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Monday, March 29, 2010

Counting 853 links

Well before I had profile on Facebook, I was introduced to Google Mail by a friend. One of my job responsibilities is to attend to the phone; I generally read AutoBlog between calls.

One of my favorites is this road test: HSV GTS vs. FPV GT-P. Although these products are unique to the Australian domestic market, products of General Motors in Australia are manufactured and sold by Holden, and likewise Ford products by Ford of Australia. Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) and Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) are the performance divisions, or in-house tuners, of these respective companies, analogous to the M division at BMW or the Special Vehicles Team (SVT) at Ford.

I used to compose Google mail messages to myself full of links. At that time, a feature of the available version of Mozilla Firefox enabled me to drag the icon of the in-browser tabs to the message field within another window and automatically create a link to a page.

Yesterday at 12:38 p.m. Christopher Hurt is displaying 1 - 10 out of 849 links on Facebook. So far today he has beared the job.

The correct form of the verb to bear was not used in that status update because earlier I had received the security words "beared job" in order to link to my blog.

Obviously I have shared many links on Facebook. When updates to my Twitter and Facebook accounts were still connected, the links were simply shortened URLs within the status update. After Twitter suffered a few severe outages, some of my updates were delayed, would appear twice, or they would not appear at all, so I unlinked the accounts.

Also I enjoy tagging people and fan pages inside my status updates on Facebook, which is something I was not able when I only updated my status via Twitter.

Basically I prefer to share links on Facebook because of the richer content. My comment about the link, the title of linked page, the text from the page or about the page , and even an image are displayed when I share a link on Facebook. All of the links that I have shared, since April 11, 2009 at 4:05 p.m., remain accessible.

Pardon me, I must now share a link to this blog entry, like your girlfriend.

Mobile e-mail?

Mobile e-mail is not a foreign concept to me, but also not a forgone conclusion. Just because I have a messaging phone does not mean that I am using all capabilities of the device. With Verizon Wireless™ as my carrier, some of these capabilities require applications that come with added monthly subscription charges, so I have to be a little wary.

G.P.S. navigation, mobile e-mail, and mobile chat are all available by installing or enabling an application. The agreement for mobile e-mail, to which I just agreed, has a five-dollar monthly charge in addition to data charges; these data charges may be in excess of my rate plan. My data plan will now need some review.

About 56 minutes ago Christopher Hurt just configured mobile e-mail on his mobile phone. Little does he realize the fortune this decision might cost.

I will likely be able to bear a slightly higher bill for my phone per month. I made some changes to my plans with my cable provider, SureWest; thus saving me nearly fifty dollars per month.

I also have enabled mobile e-mail because I forgot to check one of my e-mail accounts for a week, and this week missed a message that Project Improv rehearsal was changed. Well I shall not make that mistake again, like your girlfriend, I hope.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Best Image Gallery Ever!

Ever since The Transformers first aired in syndication in 1984 when I was six, I have been a fanatic for Transformers, a Transfan. Yes, I am aware of other meanings of Transfan. Before I continue to the best image gallery I have ever found on the Internet, I will briefly discuss the history of Transformers.

In the United States, The Transformers franchise has been at least three things: a line of toys, a comic-book series, and an animated series. The franchise has existed simultaneously for most of its twenty-five-year longevity as an animated series and a line of toys, and recently as Transformers Animated. Currently the franchise is called Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen with a live-action film and a line of toys. I have very few figures from this era.

In the early 1980s, Hasbro acquired the marketing rights to several lines of transforming, robot toys from Japan; these toys comprised the first Transformers line. Lacking in the Japanese lines, the marketing gimmick was good (Autobots) versus evil (Decepticons). Transformers was first marketed with a comic-book series from Marvel and, once the ban on toy-based TV shows was lifted, as an animated series produced by Marvel Productions and Sunbow Productions and animated by Toei Animation. Production of the toys was done with Takara.

The franchise diverged a little after The Transformers: The Movie, and Wikipedia states, "In late 1993, Hasbro relaunched the Transformers franchise with the Generation 2 line." Before Generation 2 (G2), the entire franchise and all sub-lines are informally known as Generation 1 (G1). I have a few figures from this era.

