If you've been hearing about that pirate problem in Somalia but have been unsure of the details, there's a great article up on salon.com that discusses it in pretty good detail. Check it out here.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Ding 80!
I forgot to share...! I dinged 80 on my main on Saturday. You can find her armory profile here. It was a fairly quick slog... I basically quested non-stop, and as a mage I can rip through mobs really quickly.
I've been loving the new expansion. The zones are gorgeous, the music is beautiful, and the new quests have been amazingly well scripted. I've barely gotten any upgrades... I think 4 so far. Well, 6 if you count trinkets, which got upgraded really quickly actually. I've also been really enjoying the new PvP content... especially Lake Wintergrasp, an entire zone dedicated to PvP, with siege engines and destructible buildings and the sweet delicious tenacity buff! Mmmmmm 300% HP and 250% damage. Horde tears are so tasty... they sustain me! I've been playing it as often as I can, and I've been raking in tons of honor... it's been awesome.
Anyways... woot for the WoW expansion... and now back to homework for grad school.
I've been loving the new expansion. The zones are gorgeous, the music is beautiful, and the new quests have been amazingly well scripted. I've barely gotten any upgrades... I think 4 so far. Well, 6 if you count trinkets, which got upgraded really quickly actually. I've also been really enjoying the new PvP content... especially Lake Wintergrasp, an entire zone dedicated to PvP, with siege engines and destructible buildings and the sweet delicious tenacity buff! Mmmmmm 300% HP and 250% damage. Horde tears are so tasty... they sustain me! I've been playing it as often as I can, and I've been raking in tons of honor... it's been awesome.
Anyways... woot for the WoW expansion... and now back to homework for grad school.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
SQUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!
OMG!!!! My Wrath of the Lich King Collector's Edition FINALLY just got here. Everyone else got theirs last night at like 9pm!!! Yarrrgh!!!
Alls I can say is thank god I'm sick today so I have an excuse to stay home and play it. I'm about to go into video game hibernation mode... see y'all in 2009, bitches!!!
Alls I can say is thank god I'm sick today so I have an excuse to stay home and play it. I'm about to go into video game hibernation mode... see y'all in 2009, bitches!!!
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
World of Warcraft vs My Girlfriend
Hehehehehe, this is pretty hilarious. I'm not sure who the original author is, so if you have attribution information let me know.
I do not think I am, as you so eloquently screamed, "addicted to World of Warcraft." I have, however, made a number of unfortunate mistakes, for which I would like to apologize.
I'm sorry I was so late picking you up from the library. I didn't know they locked the doors at 8, and I'm sorry you had to stand outside alone for two hours. If it makes you feel better, despite its reputation to the contrary, that portion of the city does not have a violent-crime rate significantly above the national average.
You have to consider the position I was in. I was healing for a party with five players in it, all of whom were counting on me to help them defeat Mekgineer Thermaplugg and liberate the Gnomish city of Gnomeregan. Those are the needs of five people, in contrast to just yours, alone. (Note that I'm not even counting the needs of the Gnomish people here, Ashley.) As Spock once famously said, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one." You were that one.
Had I looked outside and noticed the freezing rain, I may have made a different decision. Probably not, though.
I'm also sorry I posted those pictures of you on my guild forums, the ones I took when you were passed out. I had no idea they could Photoshop your bra off. That was poor judgment on my part, and I freely admit it. I also should have told you before the chain letter went out. On the bright side, you hated working there anyway.
I also have some things to say that I think you should hear, and, since you forgot to pause long enough for me to speak before your charming little bout of property damage and subsequent stormy departure, I would like to say them now.
Ashley, you have never been willing to accommodate my World of Warcraft needs, or even to compromise the slightest bit.
Last month, when your mother was in a car accident, you called and not only demanded I drive you to the hospital but insisted I stay there to provide "emotional support"—despite knowing full well that I had booked that evening off to fight forest trolls in Zul'Aman. When I suggested you take a cab and that I join you in three to four hours, you unleashed a string of expletives that even my therapist found disturbing. You also refused to wait until we finished off the eagle boss, the one who drops the helm piece I have been trying to get for months.
For the record, she turned out fine anyway. Many paraplegics lead rich and rewarding lives.
Also, what you stumbled upon me doing with that Level 64 blood elf in the back room of the Silvermoon City Inn was neither "sick and perverted" nor "cheating on you." We were role-playing. That I called you by her character's name later that evening was just a weird coincidence. I do not wish your body looked like that. You and I both know that it's physically impossible for humans to have those proportions, at least while retaining all of their internal organs.
