Checksum Arcanius

Yesterday, I went to Creighton’s, got my comuter working, then watched the Passion of the Chirst with Scott, who went home today. The movie was extremely well done and is the first movie of this type that I’ve seen that doens’t back away from the violence involved at all. I didn’t sense anti-semitism. I handled it alright, and thinking about it, I think I may want to see it again.

Today, it was a relatively busy Sunday – Missed some church, but made it in eventually. I dressed up a little more than usual. Next, i went to a LAN party at Tim’s to try out the new computer. It worked well. Then I helped out with the “Behold the Man” Production at my church. Then I returned home to play some CS and found the performance of my machine significantly downgraded. I thought maybe I got a virus at the lan party. So i reinstalled from scratch since I didn’t have much time invested into the computer yet. But that didn’t’ solve the problem. I checked for overheating, for loose cards, etc. But its even stranger. The problem is that whenever my mouse is plugged into my USB hub, the computer takes about 70% of its cycles when i move the mouse. If I move the mouse to any other USB port, no CPU cycles are consumed. Its extremely confusing – I’ve never heard of this happening before. If you have, let me know!

School starts again tomorrow, and I’m up way too late already, especially since I still need to by books. But first, some CS with a framerate that doesn’t drop below 99.9 even with smoke grenades…

Today was my last shift at Blockbuster. I had a pretty good time talking to the customers, coercing them to buy popcorn as the active seller, and flirting with hot girls. It was fun. The girls is what I’ll miss the most about Blockbuster, actually. Microvision is rather dominated with men. Afterwards, I went to see “Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind,” an interesting film with lots of space for interpretation. If you are well grounded and want to think, go see it.

I’m still wroking on this early schedule thing. Maybe dinner tomorrow with Scott, Dan, & Family. I don’t share quite everything here either.

Using: Mozilla Superpig and Mozilla Spaceant

Today, after the usual school thing, dropping off my photography assignment, and working (collected about 100 vhs tapes from various lists, joy), I went with my dad, Gary, Rich, and Earl to the Cinerama to see the Return of the King. I had seen it before, at the Factoria cinema, and I actually came away a little disappointed from that showing. Tonight, I learned that it was not the film that was disappointing � it was the theater. I saw the first two Lord of the Ring movies at Cinerama, and enjoyed them both. Now I have seen the third at Cinerama, and am wonderfully wowed rather than slightly dismayed. Congratulations to Peter Jackson and the whole crew that made the movies. This movie, and the entire series, best be getting some major recognition at the major award ceremonies.

Last time I saw the movie, and even more so this time, the most powerful scene for me was the lighting of the torches that Gondor used to call for help from Rohan. It sent shivers through me again. I remain unsure as to exactly why � perhaps it was the fact that the guardians of the towers, as portrayed, spent endless days watching for the signal that might have never come � but when it did come they were ready and performed their duty. Or maybe it was something else. Regardless, that scene was powerful.

I didn�t mention last night that I had ordered some items from U.S. Bearing in Seattle � namely some sprockets which were shipped from Portland, some chain, and a shaft. Well, initial reports had the package late, and when it finally showed up, missing important items and with other items in duplicate. I was ready to write a huge rant about US Bearing. Fortunately for them, and for the robot and FIRST team 492, things conspired for our good. The missing item was found after tearing the box apart, the duplicate item came in handy when the first one got destroyed, and everything turned out happy. Way to go US Bearing!

Donniedarko.com is interesting, if you have seen the movie.

I never made it to Sammamish. I got about as far as the TV — with the newfangled cable TV we have, Monster House was on, and it sucked me in as I feasted on extra sharp white cheddar melted over corn tortilla chips. Then my dad got home, and we watched “Out of Time,” which I picked up at Blockbuster for free earlier today (got to love late Saturday nights and guaranteed in stock movies). Then my mom got home, and it was after ten, and I decided I would actually make it to Larry’s around 8:00 tomorrow, so I should get to bed. But first I voiced some worries about the TRC achieving its mission, using my parents as a sounding board. It was good to get some of my ideas — developed on my own and borrowed from others — out in the open. It helps crystallize them so they stick around, which is important, especially for good ideas.

I’ve found out that I’m no good at studying anymore. I tend to mess around on my computer instead of studying, unless I’m being really good. But I don’t have trouble staying on task in the photo lab, for example. So it’s a location thing. Maybe some visits to the library are in my future�

Today, I slept in late, then didn’t do much until evening, when I got surround sound set up in the living room by connecting the dvd player to the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum in my desktop (“oasis”) with an optical audio cable, and by bringing down my 4.1 speakers and setting them up around the room. After some tweaking, the Audigy started decoding the Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and output it to the speakers. There was a small, but noticeable delay in the sound – something which I think would be fixed if we were to use the dvd player on the computer. That remains to be seen. We watched the original Italian Job, a not-very-good movie.

The “day” rollover in this blog should really occur at about 4:00 to 6:00 am – since I often get home after midnight to write about the previous night’s events. But then our whole society really should consider a new day beginning in the morning, and not at the ludicrous time of midnight. But thats not even the right solution – everyone really should wake up around first light, and go to bed much earlier so the daylight is used more efficiently. Oh well.

I’m not sure if I got paid properly for the hours I worked at the Lakemont Blockbuster a few weeks ago. The matter is under investigation.

I will be moving the old (Blogger) blog archive to their own indexed directory. I will post the location once I do that.

I love my subwoofer. I have the Logitech Z-560 4.1 surround sound system. It can output 400 watts, which is enough to hurt me, enough even to hear all the way downstairs. But the point is, the bass is so full. I can’t complain about the bed trembling.

I’m currently ripping X-Men United (aka X-Men 2).

I’m about to watch Basic.

I’m collecting $20 from Colby at church tomorrow, right before I go back to work at Issy-Gilman Blockbuster.

Thats all for now.