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FYI
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Dec. 12th, 2007 @ 12:33 pm
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Visiting Atlanta
On average, almost one in three flights arrive late to Hartsfield airport, where both Delta Air Lines and AirTran Airways operate hubs. Your best shot for an on-time arrival is before 2 p.m., when flights run on schedule 77 to 86 percent of the time. Abandon all hope in the evening; between 7 and 10 p.m., the airport's on-time rate is in the low 40s.
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November 19th:
MARIETTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Three boys, ages 8 and 9, were charged Monday with raping an 11-year-old girl last week, court officials and police said.
November 20th:
DECATUR, Ga. (AP) -- The 80-year-old leader of a suburban Atlanta church is at the center of a sex scandal of biblical dimensions: He slept with his brother's wife and fathered a child by her.
But at least we still can't buy alcohol on Sunday because it's immoral.
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From Reuters: the Knights Templar might receive a pardon after 700 years .This is pretty cool. They rediscovered the Templar trial parchments that had gone lost and that will supposedly absolve the templars of their heresy accusations. Here's an exerpt:The most titillating part of the documents is the so-called Chinon Parchment, which contains phrases in which Pope Clement V absolves the Templars of charges of heresy, which had been the backbone of King Philip's attempts to eliminate them. Templars were burned at the stake for heresy by King Philip's agents after they made confessions that most historians believe were given under duress. The parchment, also known as the Chinon Chart, was "misplaced" in the Vatican archives until 2001, when Frale stumbled across it.
Of course, who knows how long it'll be before they release everything written on these documents to the general public. Also, will the Vatican comment on it? How do you say "Oops" in Latin?
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Watch
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Sep. 28th, 2007 @ 08:50 pm
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Yesterday was Dragon-Con here in Atlanta. This is pretty much another version of Comic-Con, so even though I wasn't going to pay the $85 entrance fee for the conference, I went to see the parade on Peachtree Street.
I will post some of the pictures here, but I'll probably just post the bulk of them on Facebook, although the quality on there isn't very good. Along those lines, does anyone know a good free site to post pics that keeps all the dimensions and quality?
Now witness the weirdness:
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| » Giant Chicken of Marietta |
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The other day I got lost in Cobb county and, at an intersection, I saw a giant chicken. I know weird stuff tends to pop up around Georgia, so I decided to take a picture of it and, after a couple days, I wondered what the hell it was.
Well, in 1963, a man called Tubby Davis (awesome name) was trying to make his diner, Johnny Reb's, more attractive. He figured his burgers were well known (15 cents apiece) but he should advertise his chicken. So he turned to Georgia Tech graduate ('57) Hubert Puckett, who designed this 56 foot high sheet metal chicken .
Johnny Reb's went under anyway, and the establishment was bought by Kentucky Fried Chicken in 1974. They added their name about halfway up the structure, and it has stayed there ever since (even know the chain is technically KFC now).
Apparently it was going to be torn down about 11 years ago, but by that time the locals considered it a landmark and it has stayed there ever since.
Jul. 29th, 2007 @ 04:11 pm
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| » Bottled tap water |
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Yet more proof that Bottled Water is the biggest scam around. I can't wait till we're sold packets of air and charged to breathe.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/07/27/pepsico.aquafina.reut/index.html
And this aside, I always hear the convenience argument in defense of bottled water, and how you can't carry around tap water. Uhm, yes you can. If you're drinking two bottles of day of this stuff you're spending about $1,000 per year (more if you live in most big cities). You can buy one of those sport water bottles and fill it up each day for less than $5 per year. Even if you don't like your tap water just get a Brita filter and you're spending about $55 per year. It doesn't take a rocket scientist, guys.
Jul. 27th, 2007 @ 02:41 pm
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| » The Buckhead |
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I live in Atlanta, on Peachtree Road, in Zone 2, and the area I live in is called Buckhead.
In 1837, a certain Henry Irby founded Henry Irby's general store and tavern. This was a stopping place for both rich and poor travelers who passed by the area. Irby also killed a deer and mounted the "buck's head" in front of his store. It is assumed he did this to make fun of the European nobleman custom of displaying hunting trophies on walls.
Regardless, the name stuck, and the location of the bar is now the intersection of Peachtree and Roswell Roads, less than a block north of where I live.
In its place is what's called "The Storyteller": a statue of a seated 'buckman' surrounded by various animals listening to his stories. I'm not sure why.