However, in the midst of your raging diatribe, sandwiched between the curses and the flailing limbs, you made some very good points. In fact, the words you spoke about commitment, loyalty, and "being there when someone needs you" have sort of inspired me.
Ashley, when I gave you that ring and pledged to spend my life with you, what I didn't mention was that, eight months prior, in the Level 10 quest "For the Horde," I had already pledged eternal fealty and service to Warchief Thrall.
Now, with the gates of Ahn'Qiraj opening and the threat of the Silithid invasion looming over Azeroth, the call has gone out for all able-bodied members of the horde to band together in the great war effort. An event like this only happens once in a server's life, and I cannot honorably abandon my online brethren in this hour of need. I understand that you need me to be there for you, but, Ashley, the truth is, right now, the horde just needs me more.
WORLD OF WARCRAFT
VS.
MY GIRLFRIEND.
VS.
MY GIRLFRIEND.
BY TYLER CURRY
- - - -
I've had a lot of time to think about our last conversation, particularly since you ended it by ramming a keyboard through my monitor. I understand that we were both upset at the time and perhaps we said some things we didn't mean. Well, maybe you more than me, considering I mostly just listened to you shriek and cowered in the corner.- - - -
I do not think I am, as you so eloquently screamed, "addicted to World of Warcraft." I have, however, made a number of unfortunate mistakes, for which I would like to apologize.
I'm sorry I was so late picking you up from the library. I didn't know they locked the doors at 8, and I'm sorry you had to stand outside alone for two hours. If it makes you feel better, despite its reputation to the contrary, that portion of the city does not have a violent-crime rate significantly above the national average.
You have to consider the position I was in. I was healing for a party with five players in it, all of whom were counting on me to help them defeat Mekgineer Thermaplugg and liberate the Gnomish city of Gnomeregan. Those are the needs of five people, in contrast to just yours, alone. (Note that I'm not even counting the needs of the Gnomish people here, Ashley.) As Spock once famously said, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one." You were that one.
Had I looked outside and noticed the freezing rain, I may have made a different decision. Probably not, though.
I'm also sorry I posted those pictures of you on my guild forums, the ones I took when you were passed out. I had no idea they could Photoshop your bra off. That was poor judgment on my part, and I freely admit it. I also should have told you before the chain letter went out. On the bright side, you hated working there anyway.
I also have some things to say that I think you should hear, and, since you forgot to pause long enough for me to speak before your charming little bout of property damage and subsequent stormy departure, I would like to say them now.
Ashley, you have never been willing to accommodate my World of Warcraft needs, or even to compromise the slightest bit.
Last month, when your mother was in a car accident, you called and not only demanded I drive you to the hospital but insisted I stay there to provide "emotional support"—despite knowing full well that I had booked that evening off to fight forest trolls in Zul'Aman. When I suggested you take a cab and that I join you in three to four hours, you unleashed a string of expletives that even my therapist found disturbing. You also refused to wait until we finished off the eagle boss, the one who drops the helm piece I have been trying to get for months.
For the record, she turned out fine anyway. Many paraplegics lead rich and rewarding lives.
Also, what you stumbled upon me doing with that Level 64 blood elf in the back room of the Silvermoon City Inn was neither "sick and perverted" nor "cheating on you." We were role-playing. That I called you by her character's name later that evening was just a weird coincidence. I do not wish your body looked like that. You and I both know that it's physically impossible for humans to have those proportions, at least while retaining all of their internal organs.
However, in the midst of your raging diatribe, sandwiched between the curses and the flailing limbs, you made some very good points. In fact, the words you spoke about commitment, loyalty, and "being there when someone needs you" have sort of inspired me.
Ashley, when I gave you that ring and pledged to spend my life with you, what I didn't mention was that, eight months prior, in the Level 10 quest "For the Horde," I had already pledged eternal fealty and service to Warchief Thrall.
Now, with the gates of Ahn'Qiraj opening and the threat of the Silithid invasion looming over Azeroth, the call has gone out for all able-bodied members of the horde to band together in the great war effort. An event like this only happens once in a server's life, and I cannot honorably abandon my online brethren in this hour of need. I understand that you need me to be there for you, but, Ashley, the truth is, right now, the horde just needs me more.
