Ramblings of a Mad Computer Science Student

Food consumed :

1. One medium cups of coffee (~0 calories)
2. Bagel and Cream Cheese (~200 Calories)
3. Leftover spinach dip (~300 calories)
4. Four baby pizzas (430 calories)
5. 1 Cup of Doritos (200 calofies)

Total : ~1130 Calories

Exercise : None (yikes!). Had a long day of driving today, was exhausted.
Night Weight (Taken at 1AM) : 229.2

Food consumed :

1. Two medium cups of coffee (~0 calories)
2. Mixed fresh fruit (cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple) (~120 calories)
3. 8 Avocado Rolls with ginger (~200 calories)
4. Diet Pepsi (~0 calories)
5. Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich (~300 calories)
6. Couscous with feta and green onions (1 cup, ~200 calories)

Total : ~900 Calories
Exercise :

1. 30 Minutes cardio
2. 1 hour walk (~2 miles)

Night Weight (Taken at 1AM) : 233

It’s been ages since I posted to this site.  Since I’m about to undertake some serious life changes (more to come, I promise), I thought I’d begin documenting one of them.

Andrea and I are prepping for kids.  Not in the sense that she’s pregnant yet, but we’re trying to change our lives a bit before we try to take the plunge.  This is fairly public knowledge within both of our families, so it should come as a surprise to no one.

One of the _major_ things that needs to change is our diets, and the amount we exercise.  We’ve started eating with a calorie restriction, and exercising twice a day.

That being said, I’m going to document my diet on a day to day basis, the amount I work out, and my weight every day.  I’m going to weigh myself each morning before I take a shower.  I’ll have a daily post with an update of my weight loss (in graph form of course!), what I ate for the day, and how much I worked out.

Should be fun, eh?

Don’t be surprised if you hear that I’m eaten by a bobcat or mountain lion on one of my early morning escapades to JPL.  According to the Daily Planet (JPL’s internal website with news and such), some bobcats have been prowl. Oh noes!

Radiohead fulfilled their record contract a bit back, and have decided to prove why they are not only one of the most musically talented bands in the world, but one of the most revolutionary thinking bands as well.

You can buy a kickass boxed set that will ship in Dec. for about 40 pounds (80 American dollars or so). You’re also given the opportunity to buy a non-DRM download - purchase price being whatever you’d like to pay for the album (!!!). Note that the boxed set (which I’ve ordered), comes with a download for free.

I can’t fucking wait to see how big the numbers are on this - will be a big “fuck you” to major record labels when the album sells a bagillion copies.

By the way, the album is incredible. It feels a lot like “The Bends”, which is one of my favorite albums ever. Go buy it immediately at the site for the album IN RAINBOWS.

Does this absolute tripe trump genocide in Africa and the United States terrorizing the middle east? Seriously? Apparently so.

This is why we’re still in Iraq. This is why people lend any credence to notions that Iran is dangerous. This is why no one has questioned the official stories of 9/11.

Fuck off mainstream media.

Current Mood: Alarmed

This is yet another indication that the media has become the voice of the Bush administration. I have yet to see one headline, from major news media today, that views the Iranian President’s speech in a positive light, or even considers it to be in any form positive. Although I cannot stand to support many Iranian social norms, there is little evidence to prove Iran is a threat to anyone, yet the media continues to pound the drums of war in the face of logic and reason.

Collection of a few major media headlines as of right now :

Foxnews.com:

Admadinejad Schooled

cnn.com:

Admadinejad speaks; outrage and controversy follow

USA Today:

Tough welcome at Columbia for Iran’s Ahmadinejad

This headline is interesting seeing that there were numerous outbursts of applauses from the audience during his speech. Other than the Columbia president treating the invited guest with content, this is terribly inaccurate.

Isn’t the media supposed to report the events as they actually transpired and let the audience make conclusions for their selves? The conclusions are served up for you in these headlines - IRAN BAD! without any reasoning behind it.

