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<title><![CDATA[Blahdot: Eric Osterweil's homepage (full of insipid babbling)]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[This is Eric Osterweil's blog/homepage. I make no guarantees that it is factual, interesting, or that it has been
spell checked. 
 Wanna drop me a line?  Blah Blah Blah]]></description>
<ttl><![CDATA[60]]></ttl>
<language>en-us</language>
<managingEditor>spam@cs.ucla.edu (Eric Osterweil)</managingEditor>



<item>
<title>The Netfighter is hilarious!</title>
<link>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1209677090</link>
<description><![CDATA[  OK, short and sweet... There's this YouTube knockoff called SuperDeluxe.com.  It's
  actually pretty friggin' hilarious.  They have a bunch of Fark videos.  Many of them are great (especially the
  Gilligan one), but there's one video on there that totally kills me.  
  The
  Netfighter kicks my ass every time I watch it.  It just comes out of nowhere looking all stupid and just makes you
  laugh your ass off!
  The first part is just off the damned chart so don't blame me if you almost suffocate laughing.  Then training part at
  the end is actually totally lame, but the first part is so absoulte in its ass-kickingness that you may need to 
  cover your nuts while you watch it to make sure you don't get kicked in the worng place.
  
  Apparently it's only part 1 of 2, so lets hope part 2 gets here soon and it doesn't have any lameass training scenes. ;)

]]></description>
<author>spam@cs.ucla.edu (Eric Osterweil)</author><comments><![CDATA[http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1209677090]]></comments><pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 01 May 2008 14:24:50 PDT]]></pubDate>
<guid>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1209677090</guid>
</item>

<item>
<title>Why Only Twice?</title>
<link>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1204574207</link>
<description><![CDATA[  I just caught this off of 
  digg.com and I had to think about whether this was ridculously funny, or just ridiculous.
  
  Let me start off by asking you, does anyone NOT know the rules about urinals?  I'm assuming only the very few
  ladies who read my carp are raising their hands.  There shouldn't be any guys out there who are confused on
  this one.  If there are, let me encourage you to take a trip to New Zealand. It seems like the Kiwi's know how to properly
  educate y'all! ;)
  
  Basically, this article reports how some dude
  came into the pisser and started ogling another dude's junk...  You just don't do that!  Hell, there are
  really well defined and well known rules here!  Is there really any dude out there who doesn't know urinal etiquette?
  The ogler got punched in the face twice, and it just made me wonder, isn't it, three times' a charm? ;)
  
  Even pretending that this was an innocent mistake is bull!  There are instructive 
  games out there that
  will help train people, so no one has an excuse.  If you ask me, that weirdo didn't get what he deserved, he got
  about half of it.  I think if this had happened in Brooklyn the cops would have found a few pieces of the dude scattered
  around the bathroom.  I say good work punchy, I got yer back! ;)

]]></description>
<author>spam@cs.ucla.edu (Eric Osterweil)</author><comments><![CDATA[http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1204574207]]></comments><pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:56:47 PST]]></pubDate>
<guid>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1204574207</guid>
</item>

<item>
<title>Ode to Valentine's Day</title>
<link>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1203028281</link>
<description><![CDATA[  It's here again...  I've got nuthin clever to say.
  
  Maybe I can take some solace in knowing that after today, those damned Kay's and Jarred commercials will be gone again... Or maybe tomorrow 
  I'll find out they're still around and finally go over the edge...
  
  Nah, me and m' dawg are just gunna boycott again, not dramatics... ;)
  
  PS - Thnx to Mohammad Ali for knockin' that little turd right out!
  
  PPS - Still waitin' for hate mail. ;)

]]></description>
<author>spam@cs.ucla.edu (Eric Osterweil)</author><comments><![CDATA[http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1203028281]]></comments><pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:31:21 PST]]></pubDate>
<guid>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1203028281</guid>
</item>

<item>
<title>Your Boyfriend Has A Zombie Plan</title>
<link>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1197902178</link>
<description><![CDATA[  I just got around to seeing that movie, 28 weeks later and I took a number of lessons from it.  I think a lot people who
  are in love w/ the zombie genre feel that running zombies are not real zombies.  I don't really know, but
  the 28 [Days|Weeks] Later movies get around that nicely by making this a virus and blah blah blah...
  
