Mason Wang

Another Bet

2010-01-26T00:33:00.005-07:00

Since the 2010 bet fell through, me and my friend have decided to make another bet.

The first one to be able to do horizontal(side) splits will get to dress the other person any way they want for a full day at some super public event (like the state fair or elitch gardens).

The winner will get to choose the clothes as well as any sort of make up, hair dye, fake tattoos, accessories, etc and the loser will have to wear it all as long as they don't pose a threat of physical harm to the wearer.

The bet will last until a winner is confirmed.

A horizontal split is defined as when the legs are pointing in opposite directions right and left of the torso creating a 180 degree angle between them. Also the inner thigh of each leg must be able to touch the ground.

I've been wanting to do the splits for some time. Maybe this will motivate me to stretch every night.

I want to be able to do this:

And apparently anyone can do the splits:

Update: Making Bets on the New Year

2010-01-26T00:11:00.002-07:00

So it's 2010 and the results are in from my bet with a friend on how the year 2010 will be referred to. See the original post. It turns out that we were both wrong.

2009 was referred to as "oh nine." For example "I graduate in oh nine"

Years before they were referred to as "Class of ninety eight" or "Class of oh four."

Now 2010 will now be called...twenty ten. Wtf? The years have always been referred to by the last two digits. Why is 2010 different? Probably because saying, "I'm from the class of ten" would sound incredibly dumb and confusing. So it's now referred to as "twenty ten." Lame. I guess that's what's going to happen to 2011, 2012, and so on.

But the question is, when will it change back to just referring to a year by the last two digits?

"I'm from the class of twenty one". No that still doesn't sound right. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Who comes up with these rules?

2010 New Years Resolution

2010-01-22T22:45:00.003-07:00

It's late but I was in Taiwan so that's my excuse. Last year I made 26 resolutions. Let's see how I did:

-Reach 7% body fat or lower - FAIL
-Be able to do 75 pushups in one session - FAIL (I got up to 70 though)
-Be able to do horizontal splits - FAIL
-Weigh no more than 155lbs - FAIL (Taiwan got me up to 163)
-Make 2 youtube videos a month - FAIL
-Make at least 3 Avenger Initiative blog posts a week - FAIL
-Make at least 1 Big Wanger blog post a week - FAIL
-Earn $100 over the internet by selling shirts, advertisements, ebay, scams, or whatever - FAIL
-Sell my Transformers toy collection on ebay - WIN! (I sold them for about $120)
-Go snowboarding at least once - FAIL
-Go swimming for fun - WIN! (Elitch Gardens)
-Listen to all the audio books I’ve burned - FAIL
-Find a part time job during the Spring semester - FAIL
-Study ahead in class - FAIL
-Don’t skip any classes - FAIL
-Don’t enter finals with a borderline 90% grade like always - FAIL
-Flirt with a girl online - FAIL
-Drink at most 1 can of soda a month - FAIL
-Keep my turtle alive - WIN!
-Keep watching the tv show Heroes - WIN!
-Get slapped in the face - FAIL
-Don’t knowingly kill any insects found in my house - WIN!
-Keep taking advantage of the local library - WIN!
-Don’t get into a car accident - WIN! (I hit a curb when it was snowy though)
-Stand in front of an audience without acting stupid - FAIL
-Consume zero alcoholic beverages or chocolates - FAIL (Why did I put chocolate in the same category as alcoholic beverages?)

So I got 7/26. That's a 27% success rate. Lame.

Ok this year, I'll do better. Here are my resolutions.

The usual goals:
-Reach 7% body fat or lower
-Be able to do 75 pushups in one session
-Be able to do horizontal splits
-Weigh no more than 155lbs
-Don't consume any alcohol
-Save at least 33% of all the money I earn
-Keep my turtle alive

New goals:
-Get a higher success rate than last year
-Visit Nancy in Boulder before she leaves for Africa
-Finish School
-Get a good professional job
-Move out of the house
-Get a PS3
-Get a 360
-Get an HDtv
-Get a desktop computer
-Assemble my 3 gundams
-Limit fast food to once...no...twice a month
-Get As in my last 2 classes
-Brush my teeth everyday
-Use the Rec center more often
-Spend less money on vending machines
-Post Youtube vids at least every 3 weeks
-Learn to read a chinese children's book
-Dress better

There. 25 new resolutions. Most are dumb but it's something to work for. We'll see how it goes.

Joke: More Chickens Cross the Road

2009-12-14T02:35:00.004-07:00

Here are some more chicken jokes that I just thought of.

Why did the chicken cross the road?
A: Because it looked both ways already.

Why did the chicken cross the road?
A: Because it can't fly over the road.

Why did the chicken cross the road?
A: FREEEEDOM!

Why didn't the chicken cross the road?
A: It was on strike.

Why did the chicken cross the road?
A: Sarah Palin! (it's not supposed to make sense)

Making Bets on the New Year

2009-11-01T19:20:00.005-07:00

A friend and I were discussing whether the year 2010 will be referred to as "Oh Ten" or just "Ten."

I said just "Ten" because that's what makes technical sense even though it'll sound dumb and people could confuse it with the year 10 A.D. My friend thinks it'll be called "Oh Ten."

We made a bet on who's right and winner of the bet will get to throw a snowball at the loser's face as hard as they can from an arms length away. If the snowball is packed hard enough, that's almost the equivalent to being punched in the face.

Ooooo, I can't wait.

Jokes(Kinda): Handicapped People

2009-09-27T10:05:00.003-06:00

What is the one thing handicapped people can do easier than others?

Answer: Find parking.

'Paranormal Activity' Movie Trailer = Awesome

2009-09-20T20:44:00.003-06:00

This movie trailer that I just saw looks pretty awesome. The idea of filming audience reactions is ingenious, though this might mean that there isn't enough movie to properly make a trailer of, but the Blair Witch style movie is refreshing and I'm totally looking forward to watching it. It's a limited release, but hopefully someone will post it on the internet. Otherwise I'll have to wait for the DVD to come out.

My Scams: Free PS3 Games

2009-08-25T16:02:00.004-06:00

I periodically come up with ideas to make money that are sometimes illegal or immoral. I'm usually too lazy to act upon these ideas, but I'd like to start documenting them.

On this Kotaku article, they say that with the impending arrival of the PS3 Slim, Best Buy sent out a memo to their employees on how to handle customers who want to return their recently bought "fat" PS3 in exchange for the new "slim" version.

Best Buy has no need for old models of the PS3 so they want to prevent people who just bought a PS3 from exchanging it in for a new slim one. What they say is to offer the customer a free game (either Infamous, MLB 09 The Show, or Killzone 2) if they don't exchange their PS3.

What's the Scam:
I was thinking, those 3 games being offered cost around $50-$60 each. So what I should do is buy a "fat" PS3 now. Wait until the Slim PS3 is released September 1st, then go exchange my "fat" PS3, but instead, take them up on their deal for a free game. Then I'd go to every single Best Buy in the city/neighboring cities performing the same action accumulating 8-10 games. I would sell these brand new games for $40 each and in the process make $320-$400. Thus recouping the price I originally spent on the $300 PS3.

Good deal? I'd think so.

Blue Screen of Death, How I've Missed You

2009-08-02T22:04:00.002-06:00

Just now my laptop of 6 years just went bluescreen. It actually was a double whammy since I had my laptop connected to a monitor also. The last time I had a BSD was about 4 years ago when my hard drive died. I was beginning to think that the BSD forgot about me. Seeing it today was a little heart warming, but after 1 second of a warm heart I got worried as to why it went blue.

It literally came out of the blue...forgive the pun, but I only had two Google Chrome browsers and an Internet Explorer window open. I wasn't downloading, installing, gaming, or anything that was process intensive. I was actually just looking up ratings of professors of classes I'm taking in the fall and suddenly it went blue. I guess it just needed a rest. I'm now using my netbook which luckily has not gone Eiffel 65 on me yet.

After a good nights rest, I'm backing up everything in good old Dell Latitude.