If America ever hopes to reclaim the democracy that we once had, something drastic has to be done about the media.

Put them up just a few days back. The concert was absolutely fantastic.  Full album (with some videos!), here.

Not sure how I stumbled on this, but there is a transcript of CBS News’ Scott Pelley interviewing Iranian President Ahmadinejad here.

I can’t claim to be educated about Iran’s detailed diplomatic policies and won’t claim to have a position on them. I will, though, claim that the American media, and therefore the American political powers that be are building up to war with Iran for reasons that are as feeble and frail, if not more so, than our reasons to go to Iraq.

A few of Ahmadinejad’s responses really caught my eye :

PELLEY: But the American people, sir, believe that your country is a terrorist nation, exporting terrorism in the world. You must have known that visiting the World Trade Center site would infuriate many Americans, as if to be mocking the American people.

AHMADINEJAD: Well, I’m amazed. How can you speak for the whole of the American nation?

PELLEY: Well, the American nation . . .

AHMADINEJAD: . . . you are representing a media and you’re a reporter. The American nation is made up of 300 million people. There are different points of view over there. I would like to think that the points of view of the American people is very close to the points of view of the Iranian people. The American people are very much against and opposed what certain American officials are saying and their points of view. And they’re also, the way that the people have voted in the American elections is very telling. And we are criticizing such behavior on the part of the American government. We believe that if anyone just allows himself to accuse others, there will be no possibility for peace and friendship.

Thank you. The rest of the world who may (or more likely, may not) be reading this blog, please be certain of one thing. The opinion, arrogance, and general negligance of the foundations of quality journalism do not reflect the opinion or attitude of the American people. Our media has become what might as well be a Bush Co. run propaganda machine that simply echoes the deceit and lies of the administration. Any reasonable American can see that there is no direct evidence Iran is doing anything wrong except not complying with the Bushites and their wants and needs.  The American media is not the voice of the American people, it is the voice of the Bush administration.

Now I’m not a religious man, but I do understand that most religions, at their hearts, simply encourage love, peace, and happyness for all.  When the “reporter” asks what President Ahmadinejad admires about President Bush, he responds as follows :

AHMADINEJAD: As an American citizen, tell me what trait do you admire?

PELLEY: Well, Mr. Bush is, without question, a very religious man, for example, as you are. I wonder if there’s anything that you’ve seen in President Bush that you admire.

AHMADEINEJAD: Well, is Mr. Bush a religious man?

PELLEY: Very much so. As you are.

AHMADEINEJAD: What religion, please tell me, tells you as a follower of that religion to occupy another country and kill its people? Please tell me. Does Christianity tell its followers to do that? Judaism, for that matter? Islam, for that matter? What prophet tells you to send 160,000 troops to another country, kill men, women, and children? You just can’t wear your religion on your sleeve or just go to church. You should be truthfully religious. Religion tells us all that you should respect the property, the life of different people. Respect human rights. Love your fellow man. And once you hear that a person has been killed, you should be saddened. You shouldn’t sit in a room, a dark room, and hatch plots. And because of your plots, many thousands of people are killed. Having said that, we respect the American people. And because of our respect for the American people, we respectfully talk with President Bush. We have a respectful tone. But having said that, I don’t think that that is a good definition of religion. Religion is love for your fellow man, brotherhood, telling the truth.

I won’t comment much on the discourse, but I will point out that American people, even though they claim to be “religious”, typically forget the meaning and purpose of whomever founded the religion in the first place.  A very nice response to a very stupid assertion that President Bush is a religious man.

Awesome.

I missed the last set of shows that coincided with the release of Lysol, so I’m excited they’re doing some more sets. Anyone who wants to go let me know. Tickets are GA but there are “safe” areas to camp outside of the pits .

[Edit : Added a great photo of Buzz I found on Flickr. Fro ftw.]