  Anyway, the first thing to note from 28 Weeks later is that kids suck.  Seriously, those damn kids cause everything
  that happens.  I can't imagine a better theme for a poster about birth control.  These damn kids break the rules,
  act like friggin' jackasses, revive the plague, then the stupid military cuts them a lot of slack, and then... Well, I
  won't completely ruin the movie if someone
  out there hasn't seen it, but lemme just say, those kids screw EVERYTHING up!
  
  Anyway, back to my point... The Zombie Plan: it's a well known fact that most (maybe all?) guys know that they have
  to have an updated Zombie Plan.  Guys aren't the only ones who can have these plans.  Ladies, you can have them too, but
  guys take the responsibility very seriously because it's a requirement for us.
  
  Now, what is a Zombie Plan?  Well, I shouldn't have to tell guys this, but just in case someone missed the
  memo, this is the plan you must have that tells you how to survive after an outbreak of
  zombitis.  What would you do if
  you woke up and your
  neighbor tried to eat your face?  What would you do if you looked out your window and the streets were full screamers and chasers?
  What... would... you... do...
  if you heard your neighbor knocking on your door and when you
  looked through the peephole you saw he was knocking with his bloody, contorted face and drooling w/ a vacant look in his
  eyes?
  You need to have a plan because if you wait until this happens, your dog-meat buddy... game over!  All guys know
  that these zombie movies are critical to prompt us to come up with and then continuously refine our Zombie Plans.  Without them,
  we're done.  So, if you have a boyfriend, go ahead and ask him.  If he doesn't have one of these plans, you may want to trade
  up... My email is at the top of the page. ;)  If you're a guy who doesn't have a plan, make one... NOW!
  
  Zombie Plans are really important.  I actually tried to make mine a specialized version of a more general apocalypse plan
  (that is, a plan that I could follow in the case of catastrophic civil unrest or nuclear holocaust, etc.).  It turns out,
  however, that I really just have a Zombie Plan.  This plan falls apart when the zombies aren't brain-dead, but that's OK.
  
  My Plan:
  
  Here's what you need to do, get a bead on your local supermarket, and be sure that you're the first one in there.  Other shoppers
  will be there already, so show some backbone and take the alpha position in your new pack.  Why a supermarket?  Think about it, you
  will NEVER run out of food, and there's only ever 1 point to secure in a supermarket
  (against zombies anyway); those glass front windows. Other than that the only other access is usually the loading dock, which is basically
  a big (read: securable) door that is 5-6 feet off the ground.  Zombies can't jump, and so they can't get that door, but even
  if they can get up there (stairs or whatever), those doors are always big and tough.  As for the front, those big glass windows are
  a bit disconcerting, but they always start about 4 feet off the ground, and so zombies can only bang on them w/ their hands.  Moreover,
  most stores have all of their shopping carts stacked up there, so you can't even GET to the windows if you're a brain-dead zombie.
  So, you see, you can holdup in a super market pretty much indefinitely.  But wait, there's more, your typical supermarket has an upstairs
  that has very limited access (for the management).  You sleep up there in case there is a perimeter failure.  Then, there are usually
  windows that look over the main floor (early warning), and THEN, you have this really huge, flat roof.  You go up there and
  watch the increasingly infrequent military helicopter flybys.  You write your obligatory Please Help Us message, and you
  make friends with people that are barricaded in nearby apartments (until they get desperate and try to run over to your supermarket for
  food).
  
  This brings me to the next point: Do NOT be weak here!  If you let those scabs in, the zombies will get you!
  I don't care how careful you are, or even if you have Ving Rhames with you... They will get in!  Let those losers die, they
  should have had a better Zombie Plan!  And one other thing... You're in a super market!  You can live there for a really long
  time...  Don't decide to make a run for it... For the love of God, don't be stupid.  Wait it out.  Well, I'LL be waiting it
  out.  If you punk out and get eaten, I'll be sure to toast you after my clan survive and I. ;)
  
  OK OK OK, so, what's the point?  Is this just stupid guy stuff?  Hell NO!  Check this
  out!  Yeah, this shit could happen. Now get to it! :-P

]]></description>
<author>spam@cs.ucla.edu (Eric Osterweil)</author><comments><![CDATA[http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1197902178]]></comments><pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 17 Dec 2007 06:36:18 PST]]></pubDate>
<guid>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1197902178</guid>
</item>

<item>
<title>BSG Redux?</title>
<link>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1196966151</link>
<description><![CDATA[  BSG Redux?
  