In 1995, Transformers went in a new direction. The alternate modes, from the robotic form, of all figures would now be an animal, thus Beast Wars: Transformers was launched. Beast Machines succeeded this line and was shown exclusively on the Fox Kids network. Both lines became animated series, but computer-generated imagery (CGI), produced by Mainframe Entertainment in Canada, was used instead of hand-drawn cels. Many of the characters and their stories carried from one series to the next, so many Transfans simply call this the Beast Era. I have a many figures from this era.

After Beast Machines but before the first live-action film (2007) and Transformers Animated (2008), both the writing and animation for the franchise went to Japan. Between 2000 and 2005, the animation alternated between hand-drawn cels and CGI by several production houses. These TV series were dubbed into English and were shown on the Fox Kids network and later the Cartoon Network. I have a few figures from this era.

Around 2002, some sub-lines in the franchise were sold without support from an animated series. Transformers: Universe consisted of new paint schemes on older molds. In Japan two lines are marketed to collectors: Binaltech, which featured die-cast construction of real cars in 1/24-scale and G1 character names; and Masterpiece, which featured G1 characters and their G1 alternate modes in a larger scale with higher detail and articulation. The Masterpiece name was left unchanged for the US, but Binaltech became Alternators. I have a few figures from this era.

Now I have said all that, I will introduce, in my opinion, the best image gallery on the Internet, "Masterpiece Convoy" by Benson Yee. For reasons discussed in forthcoming post devoted to the Transformers mythos, Optimus Prime is known as Convoy in Japan. Benson Yee is also credited as a Transformers consultant for episodes of Beast Wars: Transformers, including "Possession," "The Agenda: Part 1, 2, and 3," and "Optimal Situation."

The gallery poses Masterpiece Convoy with each iteration of Optimus over life of the franchise, like your girlfriend. My favorite image features Masterpiece Convoy and Air Attack Optimus Primal from Beast Machines. Optimus Primal appears to say, "Look who I'm getting my picture taken with!"

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

I no longer like to simply post a link in my blog without commenting. I may look at redesigning my blog with some of these features, like your girlfriend.

Postscript to Experiment 001

I am composing another post with the title Postscript to Experiment, although this post is not following up with the post from yesterday. This post follows up with some of my status updates on Facebook, which were inspired by the words that I am sometimes required to enter in order to post external links to my profile.

Quotes were used the first time; March 12 at 12:49 p.m. Christopher Hurt wonders if he perpetuates "stale zaniness"?

The subject was changed from it to he; Monday at 12:45 p.m. Christopher Hurt abruptly wonders who he thinks he is.

The words made sense beside each other; Yesterday at 12:02 p.m. Christopher Hurt is not sure what makes this day distinct. Sunshine and high of 73 degrees Fahrenheit made yesterday distinct.

Although the words were not used a status update, I learned something about another culture; 2 hours ago Christopher Hurt reminds you to follow up with the milagaros you create.

When stating that I have updated my blog, the security words will likely inspire another status update, like your girlfriend.

The security words are serious this time and caused me to reminisce about a segment of the first episode of Robot Chicken by Seth Green, where Optimus Prime Dies of Prostate Cancer.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Postscript to Experiment 000

When I titled this post, "Postscript to Experiment", I was not making a reference to H.G. Wells in Love: Postscript to an Experiment in Autobiography, but rather a line of dialogue in the animated TV series Back to the Future, airing 1991-1993 on CBS on Saturday mornings.

I am referring to Christopher Lloyd specifically uttering, "Postscript to Experiment," once while reprising his role of Dr. Emmett Brown during the live-action segments of the TV series, which also featured science demonstrations by Bill Nye. The same Bill Nye who later hosted Bill Nye, the Science Guy, which began airing in syndication in 1993. I now see the need to reminisce about Back to the Future some time, whether the post would be about the film franchise, the TV series, or both.