Your Head Looks...Swollen!

2009-07-30T21:58:00.005-06:00

About 3 weeks after getting my wisdom teeth out, for some reason my lower right jaw hasn't healed yet. It was a dull pain until this morning where the pain woke me up way early. Which is weird since sleeping is usually my remedy for pain. Pain isn't supposed to wake me up. This pain is some kind of mutant.

Ahhh, I am very pain intolerant and this is pretty bad. Mom decided to get the prescription antibiotics that we didn't think I'd need. But geez, this pain feels like half my head has been punched by a clown with one of those boxing gloves on a spring.

Now my face is swollen. And ice packs seems to make it puffier. As you can see, my face is lopsided. Being lopsided is ok, unless of course you have a job interview tomorrow...like I do.

Sphenopalatine Ganglioneuralgia

2009-07-10T20:44:00.005-06:00

That is the scientific name for "brain freeze." I'd sound so cool if I say that the next time I drink a Slurpee, but the problem is...I don't know how to pronounce it.

Right After Losing My Wisdom Teeth

2009-07-07T21:55:00.006-06:00

You know how I was saying in my last post that I was going to eat a big breakfast and then leave a "surprise" during the surgery? Yeah I didn't follow through with that. It's a good thing because right before the surgery I had to sign a waiver that said that if I eat any food or drink 8 hours before, it could cause life threatening complications and I could die. so my last meal would have been the cause for it being my last meal. Whew! I'm not dead!

Well the process went like this:

The surgeon stuck a needle in my arm that was supposed to be a catheter for the IV. It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. He then injected some stuff into the IV and said that I should start feeling the effects in 30 seconds. I was thinking, "Yeah right, 30 seconds? I'm a tough guy. It'll take more than 30 seconds for anything to knock me out." I started counting. Then the nurse stuck a rubber piece in my mouth and then I passed out. So I'd say it was about 15 seconds.

Next thing I knew, I woke up and my mouth was numb. I felt no pain and there was gauze in my mouth. I was fine. I didn't feel woozy. I could walk, but they still had me sit in a wheel chair and had a guy push me to our car so my mom and drive me home.

At home mom made me eat a pain killer. Then I strangely decided to film a video. Then after that for some reason I had a huge urge to watch Transformers so I put in Transformers in the DVD player and started watching it with Michael Bay commentary. My parents didn't like that I was watching tv so they had me turn it off. I then took a nap.

I wasn't really hungry even though I hadn't eaten anything for 15 hours. I guess the fear of pain from eating was enough to make my stomach not growl. I did have a lot of blood drip out. My shirt got dirty and I had to change the gauze every 40 minutes or so. I'm alright now. I just hope I don't choke on any extra blood while I sleep tonight. Gosh! It seems like everyday there is a chance of me dying!

Here's that weird video I decided to make. As you can see I'm still very incoherent and mind altered with drugs.

No Eating or Drinking 6 hrs Before Surgery

2009-07-06T21:01:00.004-06:00

Getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow. The appointment is at 9:30am. That means that if I can't eat or drink for 6 hours, I have to wake up at 3am to eat something otherwise I'll be stuck with just dinner 15 hours before.

I wonder why we can't eat or drink for 6 hours. Maybe it's so that we don't relieve ourselves while asleep during surgery.

You know what? I'm going to eat a huge breakfast tomorrow morning and ignore the rule. It might be my last meal so it better be a good one. Plus I'd like to hear what the surgeon has to say when I leave him a present during the operation. I assume it would be along the lines of, "Uh, yeah you pooped yourself."

I'm Never Having Trees in my Yard

2009-07-05T19:20:00.002-06:00

This year I cut down 3 trees. A 15ft tall aspen tree, a 10ft tall apple tree, and just today a 25ft tall leafy tree. Mom had various reasons for wanting to cut them down ranging from too many seeds spreading to hitting the window when it's windy outside.

The tree I had to cut today was one of my favorite trees. It was at least 21 years old. I saw it grow up, but it had to go so I took our electric saw and chopped it down. Chopped all the branches to little pieces so they'll fit in our trashcan and then chopped the trunk as if the tree never existed.
NOTE: Uprooting trees is such and major, humongous PAIN IN THE...back.

I forgot to take a picture of the tree before I made the first cut so here are two pictures of the tree after I already cut half of it down. You can still see how tall it was.

Here's what the house looks like after the tree is all gone.

Here's the dying pile of tree.

What I've learned from killing all these trees is this: When you plant trees, they are small and they are cute...like babies. But after 15-20 years, they're gigantic nutrient sucking monstrosities that start imposing on your personal space. You won't like them anymore and will want them gone. And the process of cutting them down and uprooting their stubborn tentacle roots will make you regret ever planting the tree in the first place. So don't plant trees in your yard because you'll have to cut them down. And that is murder.

My future yard will consist of a 5x5ft square piece of grass for backyard picknicks and maybe a flower somewhere. No trees. Maybe rocks. And a tree house.

Here are some other trees that might fall victim in the future. God it's going to really suck to cut these guys down.

And now here's me, my brother, and my mom cutting down most of our aspen tree.

I Might Die on the 7th

2009-07-02T21:41:00.008-06:00

I went to an oral surgeon today for a consultation to get my 4 wisdom teeth taken out. Two of them are coming in weird and are pushing the rest of my teeth crooked so I really want to take them out, but today at the office they had me watch an "Informed Patient Consent" video about the procedure and risks of getting my teeth taken out.

I must say that the video freaked me out a little. Cracked jaws, permanent nerve damage, extreme pain. My I remind you that I'm very pain intolerant. I'll also have to be put to sleep during the operation. Though it's only going to be 20 minutes I'm afraid that I won't ever wake up. I'm a heavy sleeper and I'm sure my body would like being in a coma. Judgement day will be 5 days from today.

So I just want to make it clear that if I die, here is how my stuff will be divided:

DVD Movies - All will go to my brother since he needs a good Kung Fu movie collection.

Text Books - All of my text books will be either sold, and the money given back to my parents, or burned.

Other Books - All are given to my brother since he still needs to read Harry Potter and could use some Bruce Lee exercise books.

Clothes - Donated to ARC or the Salvation Army. Except for my autographed Lalaine shirt. That will go on ebay and the money given back to Lalaine.

Video Games and Hardware - will be given to a grade school girl who writes the best essay about turtles determined by my friend Terra.

Computers - My two laptops will be buried with me since I've spent a high percentage of my life using them.

External Hard drive - Given to Terra since she'll probably be the most appreciative of all the music and video I have on there. But it might be nice to let my parents get a copy of all the pictures on there also.

Toys - If you were a childhood friend, you can pick your favorite toy that I have to keep, but the rest of my toys will be sold on ebay as one giant lot with a Buy it now price of $10,000.

Cameras - My digital cameras, camcorders, and web cam will be given to Terra only if she starts making YouTube videos with them. If not, then they shall be given to an astronaut to make YouTube videos from space.

Wealth - My meager savings, paypal, and google adsense account will be transfered to my parents in order for them to buy a giant tv and another year worth of internet/cable service.

My Pet Turtle - If I leave Mr. Turtle to my parents they'll probably throw him away. So I will give my turtle to my two responsible friends Celia and Cleria. They will have joint custody of Mr. Turtle because even though he's only 6oz, he's a handful...literally. And maybe Mr. Turtle may even become their official church mascot.

Everything Else - The rest of my stuff from my bike, tooth brush, bed sheets, key chain collection, stickers, exercise equipment, lint roller, etc. will all be up for grabs for whoever wants them.

Celebrities Died so Iran is Forgotten

2009-06-28T14:49:00.003-06:00

June 25th 2009. Farrah Fawcett (an original Charlie's Angel) dies of anal cancer at the age of 62. Later that day, Michael Jackson from cardiac arrest at the age of 50.

Farrah's probably thinking, "Come on! The one day I die, Michael Jackson has to die too!"

And today, 3 days later, Billy Mays dies of a blood clot (I think).