  We all saw it, that big bad beautiful Battlestar ramped up and jumped the shark last season. 4, or maybe 5 (it depends on
      Starbuck I guess), of our main characters turned out to be the final five Cylons.  It still
  pisses me off.  Hell, Colonel Tigh served in the first war, before there were skin jobs...
  
  *focus Eric, focus*
  
  OK, anyway, I watched the latest BSG movie, Razor
  and it was actually pretty good.  I haven't had a chance to see the unedited version (we can only hope there are more unedited
      Tricia Helfer scenes in there), but it was back to the good old grit that BSG had at the beginning.  I don't know if their plan
  was to lure us back after pissing off most of the fanbase w/ that final 5 carp, but it may have worked out that way.
  
  We start off w/ pre-fat-suit Apollo getting command of the Pegasus and some flashbacks about Adama in the first war.  There's
  a nice single-serving bad guy to hunt down (no spoiler here) that ties Apollo's command to Adama's flashback.  *Yawn* 
  Pretty lame.  But, it gets good when we flash back to how the Pegasus got away, and their story.  
  
  The Pegasus was commanded by Admiral Kane.  She was a tough chick that used to be pretty hot, but isn't now.
  In Razor, we find out that she likes other chicks...  That's always kinda kewl, but I'm still not really interested 
  at this point.  BUT her girlfriend was Tricia Helfer...
  Now THAT'S what I'm talking about! :-P  In addition to the hottie and the oldness, Razor had this smokin'
  hot little Australian chick (Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen) who 
  starts off all lame and star-struck when she boards the Pegasus, and turns into an absolute badass by the time
  the flashbacks catch up to modern day Pegasus.  Damn, she's hot and a badass?  I always thought that was
  too much to hope for!  I was really bummed at the end though... They made sure we don't get to see anymore of her. 
  Why they gotta hate like that? :(
  
  In addition, Razor had a bunch of badly needed action scenes.  It was a damned pleasure to watch some ass-kickin' combat because
  (as we all know) some/most of the BSG epi's were... how you say...  a little light on action?  The
  Pegasus escape is kicked off by a surprise attack, and we get to see some pretty awesome combat...  
  Friggin' Battlestars getting Pwnd, strafing runs by raiders, lots of explosions, people getting stranded
  on a space-station because they were too friggin' slow to get back on board the Pegasus... 
  No no... please don't leave me because I'm a lame slow piece of carp... arrrgggghhhh... More please!
  Then we get to see some ass kickin', guerrilla style, as the Pegasus just goes balls out against the Cylons! 
  It's not wall to wall, but I thought it was pretty frackin' awesome.
  Admiral Kane may not be hot, but she has balls of steel!
  We finally get to see how shit went down when she went all section-8 and capped her own XO!  Good stuff lady, you're all aces in my book.
  
  Anyway, the point is, maybe the writers have stopped smoking crack
  and are back on their meds?  Or maybe they're all on strike and there are some scabs that are actually 
  writing better than them?  Ah, who am I kidding, this was prolly written months ago before those stupid leech-writers
  decided that they were entitled to more than the should be, and started pitching hissy fits!
  
  It's funny how things turn out.  Now that I'm advocating that people watch BSG again, and am actually looking
  forward to it myself, I may have to hunt down and bludgeon some of these writers if they cause any more
  delays in the premier of BSG...  You know, set some examples? ;)  Of course, I must be kidding because I would never
  advocate violence against any of the FSM's special little creatures,
  right?
  

]]></description>
<author>spam@cs.ucla.edu (Eric Osterweil)</author><comments><![CDATA[http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1196966151]]></comments><pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 06 Dec 2007 10:35:51 PST]]></pubDate>
<guid>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1196966151</guid>
</item>

<item>
<title>I'm Getting Indexed by Technorati</title>
<link>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1196303940</link>
<description><![CDATA[  I'm finally getting indexed by Technorati.  Apparently I've been under review for about a year.  I know that I'm worth the time. ;)
  
  Here's the link that makes it all possible:
  Technorati Profile
  

]]></description>
<author>spam@cs.ucla.edu (Eric Osterweil)</author><comments><![CDATA[http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1196303940]]></comments><pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, 28 Nov 2007 18:39:00 PST]]></pubDate>
<guid>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1196303940</guid>
</item>

<item>
<title>Religion in School (Again)?</title>
<link>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1196200119</link>
<description><![CDATA[  Well, creationism and intelligent design (or ID) are nothing new anymore.  People have debated it, children have been forced
  to learn it, hell, some of us have even blogged about it.  Ever since I done heard 
  about this I thought it was God damned un-American (*insert cow-poke accent here*)!  ;) First, no scientific theory is ever 
  proven (they can only be 
      disproven), second why is there only one alternative?  I've heard the argument that we should present 
  both sides and let the students decied what they like...
  