Obama's Victory Speech
In case you didn't see it last night, here's Obama's victory speech in Chicago. Damn, I wish I could have been there. My friend Gretchen had a ticket to attend, but she was sick and couldn't use it... poor dear. Had I been in town I would have grabbed her ticket, stepped over her sick body, and sprinted straight for Grant Park. =)
McCain's Concession Speech
In case you missed it last night, I've embedded McCain's concession speech below. It was pretty decent, and a lot of people are saying it's his best of his candidacy (and that's not unusual for the losing candidate).
I'm hoping he'll work to heal the nastiness his own campaign put out there and/or didn't make an effort to suppress. Like the Obama=Muslim (not that there's anything wrong with that), Obama=communist, Obama wants to eat your babies, Obama is the anti-christ. All that nonsense. There are a lot of people (my dad included :'() who bought into that crap, and truly believe this will be the end times. We need McCain to help correct that idiotic viewpoint and get everyone back together as Americans.
I'm hoping he'll work to heal the nastiness his own campaign put out there and/or didn't make an effort to suppress. Like the Obama=Muslim (not that there's anything wrong with that), Obama=communist, Obama wants to eat your babies, Obama is the anti-christ. All that nonsense. There are a lot of people (my dad included :'() who bought into that crap, and truly believe this will be the end times. We need McCain to help correct that idiotic viewpoint and get everyone back together as Americans.
Update on my election predictions
So this morning I was reviewing my predictions from last night, and I noticed I'd failed to count RI (4), HI (4), and Alaska (3). Oops. I would have but RI and HI in Obama's column and Alaska in McCain's (all no-brainers). So the electoral college count should have read 354-184.
But even I mis-underestimated Obama's performance. Instead, he pulled out a win with 364-174 votes... AMAZING. I had called Arizona for Obama and Virginia and New Mexico for McCain, and got those three wrong. Otherwise I was spot on. =D Go me!
However, one place I was incredibly wrong was on Prop 8. :( As of now it's winning. HOWEVER. According to the No On 8 website, there are something like 3 to 4 million outstanding absentee and provisional ballots yet to be tallied. The margin between yes and no right now is about 400,000 votes. So it's entirely possible that it could still fail. That said, I was tracking the results last night and it was pretty consistently 53/47 in favor. So unless the absentee votes are overwhelmingly liberal-leaning (very possible, but not guaranteed), Prop 8 could still pass. Blech.
But even I mis-underestimated Obama's performance. Instead, he pulled out a win with 364-174 votes... AMAZING. I had called Arizona for Obama and Virginia and New Mexico for McCain, and got those three wrong. Otherwise I was spot on. =D Go me!
However, one place I was incredibly wrong was on Prop 8. :( As of now it's winning. HOWEVER. According to the No On 8 website, there are something like 3 to 4 million outstanding absentee and provisional ballots yet to be tallied. The margin between yes and no right now is about 400,000 votes. So it's entirely possible that it could still fail. That said, I was tracking the results last night and it was pretty consistently 53/47 in favor. So unless the absentee votes are overwhelmingly liberal-leaning (very possible, but not guaranteed), Prop 8 could still pass. Blech.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
G's Election Night Predictions
OK, I'm gonna make some calls, just for shits. It's ~5:45pm PST on Election Night.
Obama wins, 336-181, and Prop 8 fails miserably.
I think Obama will take Nevada, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Colorado, Arizona, and Indiana. Missouri and Montana will go McCain.
That's my prediction... I'd be ok with Obama losing a couple of those, but the bigger the landslide the better, since it leaves less room for people to bitch that it wasn't a mandate (even though Bush claimed a mandate on a margin of like 5 votes).
Anyways... hope all y'all voted, and let's kick back and enjoy the pending insanity! =)
Obama wins, 336-181, and Prop 8 fails miserably.
I think Obama will take Nevada, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Colorado, Arizona, and Indiana. Missouri and Montana will go McCain.
That's my prediction... I'd be ok with Obama losing a couple of those, but the bigger the landslide the better, since it leaves less room for people to bitch that it wasn't a mandate (even though Bush claimed a mandate on a margin of like 5 votes).
Anyways... hope all y'all voted, and let's kick back and enjoy the pending insanity! =)
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Asian Extravaganza, Night 10: Kuala Lumpur
OK, so I'm terribly behind on blogging about my trip (I mean for god's sake I've been back for 2 weeks already :P), but I'm determined to get it done. For my own sake, if not all of yours. =D Also, I've decided that I should be chronicling the trip using a night index, versus a day index. That's because we would often be in multiple places during the day, but of course only one place at night. So I'm going to kick off the renaissance of my Asia-trip-blog with our night in KL.