But I decided to take pictures of the place and post them here. Enjoy
Jul. 22nd, 2007 @ 12:49 pm
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| » EU Updates |
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Just released:
The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats
and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved". Soon,
though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A
Bit Cross". Londoners have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz began in
1940 and tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized
from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance". The last time the British issued "A
Bloody Nuisance" warning level was during the great fire of 1666.
A recent fire has destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.
The Germans also increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to
"Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher
levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose".
The Spanish are excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy.
These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy
can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.
Jul. 20th, 2007 @ 11:31 am
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| » Sparkling, Dynamic and Juche |
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For those of you who still haven't made summer vacation plans:
Honestly, when the “Korea, Sparkling” campaign started I thought it was retarded. "Korea, Sparkling" didn't seem like a slogan, or catchy, or even proper grammar for that matter. But I have to say I really like their new commercial:
And for those of us who miss Dynamic Korea:
Jul. 18th, 2007 @ 08:31 pm
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| » Born and raised in a concentration camp |
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http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/09/news/korea.php
So much makes me mad about this: from the mere fact it exists, to the fact that more people talk of the evils of Carbon monoxide than any of this. For some reason it also ticks me off that stories like these are never published in the South Korean press. Go figure.
Jul. 10th, 2007 @ 11:18 am
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| » Seven Wonders |
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I could've sworn these already existed. I knew about the ancient wonders, and that most of those were gone, but then I thought they came up with modern ones that we could actually see and that was that. I never questioned who came up with the list cause it was just one of those things.
So I turned to Wikipedia (the all-knowing, praise be upon it) to figure out what's what, and according to it, all wonders of the ancient world ("a widely-known list of seven remarkable manmade constructions") except the Pyramids at Giza are gone. Since then:
The American Society of Civil Engineers compiled another list of wonders of the modern world, and these are all towers, bridges and dams. All pretty boring.
There have been several lists for "Natural Wonders", the most authoritative having been compiled by CNN. Grand Canyon, Mt. Everest, Victoria Falls, etc. Either way, this isn't in the same spirit as the ancient wonders.
There is a list of "Underwater Wonders" of unknown origin. They're a waste.
USA Today compiled a list of "New Wonders" chosen by six judges. This is the only one that comes close to what I was looking for. But it includes the polar ice caps, the Great migrations of Kenya and Tanzania, and it has a total of 8 wonders (also the fact that it includes the Internet seems to annoy me; I guess because it's intangible), so I'll decide not to like that one either.
Which leaves us with this. As of my posting this, you have 2 days and 8 hours to vote for what you believe should be the 7 modern wonders of the world. I believe you get one vote each, so please vote for whatever you like, except that ugly erection of puddled iron planks called the eiffel tower.
http://www.new7wonders.com/index.php
Jul. 4th, 2007 @ 11:37 am
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| » Ren Fest!! |
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Ok, this is extremely late as well, but when Doug visited us we went to visit the Renaissance Festival just South of Atlanta, so I'm just going to post pictures of it since it's the first RenFest I've been to.
For the uninitiated, a Renaissance Festival is a smallish outdoor area set up with boutiques, restaurants, bars, stores and shows and everything revolves, extremely loosely, around the renaissance (I say loosely because there was plenty of middle ages, Lord of the Rings style stuff, and monster crap in general). Visitors will also dress in costume many times, so it's pretty interesting.
While there we got to eat turkey leg, we saw weird shows, including a joust, attended a pirate auction, saw plenty of wenches, and I got to throw battle axes.
Anyway, I said I would post pictures, so I will do so now:
My swiss army knife was peace tied
RenFest peoples
Ren Fest village
Village Wench*
BLAARRRRGG!!*
Renaissance Gang
Another Renaissance Gang
Doug and Mike chowin da Turkey legs
Da Turkey Leg!
RenFest Masters. or S&M partners.
Exploring future career paths
A pretty sad Birds of Prey show
A blacksmith shows us wussup
King Henry proclaims a Renaissance Joust*
Da Joust!*
Renaissance water cooler talk*
Dolce & Gabbana model*
Me launchin da battle axes*
Ye End
This "*" means pic courtesy of Doug
Jun. 9th, 2007 @ 08:35 pm
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| » Darvish |
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This is sort of late, but I might as well update on a venue here in the AT of L.
I don't think I had ever tried Iranian food before this night. When Kyoko, Kyu-sub, Mike and I filed into Darvish we saw a room filled with carpets; on the floor, on the walls, and on the chairs and tables. The atmosphere was pretty awesome.
The food is mostly lamb, and extremely tasty, although I'd stay away from the recommended drinks, especially the weird white stuff. Either way, this isn't the highlight of Darvish.