  *sigh*
  
  That's friggin' great.  Well, sometimes you gotta turn into the storm, so here we go... Is science all worng?  Should
  we be turning to religion?  Surprisingly, there's some pretty compelling *cough* bullshit *cough* evidence to say, 
     ...and where the hell was I? err, yes.
  
  This weekend I was talking to a friend, and this idea hit me like a lightning bolt 
  (God?).  
  It occured to me that maybe these ID douche bags have opened up a door that 
  we can use too.  
  Let's take a look at what religion has been trying to teach us dumb scientists for (literally) thousands of years:
  
    Cosmology:
    
    I'm a physicist by training 
    (well, I have an undergraduate degree in the carp), and I'm familiar with the
    theories surrounding the fate of the universe.
    Consider this, in the 
    Closed Universe theory, 
    the universe cycles between a massive creation phase (the Big Bang),
    our current phase, and then a big crunch phase before we start all over.  Now, I know those damned physicists are already
    trying to find a new cosmological model (big rips, and big worms, heat stroke, etc.), but let's stick w/ the closed universe for a second...
    You know who else figgured this out (without fancy math or science I might add)?!?!
    
    That's right, Hinduism!  Think about it, in their model, the big bang gets marshaled by 
    Brahma,
    we get Vishnu today, and tomorrow (my favorite god)
    Siva comes and kix all our asses!  Don't you see!  The Hindus figured this 
    all out a long time ago!  You may want to place your bets, and Hinduism is an early favorite.
    
    
  
    Sociology:
    
    Sociology is full of studies and theories, and well, hell as I understand (re: thanks South Park) Scientology,
    aren't they just talking about Austrialia?  Isn't Earth supposed to be a prison colony or something?  I guess 
    this one doesn't count because L. Ron Hubbard already knew about Austrailia
    when he was... enlightened?   But hey, the Xenu thing is a pretty kewl analogy for King George III.
    
    Now, would I say this shiznit is a better bet than our current front runner (Hinduism)?  Hell no!  The King George analogy 
    ain't that funny...
    
    
  
    Physics:
    
    In Physics, everything is made of energy and it just gets converted into stuff like people and sandwiches and rocks and
    this kid.
    You could, rightly, look at the universe as a giant pool of energy that's just in various forms.
    Buddhism has a lot of flavors, but they all share some themes.  One theme is striving for enlightenment.  Some common teachings
    are that we are all part of one big consciousness and that we just need to realize it (like bubbles in a lake).  
    
    Do I buy this?  Well, lakes are pretty cool, and who doesn't like bubbles...  I still like Hinduism to take it at this point though.
    
    
  
Psychiatry:
    
    Seeing dead people.... Halucinating... Delusions of grandure.... Over developed ids (check yo' Freud dude)...  Yeah, there's a lot of 
    evidence to suggest that Mormons have been exploring psycho-pharmacology and delusions for a long long time...  Although, technically, 
    the Scientologists could boast the same claims, Mormons were here first.
    
    This one is pretty weak, so I would not recommend placing any bets on the Mormons here... Besides, did you see September Dawn?  I'd hate
    for them to get a hold of me in the middle of nowhere...  They'd prolly do [their] duty on me... :-/
    
    
-->
  
    Cosmology:
    
    Yeah, I can do this one twice, because physicists don't agree on what model our universe follows, and religious nuts don't agree
    on how many gods we have and what they all look like!  If the the universe is Open (continuously expanding), then it would pay to bet heavy
    on the Christians.  Their fire and brimstone end-of-days carp might
    be right in line with the Big Rip theory that shit's gunna get all
    torn up at the end.
    