Enough digression on this point, this post is a follow-up with my post yesterday about the passage of the health care bill in the US House. I admit that a good portion of my comments come from pure partisan-fueled hatred. Just moments ago, a friend on Facebook invited me to become a fan of Knowing Your Legal Rights. Pre Paid Legal Services Inc is something I may consider.

Enough digression on that point, this post is meant to comment on the passage of the health care bill in the US House, and what I am considering in response. I have much to consider, and I am not sure what actions to take.

I have read from NPR, "At least 12 state attorneys general plan to challenge the health care bill." I fully support this effort, because I am opposed to "a government mandate to buy health coverage," as again evidenced my post yesterday.

My mother first heard about the lawsuits on Fox News. Living obliviously, I was not aware of that news until she told me. Whether my mother should or should not be using Fox News as her primary news source and whether by proxy I should or should not be using Fox News as my primary news source are subjects to debate.

I might consider a health savings account. Take from that what you will, like your girlfriend.

Botch-fest 003

On Facebook, I tend to end my replies to the status updates of others with the phrase, "slides back, under rock." Living under a rock is more than a metaphor for me. I prefer to remain oblivious, and blissfully ignorant of politics and popular culture, because keeping abreast to either is too frustrating to me. I tend to get angry easily, especially about politics.

I tend also to not discuss politics, because (1) politics is not considered polite conversation in mixed company, (2) I do not know enough about the issues to discuss them calmly or avoid an ad hominem fallacy or attack, (3) I am on the opposite of the debate of most issues, (4) I do not like being wrong or being made a fool, and (5) I would rather keep friends and be respectful.

What I am about to say contains strong, vitriolic language, and in truth and in substance may be nothing beyond the regurgitated ramblings of conservative talk radio, to which I stopped listening at least half a year ago. Perhaps for no reason, and perhaps to no productive end, I am angry, and I am going to write about being angry. This time it's personal!

This Health Care Bill is a complete crock of shit!

Now I have to fucking get health insurance or pay a fucking fine?!

I can't fucking afford any goddamn health insurance!

After the 23.95 percent of my pay gets sucked away, I only make $10.50 an hour.

How the fuck am I suppose to afford health insurance?

How the fuck am I suppose to afford the new fucking taxes you fucks are going to put on me to fund this shit?

All us to Republicans are just supposed to shut up?!

All opposition is just supposed to shut up?!

Fuck you Democrats!
I hope people wake the fuck up and vote every last one of you goddamn fuckers out of office!

FUCK EACH ONE OF YOU FUCK-FACES!


FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!
FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!



There. I'm done, for now, like your girlfriend.


Thursday, March 18, 2010

As perfect a Thursday

As a procrastinating perfectionist, the ideal does not often become real for me most times. However every so often I actually have a really good day.

More rare than that is the my desire to talk or write about such a day. I am more than inclined to complain about bad days, especially when everything at once seems wrong.

As an almost daily regular of the Roving Imp Coffee House, I will sometimes compromise my sleep during the week to be a part of the evening activities. The exception is Wednesday, when the daily activity is in the afternoon. This Wednesday evening, March 17, I rehearsed with Project Improv for our upcoming show on Saturday, March 20, 2010 at the Fishtank as part of Kansas City Crossroads Comedy. The rehearsal finished at 9:00 p.m., so I actually went to bed before midnight.

Adequate sleep was the first thing that led to an exceptional Thursday. Apparently seven hours of sleep is a magic number for me, because on a more usual evening during the week I only sleep for five, maybe six, hours. This week is Spring Break at Johnson County Community College, and classes are not in session, but college offices are open. Regardless I am generally tired on weekday mornings, when I work.

For me, caffeine exists to counter the effects of mild to severe drowsiness. Although coffee comes with caffeine, I currently contain my coffee consumption to the Roving Imp Coffee House. My caffeine avails itself through soda. Wednesday night I bought some Vault™ citrus soda, which according to the advertising, "drinks like a soda, [and] kicks like an energy drink."

