenly, an answer machine besides me starts working (oh, and room has now completely changed in appearance), and a women's voice comes out of it. She says something akin to "Tom, I know your house is old, but..." and I plug my ears. It seemed that she was going on about issues, when she mentions something about all those cobwebs in their house. Then, suddenly, my guy runs screaming back into the room covered in spider webs and spiders! He doesn't notice me, and runs to a computer on the other side of the room, where he says "There's no one who knows more about sticky than Tom Cruise!" and starts tapping away at the keyboard. At the same time, while the women was still going on and on on the answer machine, she sudden screams "Tom! No, get away!" It seemed like she was being attacked by Tom Cruise, and it's at this point that I felt a need to run away (gee, I wonder why) because it seemed that Cruise was just outside the building, and was about to come in!

I ran out of the room while my guy was distracted by the computer and the spiders, and ran through the hallways. Suddenly, I hear in the background a crazed Tom Cruise shouting "Jesus! I know you're here, Jesus! I know you're here!" And he was coming closer! I knew there was no way out other than a window to jump out of, so I ran into a random room, opened the curtains, and clawed at the screen covering the windows. It was a tense moment as Cruise came ever closer, but I was able to make a hole in the screen, leap through, and jump! Then I woke up. No lasting emotional guilt here, but still...very much freaked out.

3. I would consider this a happy dream. Once again, it's about a girl, and this time I'm fairly certain that she doesn't read this, as she's in China. Remember that girl that I talked about in my old Xanga entry of "The Girl I Left Behind"? Yeah, this is about that same girl. Again, the details are fuzzy except for one scene that really stuck in my mind.

From what I remember, we were outside an apartment building, and she was planning to go to sleep...on the sidewalk outside the building. It seemed perfectly normal at the time. Anyway, she had a big argument with my mother's...hologram, which was being projected from the top floor of the apartment building down to the street below, near her. I know, weird. Anyway, the argument got pretty heated, so this girl started squirting mustard (!!) at the hologram, to no avail. She then turned it upwards and shot the mustard 4 floors up to where the hologram was being projected; it was a big mess. Anyway, then everything blurred again, and the next thing I know, I was sitting by her "bed" out on the sidewalk, lovingly stroking her black, silky hair while she giggled in her bed. It was just like the end of the first dream, but obviously I'm the one sitting, and the overall mood was that of...well, romantic, actually.

I was cheering her up after the fight she had with my mom, and suddenly, her blankets shifted towards me. It was so very random, but seemed, again, perfectly normal. I took the blankets and pulled it over her again, but she sat up, and we looked at each other for a good long while. You know those scenes in movies where two hero and the heroine are looking at each other in *that* way that you just know they were going to smooch in the next 3 seconds? Yeah, it was that kind of look. Like I said, romantic. It was something that I have never experienced in real life; that sense of emotional fulfillment, that somehow, the rest of my life is going to be great; that I've finally found that which is going to make me happy. See? Emotionally impacting again.

Then the scene dissolved, like in the movies. It was morning, and I was back to being an omniscient observer watching this girl and myself (yes, I was watching myself) talking and giggling under the blankets. No, *that* didn't happen. I assure you. Somehow, we were back to being kids. Little kids, like 5 year olds or something (and we knew each other back then), and we were hiding beneath the blankets together for some reason. It was actually cute, if I weren't watching myself. Then the dream ended.

So, for that brief moment where we stared at each other, it was a pretty cool feeling. It was happiness on a level I've never felt before, and it's one of those times where you're annoyed that it was all just a dream.

My brain's weird.