I found out about MJ's and Billy Mays' deaths on twitter...sadly.

With all these deaths, the world has forgotten about the huge revolution in Iran. The phrase "Iran, the whole world is watching" should now be, "Iran, the whole world is watching MJ music videos and OxyClean infomercials."

Contact Mason

2009-06-27T17:09:00.003-06:00

If anyone needs to contact me, here are your options:

Email: wangm7(at)gmail(dot)com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MasonWanger

Twitter: http://twitter.com/masonsturtle

About This Site / About Me

2009-06-27T15:52:00.007-06:00

I've always wanted to have my own website, but with hosting fees and being a total website making newbie, I haven't really actively pursued that goal. Maybe in the future, but for now, I just tried my best to adapt this Blogger blog to imitate a website I'd have. It doesn't have all the functions I'd like but it'll do for now.

This site has mostly been built as an active time capsule. It's a place for me to jot down notes, pop culture, things going on in the world of Mason so the future Mason can look back at this blog and see how I was like as a recent college graduate who is unemployed and living at home with his parents (Seinfeld reference). It also will help me improve my writing because my writing really sucks and needs lots of work.

My posts will consist of "Categories" which will consist of: (in alphabetical order)

Free Stuff: Posts about getting or giving free stuff. Everyone love free stuff.

In My Opinion: These are posts where I express my opinion on certain topics that I have become very opinionated at the time. These posts will most probably offend stupid people.

Jokes: Random jokes that I've thought of myself. Probably not very funny to the general public, but I find them funny.

Miscellaneous: Posts that don't fit into any specific category. Will consist of news, pop culture, strange facts or anything that I feel compelled to share. This will most likely be the largest category.

My Boring Life: Posts directly related with things going on in my life. Like what I ate for breakfast or my butt being itchy.

Questions: Posts where I ask questions about things I've been wondering about. Some may come with answers that I've researched and some may just be rhetorical.

Videos: Posts that have a video embedded in them. I like videos.

Well that sums up my site. Kinda lame I know, but at least it is my own.

================================================================

About Mason Wang

What are you?
I am an American born Chinese.

How did you get your name?
My Chinese name literally means "Born in America." I heard Jackie Chan was going to name his son Mason for the same exact reason, but he was advised against it because people thought it was stupid.

Why did you start this blog?
No one really cares to listen to me when I express my opinions so I decided to make it to record my opinions and interests.

I heard that you moved around a lot. How was life growing up?
Who did you hear that from? I'm only lived in two places in my life. Auburn, Alabama till I was 2 and then Colorado Springs, Colorado up to now. I must mention that I am bored of mountains. Growing up was ok, though now I wished I did more things as a kid.

Family?
I have two parents and an older brother. My brother is 5 years older than me and is a DOCTOR! Yes he is much more successful than me but he works 100 time harder than me so he deserves it. If I became more successful than him then life just wouldn't be fair.

College?
I only applied to one college, the University of Colorado at Boulder, because I knew that I'd get in. I'm that good, I know. I majored in Finance. Mostly because it was a Business Degree and I didn't want to do Engineering. I don't like Finance.

What are your future career goals?
To open my own business in something cool like an internet cafe or a juice bar or a t-shirt store. I know, I aim low. I also want to be a professional game show contestant.

Do you play any instruments?
I played the piano for one Summer. Then the violin for about 3-4 years. Then my violin teacher said that I was tone deaf and told me to learn the clarinet. So I learned the clarinet with the school bad for 1.5 years. I like how I was so bad at violin that my teacher didn't want my business anymore.

What is your talent?
I can officially say that I don't have a talent of any kind. I am ok at everything but never the best. I'd like to think that I haven't discovered it yet. I just hope it's not gutting fish.

What did you have for breakfast today?
Two green grapes and a half cup of chocolate soy milk.

Best Pocket Camcorders: Flip Ultra HD vs Vado HD

2009-06-21T22:16:00.014-06:00

So I just spent A LOT of time looking at what is the best pocket camcorder. I looked at:

(links are to their amazon.com page)
Flip Ultra
Flip Ultra HD
Flip Mino HD
Creative Vado
Creative Vado HD
Kodak Zi6
Kodak Zx1
Sony Webbie HD

Ok it all came down to the Flip Ultra HD and the Creative Vado HD. Don't even bother considering the others because they are crap compared to these two.

Which is better? It took me ages to come to a conclusion. I'll break it down for you.

Looks: VadoHD
VadoHD wins because it is slim and sexy.

Battery/Battery Life: UltraHD
VadoHD and the UltraHD have a removable rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Only rechargeable through USB unless you buy a separate charger accessory. Both have a battery life of about 2 hours. The UltraHD allows the use of normal AA batteries once the Li-ion battery runs out thus making it the winner.

Record Time: Tie
On the highest HD setting for both cameras, they can only record 2 hours onto their 8GB internal memory. Though the VadoHD does allow you to record in SD which allows you to record more time but since the battery runs out after 2 hours, there is no point.

Video Quality: UltraHD
The VadoHD does have a very nice wide-angle lens which allows you to capture more stuff in the video. And most of the daytime shots between the two look almost the same. But UltraHD wins because it has slightly better low light videos.

Sound Quality: UltraHD
The VadoHD uses mono while the UltraHD uses stereo so the UltraHD captures more sound at better quality.

Accessories: VadoHD
The accessories that come with the Vado include a silicone case (which is nice) and a HDMI cable. The UltraHD doesn't even come with an HDMI cable.

Price: VadoHD
The the VadoHD first came out it was selling for $230 but it is now about $150. The UltraHD had just come out so it is still it's retail price of $200.

Computer Compatibility: UltraHD
The VadoHD requires you to install a codec onto the computer you want to use to upload your videos online while the UltraHD doesn't. So the UltraHD is more friend computer friendly.

My decision: Totally based on what I want out of a camera, I've finally decided to go with the flip UltraHD. Though it is more expensive and fat, I like the better audio quality and the ability to use normal batteries (just in case). What really held me back from making my decision was Vado's wide angle lens, its slim form factor, and price. But I really wanted the best video quality so I decided to go with the Flip UltraHD.

Here's a video of a guy comparing the 2.

Secrets of Target's Clearance Items

2009-06-16T23:34:00.006-06:00

So some people know that I like to shop at Target. Not because I think that i'm above Wal-Mart shoppers. I actually like Wal-Mart. When it comes to prices, Wal-Mart definately is cheaper. Expecially when it comes to food. But why does a cheapskate like me shop at Target? Because of its clearance items.

Target always has items on clearance. They are usually located in the back of the isles. The end caps to be precise.

There's usually clearance items on basically everything in the store. Clearance items don't necessarily mean that the items are bad or expired, they usually mean that they are items that Target has decided not to sell anymore so they need to get rid of all remaining items quick. Seasonal items like school supples and holiday products usually go on clearance immediately after the holiday.

The clearance percentages usually goes like this.

15, 30, 50, then 75% off.

They usually adjust the clearance percentage every 1-2 weeks. Once an item gets to 50% off, it's almost always bought by someone, so if you're a loser like me, you find the clearance item you'd like when it's 30% off, hide it somewhere in the store, and come back in a month and it should be 75% off. You can check the price using the self price check scanner Target has all over the store. Though if you wait too long, I just learned this today, but if you hide your clearance items for too long then the price when you scan them will be $0.00 which is great but when you go and actually try to buy them, the register computer tells the employee to enter the price of the product since it can't find one itself. And then employee will just enter the price displayed on the clearance sticker when you first decided to hide it.

I know I know that hiding clearance items is totally frowned upon, hopefully not illegal, but it does save you money. Paying $5 for a video game or $1.50 for 12 AA batteries is always a good feeling.

Here's a website for a more detailed explanation.

So to recap:
1. Shop Target's clearance items.
2. Find the items you want.
3. Hide them under shelves or behind rarely bought items.
4. Come back in a couple of weeks and find you hidden treasures.
5. Buy them at a steep discount.
6. Be happy.