Each twelve-ounce can of Vault contains sixty-nine milligrams of caffeine; a twelve-ounce can of Coca-Cola Classic contains half that amount. So I drank a 12-oz. can before 8:00 a.m., and I was primed for a challenge from David:
David Rushing dares you to make a random comment on this status update...about anything. That's right! Anything! It's on.
First when I responded, I wrote, in reference to Vault:
Yellow 5 is still all right with me.
Yellow 5 is still all right, oh yeah!
Yellow 5 is still all right with me.
Yellow 5 is still all right...
Responding this way I then had a musical mood, which inspired several replies:
let me hear you say yeah, (yeah yeah)
say yeah (yeah yeah yeah)
Somebody ask, everybody reply, raise your voices, now, scream (Ho!)
1 2 kick it

, ,

doo bee doo

, ,

doo bee doo


'cause breaking up is hard to do!



Backfire
Rocket dance (DOGFIGHT)
You're big time gambler
Crazy game (Break it, break it strike it, shake it)
Baby, this is your ecstasy

Of course, he did say anything, so I had to make some statement about politics, from which I usually refrain:
Christopher Hurt reminds you that Obama is an acronym and that acronym is a hackneyed and vulgar statement used by those who would like for you to keep your Change.
In this statement I was referring to O.B.A.M.A.; kitto a better slogan must exist. This present administration is not exactly popular with me, but I digress.

I am able to access Twitter and Facebook at work, so I found plenty of items of which to link on Facebook, mainly from AutoBlog.com. A British comedian, David Schneider, posted a link to a film called Four Lions.

So I began to view more videos on-line this Thursday than I had viewed in a month, including Tanner Foust drifting Mulholland Drive in his 600-horsepower Scion tC.



Although I do not follow the organized sport of drifting, I have been fascinated since I first watched the animé Initial D, or even before that when I considered going to Hot Import Nights, when they toured more widely in 2005.

Streetwise Drift Pro-Am event #1 from Chad Sommer on Vimeo.
The preceding video was presented on Facebook by Six Sigma Dyno Services. I found that viewing both these videos was better at my home, where I can actually view them with sound. Before I went home for the day, I decided to link my YouTube account to my Facebook and Twitter accounts yesterday.
Also before I left work yesterday, I became Facebook friends with a man who soon sent me a message on Facebook, asking me if my car was a 2003 or 2004. Turns out that he drives a 2004 with a five-speed manual transmission and a custom, two-tone paint job. Replying to this initial message continued between us for two or three hours and was another highlight of my Thursday.
Once home, I watched some more videos and took a brief nap before going to the Roving Imp Theater for cast photos and improv fun. While the cast photos are being taken, a rather nice, black Mercedes-Benz CLK 55 AMG sedan just begged to be captured with camera on my mobile phone.


I made sure not to capture the license number.


The CLK 55 denotes the 5.5-liter V8. Kompressor? Yes, this V8 is supercharged.


This is the view as one looks down Oak Street.
On the way home from the Imp, the bulb for my left tail light went out. Although certainly a safety concern, the silver lining is that I had a spare bulb at home, so I did not have to go to buy a set after I finished work on Friday. The only thing that went wrong on Thursday was easily fixed.
I hope to have another day like this again soon, maybe even today, like your girlfriend!

Ice cubes keep me happy

In maintaining a blog, I have planned to update every five days. My goodness, I am again being self-referential, but even Opinion and Editorial writers are sometimes self-referential. As I observed everything changed for me in January, I intended to do a retrospective on my February as much I intended one for 2009, but neither of those has happened half-way through March.

For a month I have been suffering from illness related to seasonal allergies. By seasonal allergies, I mean every season: spring, summer, autumn, winter! No matter what time of year I run the risk of congestion, coughing, sneezing, and the possibility of an ear infection.

Two years ago, when my friend Denton and I more often frequented the Red Balloon Bar and Grill, I had congestion behind both of my ears, so much so that I found the blaring volume from the speakers to be tolerable. On Friday, February 29, 2008, I actually got the flu; I would have preferred for nearly anything else to have happened on that day.

Right now I have some congestion behind my left ear, and my allergist told me that my ear was not infected, but that I still run the risk. One to two weeks ago I was suffering more, and last week I had a dry, filmy feeling left in my throat. I have remedied that feeling this week.

