Friday, May 25, 2007

Update to Gray Hall II

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only site on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. Basically, this site is all about me and the random things that I find interesting. If this is not a topic you might like, try Google and find something else.

I've done an update to Gray Hall II. Chapter Six is up and running. I know I've been pretty lazy with updating, but there were other things going on in my life that had a higher priority. I doubt that there will be another update in the next week or so. It's possible. Chapter Six is based upon an interesting incident that actually happened to me while in a lovely class called Trial Advocacy. Even if you don't happen to like law or are utterly confused by the topic, this chapter will provide a certain level of amusement to your life. And you might learn something about the law as well. Two for the price of one.

That's all for now.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Blog Reviews

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only site on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. As I like to say, "It's all about me and not about you, unless you merit my attention" It's time for an update and this will be a little different than normal. I'm doing some reviews for blogs instead of writing up stuff that makes it seem I have an actual life outside law school, which, for the most part, does not exist. I did go to a party last night, but I will save that for later.
The blogger responsible for MindBlogging Stuff says that his blog is not a touchy-feely, sugar-coated, politically-correct blog. Just the name alone conjures up the images of amazing, in-your-face material. Mind boggling things that might make you think.Well, he had made me think, though not in the way the blogger has intended. I'm thinking that I want the old blogger back, and not the alien that has taken over. It's not terribly mindblowing or mindboggling. It's...it's...kind of dull. It's kind of generic, sugar-coated, bland stuff.Don't get me wrong. His earlier materials are great. They seemed to be coming from the heart and not too canned. They read like they were honest material. Some of his best material involved politics, social issues, and other aspects of life in Singapore and the United States.
His timeline of authoritarian rule in Singapore was enlightening. It was a nice summary of how a democracy can act like a dictatorship. His post on amazing crazy quotes by politicians from Singapore was another fine post. Apparently, politicians all around the world say stupid things that can get them in trouble. As well as proving that they are seriously out of touch with reality. His post comparing Paris Hilton to a similar person in Singapore reminds us that no matter where you go in the world, we are all alike in some way. Those were posts that exhibited a level of honesty, originality, and a nice touch with language.
His recent posts beginning in April 2007, especially May 2007 have been, to be quite honest, disappointing. A lot of them are very short (one sentence with accompaning link). A lot of them involved videos (as if the blog reader has a two second attention span and cannot read a paragraph of text). A lot of them focus on humorous photoshopped pictures (already done before and not so clever). A lot of them are kind of inane and recycle bad one liner jokes (already done by Jack Handy and many others). In sum, his recent posts are not mindboggling or mind blowing.
And another thing that is quite annoying. All of the freaking Google text ads in the sidebar and in the main post area. And the sidebar buttons, and the links, and the Technocrati tags, and the...on and on and on. The amount of vistual diarrhea is mindboggling. Even more so than the posts. They chop up posts and makes it hard to continue reading a post. They're way too distracting. I want to read a post about Singapore, not an ad or a button or a link or whatever is slowing down the page from loading. The blog would be so much better without half of them.

As an English major, I shudder and cringe when I see how badly people abuse the English language. I try my best to spell correctly and use acceptable grammar as often as possble, even in e-mails, blog posts, and well, everything else in general. It's the way I operate.I don't like people who have to use aLtErNaTiNg CaPs LiKe ThIs when they type blog posts. I wonder how the hell they manage to do this without going crazy or driving people crazy. Is there some special keyboard shortcut that allows you to do this that I do not know about?I also hate it when people use Instant Messaging and cellular phone text messaging shortcuts and abbreviations, let alone the Hacker Speak (1eet -a@xxorru1z, lol). They had a story in the New York Times and other newspapers lamenting the usage of Instant Messaging and cellular phone abbreviations in English research papers and the children thinking it was proper English. Here's an example from an actual blog, though not in neon font:

finally gt hm after an hour of Lit extra cls. combine extra lesson wit 2E1. thos peeps gd at their Lit. every ques. oso can answer. unlike me, noe nth. salute them man. ~hahs~ mayb my fate in life wit Lit tt i cant understand wadever its toking bout. how much effort i put in oso seems e same. ~pathetic sia~ didnt noe tt exams coming n e teachers piling us wit tests. first maths. den History. ~wad e....~ mayb treat as revision. ~heck care~ tt pri6 gal told me she failed her prelim maths. was telling me can retake. nv in my life heard tt prelim can be taken for 2nd time if 1 fail. ~wadever~
cant catch-up in cls for Eng. dunno wad Sandra Teo teaching in cls yest. wad e heck is adjectival clauses. didnt do e worksheet for it myself. got someone to hlp me wit it. not bad sia.
(--answer correct. thxs Denise--) sum peeps eng so pro. unlike me agn, eng oso damn lousy. tink im fated to do badly in eng based subs. ~haiz----hopeless case~ hahs. gotta end. revisions 1st mayb. ~hahs~

Oddly enough, after spending a few monents trying to translate the title, I finally figured out what it said: "So Tired After Remedial..." What she is referring to is Remedial English. Apparently, she is struggling with English class. Maybe if she learned how to spell correctly, did her homework, and actually paid attention in class, this would not be a problem. This is based upon what she wrote this blog entry, which took several minutes to translate due to the beating she gave to the English langague ( I think it's English).
Let this be a lesson to everyone here. Please, for the love of the English Language, use spell check. Use some semblance of proper English grammar. You will bring back my confidence in the future of the world. It will make your life and the lives of others (especially your teachers, your friends, you bosses, your coworkers, heck, everyone in general) so much better.