Jokes: Shrimp

2009-06-01T15:27:00.006-06:00

This isn't really a joke and I've talked about this with my brother. When you're a kid, people ask you what your favorite animal is. The most common answers are: dog, cat, horse, hippo, turtle(my personal favorite), dolphin, and penguin. No one ever says their favorite animal is a shrimp. So if you want to mess with some people, you know what to say.

What's your favorite animal?

Shimp

Shrimp? Why?

Because they taste good.

I was just thinking about some other strange favorite animals and I thought of this:

What's your favorite animal?

Pork.

Uh, that's not an animal.

That's not what PETA says.

I know, I know. I find dumb things funny.

Thunder Snow!

2009-04-20T11:50:00.005-06:00

I took these picture APRIL 17th. And it's snowing! It was scary snow too. With thunder and lightning. That's a first.

On a totally unrelated note, my brother once said, "If April showers bring May flowers, what do Mayflowers bring?...Pilgrims!"

Free Stuff: Hats

2009-03-25T17:59:00.004-06:00

Just a collection of free hats I've gotten over the years. And this doesn't include the free hats my dad has gotten.

Free Stuff: How To

2009-03-09T18:33:00.003-06:00

Here's some sites I go to get free stuff:
TotallyFreeCrap.com - a simple site that sometimes has cool stuff.

Wal-Mart Samples - they always seems to have feminine hygiene products to give away.

GiveAwayoftheDay.com - free software

FatWallet.com - not exactly free stuff but there are great deals.

Dealzmodo - some decently good stuff sometimes.

Here's a video with some other tips.

Vegetarianism

2009-03-09T14:42:00.007-06:00

I'm not a vegetarian. Mainly because when it comes to food, meat satisfies me more than vegetables and carbohydrates. I actually don't like eating pure meat like steaks and pork chops and anything else you can find at a Texas roadhouse. I actually prefer processed meat like burgers, hotdogs, and mystery meat. I just think it tastes good. Plus I don't like to be able to accurately identify the location my particular meat was located on the animal it came from.

I see PETAs "be a vegetarian" ad that is supposed to make people aware of the all the bad things that happen to the animals that provide our meat, but it really doesn't make me want to be a vegetarian. It just makes me feel that we should treat our animals better. Like that Japanese. Japanese people take good care of their beef...unlike their seafood, but that's another story.

But I came across this video where this guy, Hank, talks about the impact of humans eating meat and it actually does a much better job than PETA to convince me to become a vegetarian. I'm all for conservationism more than animal rights. Check out the videos below and make your own opinion.

PETA's video:

Hank's video:

Where do Babies Come From?

2009-02-25T15:49:00.006-07:00

I remember asking my mom this question when I was in elementary school...or was it middle school? I know I know I was a late bloomer when it came to that kind of stuff. But anyway, here's how the conversation went...from what I remember:

Me: "How do you get pregnant?"

Mom: "You get pregnant when you are married."

Me: "So you decide to get baby and it comes?"

Mom: "Yes."

That was the end of that conversation. So as you can see, she never really lied about it. Considering how lacking my mom's answer was, it's better than saying that little elves did it. See the video below:

Do Seals Drink Water?

2009-02-25T15:34:00.007-07:00

The other day me and my mom were watching a PBS documentary on seals (That's what you watch on Saturday nights when you only have basic cable). But my mom asked "How do seals drink water?" I thought about it and it was a question I've never thought of before. It makes sense that seals would have to drink water since they are mammals. But dolphins and whales are mammals and don't have access to fresh water. So I assumed that they just drink the salt water.

I did some research and the San Diego Zoo said: "Sea lions don’t need to drink water—they get all the water they need from the food they eat."

Ok, but then Scientific American said that sea mammals sometime do drink sea water if they have to. So their pee is 2.5 times saltier than land mammal pee. But sea mammals will sometimes go and drink fresh water or eat snow if they can.

Jokes: Life Fail

2009-02-04T17:25:00.003-07:00

Do you know who fails at life?

Who?

Dead people.

Free Stuff: Juice

2009-01-31T15:06:00.003-07:00

I found this bottle of Dole Grapefruit juice. It was sitting next to a vending machine and it was warm. But the cap didn't appear to have been opened so I took it and drank it. I particularly don't like grapefruit, but when a drink is free, I take it...even when I don't like the taste. But at least I got 100% of my vitamin C.

Jokes: Sloths

2009-01-28T11:57:00.005-07:00

Here's another joke I thought of.

What did one sloth say to the other sloth?

Answer: "I see you're still here."

Hahahahaha! Get it?! No? Crap.

2009 New Years Resolution

2009-01-05T13:16:00.003-07:00

I don’t remember my 2008 resolutions and I know that I will forget my 2009 resolutions unless I write them down somewhere.

Will Smith says he doesn’t believe in resolutions because “why wait to do something when you can start doing it now.” My resolutions will be more like goals. By the end of 2009, I will have to have completed each of these goals. Or else…I fail at life.

So here are my resolutions.

PHYSICAL
-Reach 7% body fat or lower
-Be able to do 75 pushups in one session
-Be able to do horizontal splits
-Weigh no more than 155lbs

INTERNET
-Make 2 youtube videos a month
-Make at least 3 Avenger Initiative blog posts a week
-Make at least 1 Big Wanger blog post a week
-Earn $100 over the internet by selling shirts, advertisements, ebay, scams, or whatever
-Sell my Transformers toy collection on ebay

ACTIVITIES
-Go snowboarding at least once
-Go swimming for fun
-Listen to all the audio books I’ve burned
-Find a part time job during the Spring semester

SCHOOL
-Study ahead in class
-Don’t skip any classes
-Don’t enter finals with a borderline 90% grade like always

ODD
-Flirt with a girl online
-Drink at most 1 can of soda a month
-Keep my turtle alive
-Keep watching the tv show Heroes
-Get slapped in the face
-Don’t knowingly kill any insects found in my house
-Keep taking advantage of the local library
-Don’t get into a car accident
-Stand in front of an audience without acting stupid
-Consume zero alcoholic beverages or chocolates

Well, that's good enough for now.

Christmas 2008

2009-01-05T12:52:00.005-07:00

Funny how people can be Atheists but yet still celebrate Christmas. But we all know what Christmas is about. It's not celebrating the birth of Christ. Not about giving, or family, or killing trees. It's about the presents. Buying presents and getting presents. That all people care about. Well here are the presents that I got for Christmas this year.

All the presents pictured above were from my brother. 4 Nike shirts, a sleeve for my Lenovo laptop, 1 pair of Nike shoes that my brother doesn't want to wear, and a book. The book (Bruce Lee's Complete Fighting Method) was the only thing that I asked for from my brother. All the rest were because he's nice. I also got a Lenovo S10 Laptop. It's basically that present from my parents since it's expensive. $380. I usually get $200 from my parents but this year I got a computer. I'm not complaining even though I am light on cash.

Borba Skin Balance Water

2008-12-12T00:31:00.006-07:00

I was in a Super Target and I noticed this interesting drink. It's called Borba Skin Balance Water. What's weird about it is that the water claims to help your skin. Like skin firming and moisturizing. So if you drink it all the time, you'll look younger. There are 4 flavors. Each with their own skin benefit.

Age-defying with Acai
Firming with Guanabana
Replenishing with Lychee
Clarifying with Pomegranate

These drinks say that they are 0 calories, no carbs, no preservatives, no sodium no sugar, and no aspartame. I drink the Lychee one (because lychee is my favorite fruit) and it was kinda sweet. I have no idea how they made it sweet without aspartame or suger, but it wasn't bad. If I could get a life time supply of the stuff, I'd be happy. It cost me like $2.30 for one 20oz bottle, but if you stumble upon the drink, try it out. You might like it and your skin might like it too.

Here's the link to the Borba Skin Balance Waters website.

And here's a link to the Borba official website.

Jokes: Knock, Knock

2008-11-28T23:59:00.002-07:00

Knock, Knock!