    
  
  
  Thank you UID people, you've finally cracked the iron husk of our educational system so that we can slip into lunacy!
  You see, we really shouldn't teach 2 options at all!  All of our fancy science
  has just brought us shame and we're only just catching up to religions.  Why do we even bother?!?  The Hindus knew about cosmology 
  (unless of course the Christians
  did), the Eastern cultures were right on about particle physics before we every got wired into it, the Scientologists have a great 
  sense of humor re: making a parody of England's king... 
  
  So you see; you need to be careful what you wish for!  Some of us scientists can be vindictive, and
  we'll screw your kids up if you screw ours up!  We have ways of twisting things around about which religion says 
  what about what and even you won't know which way is up!  We'll get kids questioning your voodoo with other religious
  rhetoric and they won't have any marketable knowledge OR the ability to think for themselves.  Back off!
  

]]></description>
<author>spam@cs.ucla.edu (Eric Osterweil)</author><comments><![CDATA[http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1196200119]]></comments><pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:48:39 PST]]></pubDate>
<guid>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1196200119</guid>
</item>

<item>
<title>Every Krap Begins With Kay</title>
<link>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1195766439</link>
<description><![CDATA[  It's that time of year again...  The holidays are here and the airwaves are flooded with those damned Kay Jewelers commercials: 
  Every [Krap] begins with Kay...
  
  Am I the only one who finds these commercials repulsive and insulting?  They show some emasculated egg-shaped weevil getting all giddy and 
  proffering up his manhood to his wife.  Why?!?  Look, I have no problem with men treating women right (hell, I have a problem with men who 
  DON'T treat women right), but this is pathetic.  I'm not sure who's the woman in these commercials.
  
  This season is as bad as all the others, but one spot has caught my eye.  There's a new spot where the guy keeps peeking at
  his lame little present until his wife walks in on him.  You know... What's wrong with this picture.  I hope dough-boy got
  himself a little pearl necklace or something too.  Talk about a gender reversal, I'll
  bet if they panned back you'd see that douche bag was wearing his wife's pumps and fishnet stockings.
  
  Kay, you've been pissing me off for years.  If you want men (not just effeminate douche bags) to bite on your crap, you need to show a couple
  of guys who can treat their women right without turning into women... Come on!

]]></description>
<author>spam@cs.ucla.edu (Eric Osterweil)</author><comments><![CDATA[http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1195766439]]></comments><pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 22 Nov 2007 13:20:39 PST]]></pubDate>
<guid>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1195766439</guid>
</item>

<item>
<title>People Who Don't Like Blogging Suck!</title>
<link>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1191269998</link>
<description><![CDATA[  I recently saw this STUPID
  article posted on digg.com.  I was so moved by the author's total constriction of
  his sphincter (i.e. he's an anal P.O.S.) that I felt I had to come out of blogging-retirement.
  
  For those of you who don't want to be bothered w/ douche bags, let me summarize: this tool basically thinks
  that blogging posts are, not worth the bytes they take up.  I suppose irony is lost on this
  imbecile, as he said this on a friggin' blog!
  
  lol... Hey captain stupid!  You shouldn't drill holes in a ship's hull if you're on the friggin' ship.
  I won't belabor this point any further, except to say that stupid people suck!  Can I get an amen?

]]></description>
<author>spam@cs.ucla.edu (Eric Osterweil)</author><comments><![CDATA[http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1191269998]]></comments><pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:19:58 PDT]]></pubDate>
<guid>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1191269998</guid>
</item>

<item>
<title>Separated at Birth?</title>
<link>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1178124873</link>
<description><![CDATA[  I can't take it anymore.  I've been living with this secret for far too long.  I've used the massive computing
  power that I have access to, here at Blahdot (my diesel, but aging laptop), to confirm what everyone must already suspect.
  Yes, through the power of complicated technical carp-analysis, I have confirmed that Laura Bush is, in fact, 
  the Joker's sister!  You can see a compelling side-by-side comparison in the attached image.  If I'm not
  assassinated by the secret service in the coming days, maybe I'll be able to produce more detailed findings...
  
  Stay tuned, and pray that the Batman can help...