So. After hiking Kinabalu, we were headed for Kuala Lumpur, also known as KL by both locals and foreigners. KL is the largest city in Malaysia and is sort of a rival of Singapore. Where Singapore is straight-laced and clean, KL is chaotic and dirty. But really only in the sense of their personalities, because despite a few rats and some garbage, KL wasn't at all a hellhole. =D
We got in at night, probly around 8pm, and cabbed over to our hotel from the airport. We checked into Number 8, a chic little guesthouse within walking distance of a lot of the swankier hotels and hotspots. I jumped in the shower and sort of got ditched by the other 3 (we lost Luis and Jen on this leg, and it was down to me, Dan, and the Kellys). I was very irritated with the other 3 for various reasons, and initially refused to go to dinner with them in lieu of staying in and browsing the web on the downstairs PCs. But King harrassed me into coming out, so I did. We grabbed dinner at a thai street market stall.... street markets are really the way to eat in Malaysia. They're really just giant open air food courts, but with a pretty wide array of SE Asian choices, and overall the food is cheap and good.
I wasn't hungry, so I just had some Thai iced tea, and then decided to confront them with my annoyances. I usually don't like confronting people with that stuff... For a decade now I've labored under the assumption that confrontation with friends rarely solves anything and usually just pushes people apart (based on a series of experiences I'd had in HS/college), so I usually just keep my issues to myself and end up drifting apart from my friends. But I didn't want to do that for the rest of the trip, plus I love these 3 and I want to do many more such trips with them in the future. So I talked, and they talked, and we sorted everything out. The root of the problem was in some cases some uncommunicated expectations that were going unmet, and thus were cheesing everyone off. So we communicated them and promised to be vigilant about that stuff in the future... and you know what? Here we are 2 weeks after the trip and we didn't have a single additional problem, and we all loved the rest of it. So it looks like maybe my old philosophy isn't such a good one after all. Life lesson! zomg!!!
Anyways. At the end of the meal, Dan says "oh, shit, is that an urble running out of the kitchen?!" (if you'll recall, urble is our term for urban squirrel, or rat/mouse/whatever). So we all look over and not only is ONE running out, but so are 2 others!! Hahahahahaha. And the staff seemed nonplussed. So I suppose it was good I didn't eat there. hehehehe.
After that we headed over to the Night Market, which is this huge street market where you can buy everything under the sun, most of it designer. ;) But alas, it was closed. :( And we tried to get pics of Petronas Towers (the poser skyscrapers that ARE NOT taller than the Sears Tower; ask me and I'll rant to you why), but they weren't lit any more (they look awesome when lit... check out this pic of them!). So after wandering a bit more and seeing more urbles, we decided that since we'd been up since like 3am that morning and were exhausted from our hike, we should get to sleep. So we did!
We got up the next morning and had breakfast... but let me first share with you HOW FUCKING SORE WE WERE. OH. MY. GOD. It was so bad. SOOOOOOOOOOOO bad. We seriously couldn't go down a single stair without crying. We were very very slow carrying our shit down those stairs, I'll tell you that. It was so hard. Our poor legs.... And this was all four of us. And note that we're all triathletes to a degree (some more than others), and some of us have done marathons, and Dan of course biked 5000 miles from SF to DC. So we're not out of shape. But seriously. OUUUUUCCCCH. The great part is that every day we hoped it would get better. And every day.... it really didn't. :'(
After breakfast we headed out to see the sights before our afternoon flight to Vietnam (whirlwind tour of KL!). We ended up hitting the Night Market, which was strangely open during the day (because of the holiday Eid, which is the end of Ramadan!). So we shopped. Some watches were purchased, some t-shirts... I may have gotten a Manchester United jersey with AIG on the front purely for the hilarity of it all. And yes, I was keeping up diligently with the total meltdown happening back in the US. =D We also hit up a mall where we did some more shopping, AND GOT OUR FEET CARPED!!!
What the hell does that mean, you ask. Well. You may have heard of this foot-spa thing where you basically submerge your feet in a pool filled with little carp, who proceed to eat the fuck out of the dead skin. For just a couple bucks you could do that for 15 mins, so we did!! And it was HILARIOUS. I mean, it tickled like hell, and was almost unbearable. But over time you sort of adjust and then accept your fate. =D But overall it was a lot of fun and totally worth it. If you ever get the chance to try it, do it. It's too fun to miss out on.
That was really about it for KL... it was a short trip... I wish we'd had more time. But I enjoyed the Night Market and the street food, and loved the carping. From there, we flew to Hanoi in Vietnam...!