Who's there?

A doorbell salesman.

$1 Burger Battle Booyah!

2008-11-22T14:00:00.016-07:00

I love fast food, but it’s getting expensive. I remember when Happy Meals used to be $1.99. Now they’re almost double that. So whenever I eat out, I always get food from the Dollar Menu. Every fast food restaurant has a variation of this where the items on the menu are $1 or less.

I really don’t care what I eat because all fast food will satisfy my belly equally; I just want to know what dollar menu burger gives the most bang for its buck. So…I decided to do research.

I went to three of the most common fast food burger restaurants. McDonalds, Burger King, and Wendy’s. I bought every single burger they had on their dollar menus and took them home to compare.

The burgers I bought were:

McDonalds
Double Hamburger w/ Cheese
Hot n Spicy McChicken

Burger King
Whopper Jr.
Spicy Chick’n Crisp

Wendy’s
Double Stack
Jr. Cheeseburger
Jr. Cheeseburger
Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger
Crispy Chicken Sandwich

I weighed each burger on a small kitchen scale and noted the ounces. I also took pictures of what the burgers looked like inside and out.

NOTE: The nutrition facts were taken from the restaurants’ official websites. They may have been altered a bit to make the food seem healthier.

(Click on the pictures for a larger view)

McDonalds ($1 each)
Grew up on this stuff so it all tastes nostalgic to me. But there is this unique taste to McDonalds’ burgers. It must be something in that meat flavoring they use.

Double Hamburger w/ Cheese:

Comments: Does this sound weird? Shouldn’t it be the Double Cheeseburger? Nope. McDonalds decided to cut costs by taking away 1 slice of cheese from its Double Cheese Burger. They changed the name so people can’t complain and increased the price of the original Double Cheese Burger to $1.19.

Coming up with the nutrition facts for this one was tricky because McDonalds’ website didn’t have one up for the Double Hamburger w/ Cheese. It still had is old Double Cheese Burger. So what I did was take subtracted the nutrition of the Cheese Burger with the Hamburger. That gives me the nutrition of 1 slice of cheese. I then subtracted the results from the nutrition of the Double Cheese Burger, thus giving me a decent approximation of the nutrition of the Double Hamburger w/ Cheese.

After eating 2 of these you get a little sick of the overpowering cheesy taste. Not the best for eating competitions.

Hot n Spicy McChicken:

Comments: It was spicy enough to make my nose sweat. The shredded lettuce makes it appear like there’s more than there actually is. But I do like them shredded. There’s less of a chance of accidentally pulling out the whole lettuce leaf in one bite.

Burger King ($1 each)
Their meat is “flame-broiled” so it tastes more like a grilled burgers than the other restaurants.

Whopper Jr.:

Comments: Pretty tasty. The sesame seeds, crunchy pickles, and flame-broiled meat that makes it taste better than most fast food burgers. Though I did only get 1 small tomato when the picture clearly shows 2. Disappointed.

Spicy Chick’n Crisp:

Comments: Also spicy enough to make my nose sweat. But it’s pretty much the same as McDonalds’ chicken sandwich.

Wendy’s ($0.99 each)
Wendy’s burgers have a rectangular meat patty instead of the usual circle shape. They use mustard on their burgers.

Double Stack:

Comments: It’s alright. Similar to the McDonalds’ Double Hamburger w/ Cheese. But it doesn’t make you feel sick after eating.

Jr. Cheeseburger:

Comments: Just your average fast food cheese burger. But it does come with onions.

Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger:

Comments: I don’t know why anyone would buy the Jr. Cheeseburger when they can buy this for the same price. Nice large piece of lettuce and tomato. The bacon strips were wimpy but it’s still my favorite out of all the Wendy’s burgers.

Crispy Chicken Sandwich:

Comments: No change in the chicken sandwich formula when compared to the other two chicken sandwiches. Nice large piece of lettuce and mayonnaise. I do feel that this was the smallest and least satisfying of the chicken sandwiches.

Final Verdict:
So when it comes to chicken sandwiches, Burger King’s Spicy Chick’n Crisp wins for taste and weight. Though it does have the most fat.

Because Burger King didn’t post the amount of vitamins in their burgers, it’s hard for me to judge which burger is the healthiest. But from the information I do have, McDonald’s Double Hamburger w. Cheese is the “healthiest” of the group…surprisingly.

When it comes to taste, it’s Burger King’s Whopper Jr. for the win.

God this post took me forever to do.

Let's Get Ripped

2008-11-17T02:58:00.006-07:00

I've always never really had trouble with my weight. I would stay approximately the same weight for years. Below is a record of my weight during the summers of college.

Weight as of June 8, 2005: 142 lbs.
Weight as of June 5, 2006: 157lbs.
Weight as of June 24, 2007: 155lbs.
Weight as of June 7, 2008: 160lbs.

I entered my freshmen year of college at about 140lbs. And I ended my senior year of collage at an astounding 168lbs. That was the heaviest I've ever been. But not for long. That summer, I slowly lost weight until I was about 145lbs by August. I wasn't trying to lose weight. It just kinda disappeared. I think the change of diet from dorm food to my mom's cooking played a major factor.

Right now. I'm 138lbs. That's 30 pounds less than 6 months ago. And I now also weight less than my freshmen weight. I had literally zero exercise so the weight just kinda got lost by itself. My mom thinks I look sickly being so skinny and she liked it when I was 160 something. But to tell you the truth, I just can't each as much as I could before. I don't really know why. I can now only eat two 'dollar menu' burgers and i'm full. I could used to eat 4. Maybe I have a tapeworm or something.

But I have now decided to start exercising. Start getting muscular. Why? To get girls duh. Why else do guys do anything?

Bruce Lee was about 5' 6" or 5' 7". His weight has ranged from 126lbs to 155lbs. He was 135lbs when he made Enter the Dragon. And supposedly he had 1% body fat.

Since i'm 5' 10.5" tall, I think a reasonable goal would be 155lbs with 3-7% body fat. That'll be my ideal body composition.

So how will I get to this point? I have no idea. Do a lot of push ups?

Here's a set of notes that I took when trying to figure out what Bruce Lee did for exercise. Decipher it if you want. It's mostly for my own reference.

Run
Hills
5 Miles

Bike
10 Miles
45 Minutes

Weights:
3 sets of 15 reps
Different angles each time.

Bench Press:
Heavy Days (160/150): 3 sets of 10
Light Days (100/90): 3 sets of 20-30

Abs:
Leg raises
Sit ups: curl body and elbow to knee

According to some of Lee's early training notes, his daily abdominal workout included:
Waist twists - four sets of 90 repetitions.
Sit-up twists - four sets of 20 repetitions.
Leg raises - four sets of 20 repetitions.
Leaning twists - four sets of 50 repetitions.
Frog kicks - four sets of 50 repetitions.

Bruce Lee's "Lethal Physique" Bodybuilding Program
(performed on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays)

Exercise Sets Repetitions
Clean & Press 2 8
Squats 2 12
Pullovers 2 8
Bench Presses 2 6
Good Mornings 2 8
Barbell Curls 2 8
The Breakdown of the Routine:

1.) Clean & Press: Lee would begin this movement by taking a shoulder-width grip on an Olympic barbell. Bending his knees, he would squat down in front of the resistance and, with a quick snap of his arms and a thrust from his legs, clean the barbell to his chest and stand up. After a brief pause, Lee would then thrust the barbell to arms length overhead, pause briefly, and then lower the barbell back to the top of his chest. After another brief pause, he would lower the barbell back to the floor (the starting position). With absolutely no rest, Lee would then initiate his second repetition of the movement and continue to do so until he had completed eight repetitions. After a very brief rest, so as to take full advantage of the cardio-respiratory benefits as well as the strength-building benefits, Lee would perform a second -- and final -- set.