After dinner we were shown to a platform style area along the side, and here we were given a glass of tea each, as well as a Shisha pipe (Kyoko chose Banana flavor). Here we layed down, relaxed, smoked the shisha and, after a while, had a belly dancer go around the room to some cool music.
Total tab: About 30 dollars each. Plus there's an Iranian grocery store next door, in case that sweetens the deal.
Ok either way, I just wanted to post some pictures:
Kyoko and the tea
Kyu-sub drinking weird white stuff
Mike and Kyu-sub
Kyoko and da Shisha
Me and da Shisha
Belly dancer and dollar bills
May. 18th, 2007 @ 07:23 pm
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| » I'm not pro-Canada or anything but |
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The other day I went to Dairy Queen for lunch (Yeah they have burgers and yes, they're fast food but kinda better so bite me) and they had a scratch and win ticket that they give with your meal. Obviously I scratched and obviously all I got was that weird silver stuff all over my dime. Anyway there's a point to this. I was going to throw it away, but I was just reading the back of the ticket while eating and noticed this:
Here's a closeup:
Seriously. Poor guys. I imagine there must be some ring of Canadian gangs strong-arming customers for these tickets so they can collect prizes, and DQ realized this would be a good deterrent. Or not. I can't figure this one out.
Apr. 26th, 2007 @ 08:37 pm
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| » Agent Ocean |
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I am now a certified Real Estate Agent for the state of Georgia. Feel free to move here and call me up for a free canceltation. I have the best resources of Senor Cardgage Mortgage at my disposal.
Get a leg up on the pile!
Apr. 9th, 2007 @ 05:55 pm
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| » Keep the site alive! |
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My dearest Fifth Floorians or close enough,
It has been quite a while since we roamed the halls of Leonard and made our mark on AU. Since then we have all gone on to places of power and fame and fortune. Yet, whenever we feel stressed out and we want to get away from this ever changing world, where do we all go? I believe the answer, for all of us, is FifthFloorLeonard.com. This is where we saw pictures of Terence and Christina's wedding, other pictures, some videos, and got impatient at how long it takes to load.
Unfortunately, this place of escape might not last much longer. It appears that the evil sub-human pinko terrorist turncoat owner of the domain, Alexei Krasnov (pictured below)*, does not want to renew the site. Our only salvation is to fight this evil and make sure he renews the site. This would probably entail paying for it. So I guess you could give money straight to me, and I promise at least 25% of it will go straight to the site, or promise Alexei that you'll totally pay him back once you see him.
Alexei celebrating the end of the 5th floor site
Alexei being congratulated for ending the site
So anyway, please show your support in denouncing this evil commie, and telling him we want our site to stay up.
Thank you, and I leave you with some comments from our fellow supporters of www.fifthfloorleonard.com:
What was the site address again?
-Kyoko Yashiro
I can say fifth floor in 8 different languages.
-Mark Wuebbels
* Lifelike artistic renditions by Ocean
Apr. 2nd, 2007 @ 07:33 pm
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| » What is the theme? |
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For those who've been to Shibuya:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070401x1.html
And for those you want pet bling:
http://www.economist.com/daily/news/displaystory.cfm?story_id=348179
And this:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,2047498,00.html
And finally, this:
http://mail.google.com/mail/help/paper/more.html
Excitement back home. From my dad:
We had a bit of excitement early this morning. I woke up to sounds of
yapping dogs, or so I thought. I looked behind the house and there were two
or three foxes, barking at something by our house. Then I say in the open
area just north of the house a deer, looking very frightened. So I opened
the patio door, the deer saw me and panicked, and ran away from the woods
and the house. Unfortunately, the only remaining direction was the road, he
fell over the wall and onto the pavement. He was stunned, but after a few
seconds started to get up, just when an SUV came at high speed from the
Figino direction, swerved, hitting the wall, but clipping the deer. There
was a terrible noise, what with screeching brakes, and the impact against
the wall. By then our neighbors across the street were out on their balcony
watching, the young woman started screaming "E ferito, e ferito". About then
her husband, the auto emergency repair guy, came out with a rifle, aimed and
shot the deer.
Your mom, screamed at him, but he said "Ma era già ferito, bisognava
finirlo."
So the driver of the SUV is saying that our insurance has to fix his car,
since it was our property, and theoretically our deer. The police called the
animal protection people, who came to take away the dead wildlife.
Our neighbor says they will end up sending it to a butcher, and he will have
to pay a fine, but he gets the meat, which he will share with us.
Mar. 31st, 2007 @ 11:35 am
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lugano's journal