So. After hiking Kinabalu, we were headed for Kuala Lumpur, also known as KL by both locals and foreigners. KL is the largest city in Malaysia and is sort of a rival of Singapore. Where Singapore is straight-laced and clean, KL is chaotic and dirty. But really only in the sense of their personalities, because despite a few rats and some garbage, KL wasn't at all a hellhole. =D
We got in at night, probly around 8pm, and cabbed over to our hotel from the airport. We checked into Number 8, a chic little guesthouse within walking distance of a lot of the swankier hotels and hotspots. I jumped in the shower and sort of got ditched by the other 3 (we lost Luis and Jen on this leg, and it was down to me, Dan, and the Kellys). I was very irritated with the other 3 for various reasons, and initially refused to go to dinner with them in lieu of staying in and browsing the web on the downstairs PCs. But King harrassed me into coming out, so I did. We grabbed dinner at a thai street market stall.... street markets are really the way to eat in Malaysia. They're really just giant open air food courts, but with a pretty wide array of SE Asian choices, and overall the food is cheap and good.
I wasn't hungry, so I just had some Thai iced tea, and then decided to confront them with my annoyances. I usually don't like confronting people with that stuff... For a decade now I've labored under the assumption that confrontation with friends rarely solves anything and usually just pushes people apart (based on a series of experiences I'd had in HS/college), so I usually just keep my issues to myself and end up drifting apart from my friends. But I didn't want to do that for the rest of the trip, plus I love these 3 and I want to do many more such trips with them in the future. So I talked, and they talked, and we sorted everything out. The root of the problem was in some cases some uncommunicated expectations that were going unmet, and thus were cheesing everyone off. So we communicated them and promised to be vigilant about that stuff in the future... and you know what? Here we are 2 weeks after the trip and we didn't have a single additional problem, and we all loved the rest of it. So it looks like maybe my old philosophy isn't such a good one after all. Life lesson! zomg!!!
Anyways. At the end of the meal, Dan says "oh, shit, is that an urble running out of the kitchen?!" (if you'll recall, urble is our term for urban squirrel, or rat/mouse/whatever). So we all look over and not only is ONE running out, but so are 2 others!! Hahahahahaha. And the staff seemed nonplussed. So I suppose it was good I didn't eat there. hehehehe.
After that we headed over to the Night Market, which is this huge street market where you can buy everything under the sun, most of it designer. ;) But alas, it was closed. :( And we tried to get pics of Petronas Towers (the poser skyscrapers that ARE NOT taller than the Sears Tower; ask me and I'll rant to you why), but they weren't lit any more (they look awesome when lit... check out this pic of them!). So after wandering a bit more and seeing more urbles, we decided that since we'd been up since like 3am that morning and were exhausted from our hike, we should get to sleep. So we did!
We got up the next morning and had breakfast... but let me first share with you HOW FUCKING SORE WE WERE. OH. MY. GOD. It was so bad. SOOOOOOOOOOOO bad. We seriously couldn't go down a single stair without crying. We were very very slow carrying our shit down those stairs, I'll tell you that. It was so hard. Our poor legs.... And this was all four of us. And note that we're all triathletes to a degree (some more than others), and some of us have done marathons, and Dan of course biked 5000 miles from SF to DC. So we're not out of shape. But seriously. OUUUUUCCCCH. The great part is that every day we hoped it would get better. And every day.... it really didn't. :'(
After breakfast we headed out to see the sights before our afternoon flight to Vietnam (whirlwind tour of KL!). We ended up hitting the Night Market, which was strangely open during the day (because of the holiday Eid, which is the end of Ramadan!). So we shopped. Some watches were purchased, some t-shirts... I may have gotten a Manchester United jersey with AIG on the front purely for the hilarity of it all. And yes, I was keeping up diligently with the total meltdown happening back in the US. =D We also hit up a mall where we did some more shopping, AND GOT OUR FEET CARPED!!!
What the hell does that mean, you ask. Well. You may have heard of this foot-spa thing where you basically submerge your feet in a pool filled with little carp, who proceed to eat the fuck out of the dead skin. For just a couple bucks you could do that for 15 mins, so we did!! And it was HILARIOUS. I mean, it tickled like hell, and was almost unbearable. But over time you sort of adjust and then accept your fate. =D But overall it was a lot of fun and totally worth it. If you ever get the chance to try it, do it. It's too fun to miss out on.
That was really about it for KL... it was a short trip... I wish we'd had more time. But I enjoyed the Night Market and the street food, and loved the carping. From there, we flew to Hanoi in Vietnam...!
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