2.) Squats: This staple of bodybuilding movements was the cornerstone of Bruce Lee's barbell training. He had dozens of articles that he'd clipped out on the mechanics and benefits of squats and he practiced many variations of this exercise. In his routine, however, he performed the exercise in the standard fashion. Resting a barbell across his shoulders, Lee would place his feet approximately shoulder-width apart. Making sure that he was properly balanced, Lee would slowly ascend to a full squat position. With absolutely zero pause in the bottom position, Lee would then immediately return -- using the strength of his hips, glutes, hamstrings, calves and quadriceps -- to the starting position, whereupon he would commence rep number two. Lee would perform 12 repetitions in this movement and, after a short breather, return and re-shoulder the barbell for one more set of 12 reps.

3.) Pullovers: Although there exists no physical evidence that Bruce Lee supersetted barbell pullovers with squats, there is reason to believe that this was case -- if only for the fact that such was the method advocated in the articles he read. Squats were considered a great "overall" muscle builder, whereas pullovers were simply considered a "rib box expander" or "breathing exercise." Consequently, the fashion of incorporating pullovers in the late 1960s and early 1970s was as a "finishing" movement for squats. This being the case, Lee would perform the movement in the standard fashion; i.e., by lying down on his back upon a flat bench and taking a shoulder-width grip on a barbell that he would then proceed to press out to full extension above his chest. From this position, Lee would lower the barbell -- making sure to keep a slight bend in his elbows so as not to strain the elbow joint -- behind his head until it touched the floor ever so slightly and provided a comfortable stretch to his lats. From this fully-extended position, Lee would then slowly reverse the motion through the contraction of his lats, pecs and long-head of the triceps. He would repeat this movement for two sets of eight repetitions.

4.) Bench Presses: Bruce Lee was able to develop an incredible chest musculature. His upper pecs were particularly impressive, bunching and splitting into thousands of fibrous bands. And, as far as his personal training records indicate, the only direct barbell movement he performed to develop his chest was the good old fashioned bench press. Lying down upon a flat bench, and again taking a shoulder-width grip on an Olympic barbell, Lee would press the weight off the support pins to arms length above his chest. From this locked-out position, Lee would then lower the barbell to his chest and, exhaling, press it back up to the fully-locked out (or starting) position. He would repeat this movement for six repetitions and then, after a brief respite, return to the bench for one more set of six reps.

5.) Good Mornings: A word of caution about this exercise. Lee performed this movement to strengthen his lower back. However, one day in early 1970 he loaded up the bar with 135 pounds (his bodyweight at the time) and -- without a warm up -- proceeded to knock off eight repetitions. On his last rep he felt a "pop" and found out later that he had damaged the fourth sacral nerve of his lower back. The result was the Lee had to endure incredible back pain for the remainder of his life. This is not to say that the movement is without merit, just make sure that you perform an adequate warm-up prior to employing, it. Placing a barbell across his shoulders, Lee would place his feet three inches apart (Lee would later confide to Dan Inosanto "You really don't need any weight but the empty bar on your shoulders Dan -- it's more of a limbering movement") and bend over from the waist keeping his hands on the barbell at all times. Lee would bend over until his back was at a 90 degree angle to his hips and then return to the upright position. Lee performed two sets of eight repetitions of this movement.

6.) Barbell Curls: Bruce Lee performed barbell curls not only in his garage gym on Roscomare Avenue in Bel Air, but also in his studio office in Hong Kong. They were a staple or "core" movement in his weight training routine and were also responsible for building a very impressive pair of biceps on Lee -- not to mention incredible pulling power, which he used to such good effect in all of his sparring sessions! To perform this movement properly, Lee would take a comfortable shoulder-width grip on the barbell with his palms facing forwards. Keeping a slight bend in his knees for stabilization purposes, Lee would then contract his biceps and curl the barbell up to a point level with his upper pecs. Pausing briefly in this fully-contracted position, Lee would then slowly lower the barbell back to the starting position. Two sets of eight repetitions of this movement would typically wrap up Lee's bodybuilding routine.

Goals:
Push Ups with 250lbs on my back
Hold a 70lbs dumbell horizontal for 20 seconds

Ok, here's a picture of me half naked. Yes I know, I'm a skinny monkey.

Note: This picture was taken yesterday after 4 days of not showering and a week of not shaving. Can't you tell?

Well, that's me. And here's Bruce Lee. I tried to have similar poses.

Just my Shoes

2008-11-16T22:38:00.011-07:00

I just wanted to keep track of how my shoes look. My brother got these Saucony shoes for me last year. It was a "Buy One Get One Half Off" sale so I bought two of the same shoe. They are very comfortable but they started to get holes in them after about a month. So I've finally retired my 1st pair and am going to start wearing the 2nd pair. I've added pictures to compare how they look new and old.

.

What are Truffles?

2008-11-13T22:01:00.014-07:00

Recently I was talking about chocolates with my brother. Specifically, Lindor Chocolates, and how he should buy some because they are delicious. On the box, it says "Milk Chocolate Truffles." What the heck are truffles?

My first encounter with truffles came in the form of a Tail Spin cartoon episode where a female bear and a pig were looking for truffles in the forest. She loved them so much and would eat them whenever she could. The cartoon depicted truffles as lumpy mushrooms so I always thought they were mushrooms.

According to Wikipedia, truffles are the "edible fruiting body of a subterranean fungi." So it's buried fungus fruit. Interesting.

The origin of the word truffle appears to be the Latin term tuber, meaning "lump"...

They say a pound of truffles can be about $4,000. Why grow corn when you can start a truffle farm?

So are chocolate truffles chocolate with truffles in them? That's what I thought, but if they cost $4000 a lbs, it's unlikely. Actually, chocolate truffles are called "truffles" only because they are "shaped" like a truffle. As in lumpy. So it's just a fancy word for "lumpy piece of chocolate." Well, at least I now know that I'm not eating fungus fruit.

But then, there is one more mystery. Why is it called a truffle shuffle? My theory is that when Chunk does his infamous dance, his belly gets lumpy.

Cute

2008-10-12T15:52:00.007-06:00

The best part of the movie Horton Hears a Who.

Anagrams

2008-10-10T16:12:00.005-06:00

The website I, Rearrangement Servant, basically finds anagrams of any words you want to find anagrams for. I typed in my name, "Mason Wang," and here are some of the better results that I got.

Wanna Smog
Among Swan
Mangos Awn
Gonna Swam
Wagons Man
A Nags Mown
A Mans Gown
Nag Mans Ow
Sang Am Now
Snag Ma Now
No Swag Man <--- I like this one.

Why Guys Hit Girls

2008-09-29T21:26:00.005-06:00

Girls talk quick. They can speak about 10 words a second, while guys speak 2. So in an argument, the girl can list her point of view, provide counter arguments, and cite the Gettysburg Address before the guy can say anything that resembles a sentence. And add to it the loud and shrieking sound girls can make when they get angry, guys have no way to ever win a verbal argument against a girl. That's why he hits her. It's the only thing he can think of to do. Yes it's wrong, but guys are hot headed and never like to lose so when they know they are losing, they resort to violence. So if you are a girl, then next time you get in an argument with a guy, be ready to duck and taze his assets.

Attention: These videos might offend you

What might happen:

What you want happen:

Violence against girls shouldn't be a surprise with early training like this:

Pet City Overcrowd

2008-09-29T21:08:00.005-06:00

I was at Pet City in Chapel Hills Mall today. Were was an abnormally large about of puppies there today. In this small shop in the mall I counted 65 puppies. It doesn't seems right to have so many.

People complain about depression. Imagine being one of the puppies that's been there for a couple of months and no one has bought him. He's getting big and no one bothers to make squeaky voices at him anymore. He'll be euthanize soon because he not cute anymore.

I also counted there to be 27 turtles (box and water). That's also a huge amount of turtles. One of them actually had a collapsed shell. I felt bad for it and wanted to buy it. They were $50. I only had 9 quarters in my pocket.

Jokes: Chicken

2008-09-29T15:02:00.007-06:00

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Answer: because it has feet. duh.

Here's another joke:

Why didn't the chicken cross the road?