]]></description>
<author>spam@cs.ucla.edu (Eric Osterweil)</author><comments><![CDATA[http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1178124873]]></comments><pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, 02 May 2007 09:54:33 PDT]]></pubDate>
<guid>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1178124873</guid>
</item>

<item>
<title>Star Wars: An Allegory for Graduate School</title>
<link>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1177516263</link>
<description><![CDATA[  The Star Wars movies are great.  I wouldn't spend a week sleeping on-line for tickets, but they
  tell a really kewl story (though the first 2 did suck pretty hard I guess).
  
  Recently, I realized that as good as George Lucas is at creating a really compelling story, and
  as good as he is at directing and producing, and as good as he is at running a badass
  special effects outfit, he's much better at using symbolism.  Yeah, as I was toiling
  away in my own grad school hell, I realized THAT's what George was writing about!
  All of those characters, and battles, etc.  They all describe the hell that is... Graduate School!
  
  OK, OK, OK, I'm sure you're all getting ready to close the browser, but I've detailed
  The Star Wars Allegory and the analysis is sound!
  
  
  
  
  Check it out, and as usual, let me know what you think...

]]></description>
<author>spam@cs.ucla.edu (Eric Osterweil)</author><comments><![CDATA[http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1177516263]]></comments><pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, 25 Apr 2007 08:51:03 PDT]]></pubDate>
<guid>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1177516263</guid>
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<item>
<title>BSG Bites the Dust, and HARD</title>
<link>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1175272709</link>
<description><![CDATA[  So, it's been almost a week, and I've had time to consider what's happened.  I think it goes w/o saying that any real fan of
  BSG is now asking themselves the same question: What the hell happened, and who the hell can I kill over this retarded plot
  direction?!?!
  
  I just can't imagine what the hell those damn writers have been thinking!  OK, let's just go over the retarded state of the union:
  
    Starbuck decides that a nose dive into a planet is the best way to show mommy that she really was a good girl.  This, incidentally
        leaves the number of (active) main characters at between 10 and 15.
    Baltar manages to get exonerated for the shit he's done (I guess this isn't such a big deal to me).
    Apollo turns in his wings to be a lawyer... Uhh... OK, random/lame plot twist, but I can dig it.
    Starbuck magically shows back up and seems just fine?  Well, maybe this is one of those lame figment characters
        that really only exists in Apollo's head.  That would be retarded, but I can only imagine (in a bad way) how else they
        magically brought her butchy-ass back from the dead.
    AND drum roll Colonel Tigh, Mr. Starbuck (the futuristic water polo player), the Presidents aid, and chief Tyrol are all
        members of the final-five?!?!?!/drum roll  WHAT?!?!?!  This means that roughly 1/3 (4 out of ~15) of the main characters 
        are really Cylons!
   
  OMFG!  OK, this is soooo stuuuuuuuupid that I can barely take it.  What is WRONG with these writers?!?!  The main characters keep 
  getting killed/defilled/etc...  I can respect trying to surprise the audience (us), and not every twist needs to be a crowd pleaser, but
  dammit!  Now the writers have completely painted themselves into a corner because some of the best characters are either dead or worse (Cylons)!
  
  On top of how stupid this all is, Colonel Tigh doesn't even make sense as a friggin' Cylon!  In the first war (according to their own 
  story line) the Cylons had: been built, lived, and fought from the same planets as the humans... There were no skin-jobs that
  looked like people.  Colonel Tigh fought in the first war... He could not have been a Cylon.  My only guess is that they'll try to 
  explain how either: 1) he was kidnapped, and replaced, or 2) the Cylon's magically had secret skin-jobs way back when...  Either way... 
  BSG really pissed me off!
  
  Dammit... I'll bet the shark they just jumped over was really a Cylon shark that was also part of the final-five.  I think my favorite
  show since Dragonball Z has just ended its own life. :(  I am not planning to *sniff* watch it anymore.  Unless I hear a teaser that 
  somehow undoes this travesty (which I currently think is impossible) I have to say this: You bastards were doing such a great job
  that it makes it much MORE painful to see what you've done to the FORMERLY greatest show on television!
  
  You killed Kenny, You bastards!