That's all for now.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Another May Update

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only site on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. It's all about me...it's all about me and the things that I find interesting while I write this. If you don't like this, go to another site.

The experience called law school is almost over. Then will come a hooding ceremony. Then will come the official graduation ceremony. And then comes the realization that my seven years of being in college will be coming to an end. Real world, here I finally come!

I've been listening to Michael Buble, the Canadian singer who evokes the Sinatra/Martin style of singing. He can actually sing and doesn't need a computer, synthesizer, and technology to make him sound like an actual singer with skills. Unlike a lot of present day entertainers. I can list quite a few of them...Ashlee Simpson, Britney Spears, Cher...etc.
His rendition of Fever is brilliant. I get a kick out of the Romeo and Juliet stanza. Only because it is entertaining and being an English major, I get a thrill out of Shakespearean references. Plus the use of "thy" and "sooth" is great as well. That also applies to the John Smith and Pocahontas reference, though it never really happened in real life. To be honest, Pocahontas was like a minor (think twelve or thirteen) and nothing like the animated version (physically in particular). Though in some regions in the South and a while back, Kansas, she might have been of marriagable age. I digress.
In particular, You'll Never Find Another Love is another great song. Just listen to him sing the lyrics and you will agree with my personal judgment. Very soulful. And it might get the schwerve going if you play it at the right time. Not that I would have any knowledge on this topic.

It's time to go. Put some finishing touches on a take home final. Have lunch.

That's all for now.

Monday, May 07, 2007

Here Comes The Rain Again and Again...

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only known site on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. Basically, it's all the things floating in my head that I find interesting. It's time for an update today. Woohoo! I know you're all excited about this prospect. Come on, admit it.

The only thing I can say about the weather around this part of the world is wet. It has been raining continuously for several days and with no end in sight. Well, at least this week. The weather people say that it will end next week, based upon their super-duper, top-secret, high-tech weather forecasting computers. I get the odd feeling that they actually toss darts at a board and make up the forecast as they go along. Or they roll a bunch of dice and consult a book like a Dungeons and Dragons player.
"Hmm...what will the weather be like tomorrow? Let's see..." FHWIP! CHUNK! "It's going to be sunny tomorrow with a high of...what number haven't I used yet? Hell, let's say 75."

For some additional words to this post, I've culled up some lyrics using the word "rain" from Google. Have fun guessing where these lyrics came from. They're pretty easy, so it shouldn't be too taxing on the brain...

"One more rainy day
Once again my mind is grey
This is what a rainy day can do
One more rainy day
One more rainy day"

"Come back when it ain't raining
Come back when your skies are blue
Come back when it ain't rainin' on you
It ain't rainin' on you"

"I can't stop the rain, here it comes again
Lightnin' strikes across the sky
Oh, I can't stop the rain, here it comes again
Lightnin' only blinds my eyes"

"Stormy Weather
Since my gal and I ain't together
Keeps raining all the time
Keeps raining all of the time"

"She laughed
She cried
She damn near died
On the day it rained forever"

"But I'll still sing you love songs, written in the letters of your name.
The rain is gonna come, oh it surely looks like rain"


That's all for now.

Friday, May 04, 2007

Online Monkey Personals...

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only known site on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. Basically, for those a little too dense to figure this one out, this site is all about things related to Un. All the things that I find interesting and are floating around in my head.

You've all heard about the online personal site. Places like Match, E-Harmony, and Family Watchdog. The last site, as you may have guessed, was meant to be a joke. You know, something that violates a set pattern. Forget it. I found that to be funny, but if you didn't, this site is not for you.
These web personal sites have only focused on people finding their perfect match. And these sites have provided fodder for numerous joke sites that poke fun of these online personal sties. What about an online personals site for monkeys?
That's the basic premise for Monkey Personals, another online personals parody site. What makes this site so brilliant is the attention to detail that the site maker has. The language used on the site is spot on to the language used by other personals sites like the following example:
We have helped thousands upon thousands of lonely, miserable monkeys find true love! Is there any better proof that this site works? Why limit yourself to the few acres in the jungle where you roam? You too can harness the power of the internet. Sure, there's plenty of fleas in the jungle, but there's millions of fleas on monkey personals!

it's not a complete site, as there is only one "member profile" there, but the premise and execution is great. One can even submit a profile to the site, though it takes up to 24 hours for approval. Very clean and easy to navigate. It made me laugh. I think that it brings in new meaning to "jungle love."


That's all for now.