Answer: because it was suicidal.
Get it? It only crossed half way and then waited to get hit by a car. I know, I know. Lame. But it's the best I can come up with.

Long Words

2008-09-27T14:54:00.005-06:00

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the fear of long words. I'd be scared too if I had to spell this at a spelling bee.

Cute Heroes Reference

2008-09-24T18:32:00.002-06:00

Jokes: Smells Good

2008-09-23T23:52:00.005-06:00

Your friend says: Hmm, something smells good.

You say: I just farted.

Toonami, I will miss you

2008-09-23T13:15:00.007-06:00

Toonami on Cartoon Network was basically a time slot where only anime (or Japanese inspired) cartoons played. Having started in 1997, it's robotic host introduced me to Dragonball Z, Gundams, the Power Puff Girls, video game reviews and many other great cartoons. But as of Sept 20th, 2008, Toonami will no longer exist. *sigh*

Here's the final broadcast:

Here's the first introduction to Toonami:

The Evolution of Tom (the host of Toonami)

The shows that I watched on Toonami were: Dragonball z, YuYu Hakusho, Gundam Wing, G Gundam, Ronin Warriors, Zoids, Tenchi Muyo, Power Puff Girls, and sometimes Sailor Moon. Though recently Toonami kind of sucked and only showed Naruto episodes, so I stopped watching. But seeing an end to a major part of my cartoon culture is still saddening.

[Japanator]

Microsoft's Gates and Seinfeld Ads

2008-09-19T12:02:00.005-06:00

These two ads released by Microsoft recently are about nothing. Kinda like Seinfeld's old show. And that's what's so great about them. People complain about these ads and say how much they suck, but when you think about it, these people are actually complaining about ads that aren't trying to sell them something. They are so used to commercials bombarding them with things to buy that when a commercial comes out that just wants to be a nice little comedic skit, people get confused. I think it's nice. Relax on the consumerism and sit back and enjoy it as a deleted scene from an episode of Seinfeld.

Free Stuff: My Sorry Attempt at Free Wireless

2008-09-08T18:04:00.009-06:00

I can sometimes pick up a neighbor's wireless signal from my room but it's soo weak that a phone ringing or the microwave cuts it off. I don't know exactly which neighbor I've been trying to steal from. I've searched online to find ways to strengthen my internal wireless card's signal and I've came across this video. Since I'm not using a PCI wireless card like in the video, my chances of success are futile. So far, I don't think it's been much help.

ChapStick

2008-09-08T17:58:00.005-06:00

I don't know why girls like chapstick so much. It's like they have nothing better to do but moisturize their lips...all the time! But I got this particular stick during RA training the fall of 2005. I've used it about once a day in the morning and it finally ran out. It turned out that it's been expired since June of 2006. Dang.

Free Stuff: Free Mummy 3 Movie Ticket

2008-08-17T17:07:00.004-06:00

I've seen the The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and it was ok. Not exactly awesome. But I have a free ticket that I don't want to use so I'm giving it away. It will only work for 1 person in the USA so whoever reads my blog regularly will have an advantage.

What to do:
Go to www.MummyTickets.com
Enter this code: 32948-4D7633E
You will be given instructions to print out the ticket at home.
Enjoy!

The ticket expires 8/24/08 so be quick.

If you are lucky enough to get this ticket first, feel free to post a comment to let everyone know that it has been taken.

Good Luck.

Free Stuff: Contests I've Won Over the Years

2008-07-27T11:16:00.007-06:00

Contests that I've won:

Contest(1st grade): Guess then number of candy hearts in the jar.
Prize: The jar of candy hearts.

Contest(3rd to 5th grade): Numerous elementary school art class drawings.
Prize: Many, 2 of my drawings were chosen along with others to be painted in in girl's bathrooms; 1 was chosen along with others to be put on the cover of the year's student directory; 1 was chosen to be framed and hung in the school's office.

Contest(8th grade): Rockey Mt. Poetry contest. My "21" poem about alcohol was chosen to be in the top ten of middle school poems.
Prize: Poem got published in a book, I got 2 copies of the book, and $40 given as a $20 check and told to put it in a savings account and have the interest grow it to $40.

Contest: Kung Fu Magazine Jackie Chan question trivia contest.
Prize: A Jackie Chan movie on VHS. In my case, it was Crime Story.

Contest: Raffle for Ping Pong Club.
Prize: The movie Grind on DVD.

Contest: Cheetos chips.
Prize: Pokemon Gold for the gameboy color. luckily I got a gameboy color recently.

Contest: Oroweat Bread.
Prize: 3 Colorado Rockies bobble heads.

Contest: Dragonballz.com.
Prize: Got 1st prize which was a DBZ movie poster, and a started deck for the trading card game.

Contest: Powerade Instant win game
Prize: A Powerade watch. It was a crap piece of plastic.

Contest: Raffle at a neighbor's birthday party.
Prize: A mini hotshots basketball game.

Contest: Raffle at a Chinese new year party.
Prize: A tube of 3 tennis balls.

Contest: Fast food game pieces.
Prize: Numerous coupons for free food, but I rarely used them.

Contest: Paper Airplane contest in the Quad.
Prize: For longest flight in the air, I got to pick out some walkie talkies.

The Dark Knight

2008-07-26T23:50:00.005-06:00

So I have a free ticket (up to $7.50) to watch The Dark Knight in theaters, but because of many reasons I'm not planning on using it until around August 15th or so. With all the hype, I couldn't help myself so I found a decent internet copy and I watched it...twice. I alway say that things are 'ok' no matter how good it is, but for this movie, I'm going to upgrade and say that it's 'good.' I liked it. People say it's too long. I usually think action movies aren't long enough. So 2.5 hrs is fine with me. I'm not going to review this movie because hundreds of people already have and I'm no movie guru. I'm just going to say some things that I noticed.

BASICALLY EVERYTHING FROM NOW ON IS A SPOILER. BEWARE.

So here are some things that I liked:
1. The bank robbers killing each other
2. Batman bending the rifle
3. Harvey Dent punching the guy who pulled a gun on him
4. The guy trying to blackmail Wayne
5. Bruce saying he owns the restaurant
6. Shock Moment: The Joker making the pencil disappear
7. Batman flying into the HK building
8. Shock Moment: Fake Batman getting hung
9. Shock Moment: The judge and commissioner getting killed so easily
10. Batman catching Rachel as they fell off the building
10. Bullet/fingerprint reconstruction - (wait, who did that print belong to?)
11. Batman dropping that mob boss off the building
12. Dent saying that he's Batman
13. Shock Moment: Joker shooting the black cop telling the semi-truck to wait in line.
14. How the cop uses the word 'bazooka' instead of rocket launcher
15. Batman causing the semi-truck to flip with his little bat-pod
16. Shock Moment: Having the Joker switch Rachel's and Harvey's address
17. Joker's plan with the phone call
18. The Joker burning so much money
19. The Joker calling the hit on the guy who knows Batman's identity - hilarious
20. The Joker using hand sanitizer after talking to Dent
21. The Joker's bomb not fully working right away
22. Lucius saying that he will resign because of the machine - shows that even the purest of hearts are tempted with power.
23. Joker's boat predicament
24. The clowns being hostages
25. Batman fighting SWAT
26. The big black 'Green Mile' guy throwing the detonator out of the window
27. The story of Harvey Dent going from Hero to villain to dead was really saddening
28. Gordan's monologue on the Batman provided a nice ending

