Checksum Arcanius

Go get ’em.

Ryan: I hate retard roommates
Joe: what’re they up to?
Ryan: ok, I grab some milk
Ryan: and its not cold. I’m like, wtf mate
Joe: uhh
Ryan: so I go back to the fridge. Someone has it turned all the way down. its been that way for at least a couple of hours, judging by the temperature of my milk (not warm, but not cold)
Joe: why…
Ryan: and I think I figured it out. The roommate thinks “1” is coldest
Ryan: when clearly, “9” is the coldest
Ryan: there’s no other reason for it to be there, as he just put his own stuff in there
Joe: umm…
Ryan: anyway, I know that if I were to bring it up, the roommate who is to blame would get defensive, so its really not worth it
Ryan: so its back to normal, but omg retard roommates
Joe: wow
Joe: good job him?
Ryan: and my milk fscking isn’t cold
Ryan: I’m pissed off
Ryan: I only like cold milk
Joe: well.
Joe: yea
Joe: who like semilukewarm milk?
Joe: that’s nasty
Joe: hot milk is ok
Ryan: yeah, just above that temperature where its not quite cold
Ryan: so, its above above cold
Ryan: not even just above cold
Joe: yeah
Ryan: meh
Ryan: anyway
Ryan: how’s your fridge?

I saw the second Pirates of the Caribbean with Scott Torborg last night. It was nice to see it get fairly good reviews from the general movie-going audience (who I trust far more than the critics), so I was looking forward to it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t at all what I expected. It was not a bad movie, necessarily, but it had none of the lightheartedness that made the first one so endearing. It was indeed much darker; as I heard someone call it, “Pirates of the Caribbean 2: The Empire Strikes Back.”

However, I’m torn as to whether darker was really necessary here. Certainly it made the movie seem less flippant and more important; but that isn’t really what I was hoping for. I wanted to feel good at the end of the day, not pensive. Alas, it was not to be as the darker side of human nature reared its ugly head again and again.

Certainly some of the nastiness of the opening scenes was completely unnecessary, and almost all of the humor seemed to be a reference back to the first film, which actually was funny in its own right. Also, there was too much to get done in the story that tried to hard to do too many things at times that it frayed at the edges. And although I didn’t like the major choices made by the characters (by design, I am sure), it is also, ultimately, what made this movie work at all: The fallibility of all is perhaps the greatest uniting theme of humanity.

Which brings me to the World Cup. Italy beat France, while I was rooting for France. But more shocking than the loss to Italy for us Francophiles was the loss of Zinidine Zidane to red card for a truly absurd foul in overtime. A great player, who seemed to be always cool under pressure, the captain of a team of veterans, made perhaps the greatest mistake of his career in his final game. So how does this fit in with the Pirates? Well, as I see it, we all make mistakes — and we all deserve a shot at redemption. I hope Zidane proves to be apologetic and conciliatory, and I believe him doing so will help him be remembered for his wonderful career instead of his final moments of competitive soccer. And Elizabeth Swan, Norrington, Barbosa, and company will get their chance at the redemption in a year or two as well.

Is, of course, being able to commit minor “crimes” without worrying about getting caught. Since cops never come here, my roommates and I felt pretty confident exploring the explosive qualities of Everclear (190 proof alcohol) and depth charge firecrackers. It turns out that everclear, while it burns very well by itself, and fuses, while they burn very well by themselves, do not burn well when combined. It was a sad night in Seattle indeed.

I’m a little embarrassed at how long it took me to figure out the I-90 express lanes. Having grown up on the Eastside, I thought all express lanes were like I-90’s: always going the wrong direction, generally space that could be better used for traffic going both directions (by adding an additional lanes to each side), or perhaps not even there at all. Later on, I learned that I-5’s express lanes generally work better. But this still left me confused about the real purpose behind I-90’s express lanes.

A while back, I figured it out. An image I saw in the Seattle Times today confirmed what I had been thinking. From Sound Transit via the Seattle Times:

This digitally manipulated photo by Sound Transit shows a proposed light-rail system that would run alongside I-90 across Lake Washington.

(Further edited by yours truly.)

And I even like the walkway.

The Seattle Times’ Danny Westneat wrote about a “Glaring gap in Sea-Tac security”

At the end of the article, he asks a question which led me to believe that Danny doesn’t have a firm grasp of economics. So, I attempted to provide some analysis for him. My response:

In your article, you ask: “Shouldn’t homeland security make more sense by now?”

No.

Why not, you ask?

– Who loses their job if those cameras aren’t turned on? (Nobody)
– Does SeaTac lose customers over this? (Nope, they are a monopoly on air travel in the region)
– What is the ultimate response? (SeaTac security – the very people who screwed up — get more money.)

In fact, it’s amazing that the right thing ever happens under these circumstances.

On the other hand:

– “Super” mall owners probably gave a bonus to the manager that secured this government money for the cameras. (This manager has a strong incentive to get the cameras to the mall)
– If something like this happens at the super mall, the negative press scares some customers away. (The mall has no monopoly, so they have to get it right or lose customers)
– Malls want to avoid theft to be more attractive to current and prospective tenants (The mall has a strong incentive to have cameras turned on)

Is it any wonder that the mall gets it right and that homeland security and the airport once again get it wrong?

Of course, its a whole lot easier as a journalist to simply ask “Shouldn’t homeland security make more sense by now?” and not provide any reasons. Much more striking article that gets people running around in “Do Something Syndromeland,” virtually ensuring that the end result is more tax money going towards the airport’s security. Sometimes I hate being right.