I took some advice I read a while ago and I have started the last two days by drinking some water. Obvious, I know, but last week soda was the first thing I drank most weekdays. Many things can be said about tap water, but I have no premium or bottled water at home. No connoisseur, I prefer my tap water with ice cubes.

Ice cubes keep me happy. They keep the water cooler than the temperature it left the tap. Later, once I have drank the water, I can further hydrate from the ice cubes. For this reason I rarely throw out cups from quick-service restaurants, because at least in the Mid-West, the fluid to ice ratio generally favors ice.

I reuse the cup, from which I earlier drank the water at home, refilling ice from the large refrigerator near my work area. To this ice I now apply the soda, which is indeed an interesting and dramatic practice. Being unable to fill the cup completely, I drink the soda more slowly this way as well.

By using ice, I have been hydrated enough to not require buying any additional bottled drinks at work, thus saving me nearly four dollars a day. I also do not have that feeling in my throat.

I should also be grateful that there is such a thing as a refrigerator according to Absolute Zero and the Conquest of Cold, which is a book (I must borrow now), a two-part program from NOVA, and a campaign, also stating:
This commonplace appliance owes its existence to centuries of low-temperature physics.
I love that existence half-way rhymes with physics; that quote is poetic. Ice was once harvested from frozen rivers and lakes, until ice was first artificially produced using ammonia. Since the middle of the nineteenth century, the ability to keep goods frozen or refrigerated during shipping across the United States has delighted either people wanting fresh fruits and vegetables or the beer drinkers of America.

Ice cubes keep me happy, like your girlfriend.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Optimism in the meantime

Last fall, I completed an associate degree in Applied Science in Information Technology, Computer Network Systems at ITT Technical Institute. Thus I am currently "between semesters" as I was looking to resume classes at Ottawa University in January, 2010. Unable to secure a private or alternative loan, I will have to wait for the next financial aid year to start in July.

I just slowly enjoyed a can of Royal Crown Cola over the last hour. My only problem was the dry, filmy feeling left in my throat. I am not trying to start another Botch-fest post, but then some virus installed something claiming to be anti-virus, but this problem has occurred all too often, so Deep Freeze™ is installed on this shared terminal at work. I only have to restart and the problem is gone!

Anyway I am also in my standard six-month deferment term for my student loans. I also recently paid off a few debts, so I am ahead financially. I am taking time to have as much fun as fun as possible with Read Aloud Night, Team Trivia Tuesday, Magic: The Gathering (a collectible card game by Wizards of the Coast), and Game Night at the Roving Imp Coffee House.

I have a lot to be optimistic about, and I am encouraged to remain optimistic by the company I keep, like your girlfriend.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

What kind of message would I send?

In one of my recent status updates, Monday, March 1, at 12:05 p.m., I said that I felt like I had sent e-mail to everyone I know. This differs from saying that I felt like had sent e-mail to everyone I know at work, which was what I meant, as I had sent nine e-mail messages that morning. Thus I clarified in a comment, but the update, lacking that qualifier, is how the status update was perceived.

I tend to fulfill all of the first three definitions of apologetic at one time in my life or another and sometimes simultaneously.

The responses caused me to wonder what kind of message I would send if I was to e-mail everyone that I know. Of course, I do not have an e-mail address for everyone that I know, so that would narrow the number of people to whom I would send an e-mail. Would I also confine myself to e-mailing those individuals in my spreadsheet of contacts? Would I use management software to administrate the list? Another technical concern would be from which of my e-mail accounts I would sent the message, but I digress.

I would likely strike an apologetic or humble tone, as I do not want to offend anyone in order to avoid conflict, so no doubt some things would be left behind, and I would likely write something positive, possibly explaining how much I value each person and how each person inspires me.

In truth, I am not likely to send one e-mail to everyone I know. I update my status and blog frequently enough for nearly everyone I know to read how I am doing, and I am confident that
nearly everyone I know does read updates to my status and blog, like your girlfriend.