Questions/Comments/Things that Bothered Me:
0. During the bank robbery a the first thug to get shot said that the bank's silent alarm wasn't calling 911, but a private number. Whose number? Batman's?
1. When batman bends the rifle, I wouldn't expect the thug to be holding the gun hard enough to let it bend.
2. Scarecrow wasn't using his voice changer. Why not? Also, when the Scarecrow is escaping in the van, why does the van suddenly stops when Batman jumps on it? It should have kept moving forward.
3. Why were the dogs giving Batman such a hard time? Isn't his suit knife proof? So I assume it's bite proof also.
4. How does the Joker kill the black mob boss? Also, when Joker gets up to grab the Black mod boss, there were two goons behind the Joker. But they just disappeared after Joker got up.
5. Who was piloting the airplane that pulled Batman out of the HK building? Wouldn't he know who Batman is also?
6. How did Batman and Rachel not get hurt after falling off the building? Could the car's driver sue Batman for damages?
7. During the scene or the commissioner's funeral, Bruce Wayne actually doesn't do anything to prevent the shooting.
8. How could one rocket launcher blow the tough tumbler to pieces?
9. How the heck did the bat-pod fit inside the tumbler and also not be damaged then the tumbler was blown to shreds?
10. How would helicopter air support help against a semi-truck?
11. Batman should have broken the Joker's legs in the interrogation room. Then he wouldn't run away.
12. Having 1 guy watch the Joker 'inside' the interrogation room instead of in the observation room.
13. How did the Joker get the knife to hold the cop hostage?
14. Rachel getting blown up - I really didn't like the fact that she died
15. Right before Rachel gets blown up, she starts to say, "Someone..." What was she going to say?
16. When the Joker escapes, the frees the Chinese guy Laos. That is actually the last time we see him in the movie. What happened to him?
17. What actually happened to the mob boss that the Joker said he was going to cut into pieces and feed to his pooches? Did he actually kill him?
18. If the guy was killed in 1 hour, how would the Joker know? He probably would have blown the hospital anyway.
19. How the heck could Dent be converted into evil so quickly and also not kill the Joker when he had the chance? I would blame the Joker more than Gordan for Rachel's death. Idiot.
20. When the Joker said that the bridge and tunnel crowd are in for a surprise, did he actually have anything? Or was he scaring them to using the boats?
21. Batman really did rig up that sonar machine quick. Where did he get so many monitors?
22. Why does Batman talk in his deep voice to people that know he's Bruce Wayne?
23. For the Joker's boat situation, it may have been nice if the people actually held the detonator to their own bomb instead. Then it would show that a lack of compassion will end up killing you.
24. I wanted a scene where the cops realize that the clowns were hostages and how much they would have messed up if they followed through their original plan if it were not for Batman. Like a line, "Oops, we would have made a huge mistake."
25. When Batman shoots his arm blades at the Joker, it leaves no mark. They should have tore his face up.
26. When the Joker falls, shooting a grapple at his legs would have been near impossible and with the momentum of the Joker's fall, Batman would have been pulled down.
27. Filming the Joker hanging upside down upside down bothered me.
28. The Joker doesn't die. Perhaps they were foreseeing a Joker sequel, but Heath died, so dang.

So yeah, I don't expect my questions to ever have answers but it was good to think about them. Maybe when I watch it on the IMAX, things will become clear.

Jokes: My Banana

2008-06-25T12:25:00.002-06:00

This sticker on my banana gives me an idea for a t-shirt. Or maybe, no one finds it funny and I'm just a jerk.

Big Macs are Tasty

2008-06-23T08:06:00.002-06:00

The Big Mac is my favorite burger at McDonalds. No tomatoes, small diced onions that add crunchiness, pickles for more crunchiness, and the amazing orange mystery sauce. An awesome combination. But I still have to add ketchup. I was craving the burger on Saturday so I had McDonalds for lunch.

I ordered a Big Mac meal which allowed me to get another burger for $1 so I got another Big Mac. I also ordered two 99cent double cheese burgers. For the drink, I got a mix of 80% unsweetened iced tea and Coca-Cola. Even though I got 4 burgers, fries and a drink, for lunch I ate only ate one Big Mac, one double cheese burger, half the box of fries(my mom ate the other half) and the drink. I saved the two other burgers for the next day.

I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve forgotten how a Big Mac is supposed to be or the higher food prices in the US, but I felt the Big Mac wasn’t big at all. It felt so light. And then when I opened it up, the meat patty was so small. “WHERE’S THE BEEF?” (reference to that commercial with the old lady) I was disappointed. I tasted more bread than burger. But it turns out that the small Big Mac has 540 calories. From what? The mystery sauce? Dang it! I ended up eating 2300 calories that day. Lately I’ve been eating about 900 calories a day which causes me to lose about a pound a day, but after this, I’m probably gaining 3.

.

Kung Fu Panda

2008-06-17T12:56:00.004-06:00

So I watched the movie yesterday and it was pretty sweet I must say. Even some sad parts. Of course I wish that there were more fighting scenes but for a kids movies, the action was decent. The movie was great but one thing bothered me. What the heck kind of animal is Master Shifu? I looked it up and people say that he is supposed to be a animal called the "red panda." Umm, a red panda looks more like a fox than the mousey Shifu. Whatever. Here's a cute clip of a red panda.

Harry Potter 7 (spoilers)

2008-06-16T07:45:00.003-06:00

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released on July 21, 2007 and I'm happy to say that I've finally finished reading the book. I enjoyed this book more than the others. Some of the other book kinda annoyed me with certain characters or some of Harry's actions. This book was fine in comparison. Though a few things are bugging me. Some questions left unanswered. Maybe they were, and I just suck at reading but here they are (sorry about the spelling):

1. If Grindelwald had the unbeatable Elder Wand, then how did Dumbledore defeat him in a duel to win the wand?
2. How the heck was the true owner of the Elder Wand Draco Malfoy?
3. If Neville pulled the Sword of Griffindor out of the Sorting Hat, what happened to the sword the goblin had?
4. So nothing bad happens to RitaSkeeter?
5. Fred dies, but where was George and what is his reaction to his brother's death?
6. What happened to Mad-Eye's body?
7. How did Lupin and Tonks die?
8. Didn't Bellitrix have a vendetta against Tonks? Why wasn't there a climatic battle between the two?
9. Why did the three protagonists decide to wear the horcrux locket instead of just keeping it in Hermione's purse?
10. We never hear what happens to Cho Chang. Or Krum.
11. If the deathly hallows stone used to be imbedded onto a ring, then it must be the size of a pebble. How is Harry going to find that after he dropped it?
12. Why is the cover art for the British version of HP so retarded?
13. Who is the new headmaster of Hogwarts? (what a funny name...Hog...Warts)
14. What did they do to Voldemorts' body? or Snapes?
15. Why didn't the Crucatius curse hurt Potter when he was pretending to be dead?

Plus on a side note, I would like to say that before the book was officially released I told some people that Snape is probably a good guy and they laughed at how optimistic I was. Well, pie in your face.

Wow, a post about Harry Potter with questions that no one really cares about. I am not showing this blog to any potential girlfriends in the future.

Free Stuff: Energy

2008-06-11T12:06:00.001-06:00

Two days ago was my first day of summer classes at UCCS (University of Colorado at Colorado Spring). In an attempt to avoid people in the hallway, I went into a nook with 3 vending machines. Of course the first thing I do is check if anyone left or dropped coins on the floor. I’ve had some great success in the past. Instead of finding coins I found a dented Mountain Dew Amp energy soda can. And of course I took it, put it in my backpack, and saved it for today. And yes, I’m drinking it. A dirty, dented can, found underneath a vending machine, inches away from a tray of rat poison.

Climate Change is for Losers

2008-06-10T17:43:00.005-06:00

Today on NBC Nightly News, there were floods in Wisconsin and Indiana, California is on fire, Washington gets a foot of snow, New York is boiling in recording setting heat, and Florida has water spouts(tornadoes). It's obvious that global climate change doesn't exist and the melting ice caps are just a cycle and I should just be fat and drive my Hummer to check the mail because I'm a huge tard(short for tub of lard).

Not to mention China and Burma still recovering from earthquake disasters, a water shortage in California, gas costing $4.00 a gal, tomatoes have salmonella, people are getting laid off from their jobs and overfishing is bringing sharks(the only animal immune to cancer therefore a potential cure) to extinction. It is official, the world is coming to an end. All we need now is an asteroid threat or a viral epidemic.