]]></description>
<author>spam@cs.ucla.edu (Eric Osterweil)</author><comments><![CDATA[http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1175272709]]></comments><pubDate><![CDATA[Fri, 30 Mar 2007 09:38:29 PDT]]></pubDate>
<guid>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1175272709</guid>
</item>

<item>
<title>CryptoKids: Let's Have Your Lunch Money!</title>
<link>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1174070856</link>
<description><![CDATA[  You know, I don't have any kids, and while I still manage to get to sleep at night despite this, I'd like to think that IF I had a kid
  she/he would NOT get ahold of the CryptoTools website.  I know, I know, you must
  be thinking, But, these kids seem so kewl... Yeah, yeah, with icons like: Crypto Cat, Decipher
  Dog, Rosetta Stone, and FSM knows who else, why wouldn't someone die for the chance to brag, 
  My kid's a CryptoDouche!  Yeah, I'd love to think if I ever spawn a little Eric[a], I would be lucky enough to run into one 
  of these CryptoParents.
  I could congratulate them on adding another badly needed punching bag into the World, and then I could tell Eric Jr.:
  Go show the nice little wiener how to give you his lunch money.
  
  LOL... Obviously I must be kidding, right?  I mean, how could we imagine an America without CryptoKids there to train other kids
  in their classes how to be tough and capable?  If I had been a CryptoKid, I would take solace in knowing that everyone who ever beat
  me up was likely to go on to be a real man (or woman) and that I might have helped them hone their own skills and to focus on how
  to be kewl.  Hell, I'll bet the Spartans from 300 either did have, or should have had
  AbacusKids to kick around.  Maybe that's who King Leonidas was beating the hell out of as kid during that weird right-of-passage where
  they either chisel the kids out of stone, or let them get eaten by crazy-assed demon wolves.
  Or do you think maybe those nasty-assed festering priests at the top of that mountain were the 
  OracleKids of Ancient Sparta?  Damn... If that doesn't just make you wanna pull your kid outta school and make sure he/she knows better?
  
  I wonder how many terrorists look at the CryptoClowns web page and think, Wow, we're in trouble now... Maybe we should think about
  picking on England instead...  Good job NSA!  I suppose recruiting young 
  ciphers that have no ability to make friends will help when 
  someone joins the NSA and isn't allowed to make any connections outside the farm, huh? ;)

]]></description>
<author>spam@cs.ucla.edu (Eric Osterweil)</author><comments><![CDATA[http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1174070856]]></comments><pubDate><![CDATA[Fri, 16 Mar 2007 11:47:36 PDT]]></pubDate>
<guid>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1174070856</guid>
</item>

<item>
<title>THE BEST MOVIE EVER!!!</title>
<link>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1173714531</link>
<description><![CDATA[  Prepare for GLORY!!!  As of this weekend, the torch has been passed!  The baddest-a$s movie, hell,
  the best movie ever has to be 300!  This movie just
  kix so much ass it'll leave you thinking, Did I deserve to watch this movie?!?!
  
  I can barely begin to imagine how to describe this...  Imagine if Starship Troopers got together with Reign of Fire, and Batman Begins, 
  and RoboCop (1  2),
  Terminator (1  2, and they told 3 where to meet them, but it was really the wrong place 'cause they didn't really like 3), and they all
  decided to add up their kewlness against 300...  Now picture 300 showing up w/ all 300 badass Spartans with their shields, spears, and 
  krazy-ass swords.  This would be the new Ultimate Showdown!  I'll sum it up for you:
  
  Johnny Rico pulls Christian Bale and Mathew McConaughey aside and says their going to use their tactical advantage to wage a frontal assault
  against the Spartans where they run up and scream, Kill them all!!  After McConaughey punches him in the face, he says that they
  should all climb up a tower and jump onto the Spartan king and cleave him w/ a badass axe.  While they bitch back and forth at each other, 
  RoboCop pulls the T100 and the T1000 aside and says that they can't arrest the Spartans until they break a law.  The T100[0] both, 
  instantaneously stab their fists into RoboCop's chest and crush his pansy-assed heart.  Bruce Lee, the Rock, Vin Diesel, and John McClane all 
  line up to replace the dead RoboCop, but it's too late, the Spartans are impatient.
  
  Johnny Rico's rifle wouldn't be able to pierce the Spartans' diesel abs, so he'd empty his clip, and a second-stringer-Spartan would leap over
  the battle line and stab him in the eye w/ his spear...  His girlfriend (Dizzy) would cry until the Spartan Queen just kicked the living 
  shit out of her.  Christian Bale would be too busy doing double duty as Batman and Dragon-fighter to notice that the Spartan ranks just pushed
  his ass off a cliff.  McConaughey would pull out his gi'normous axe and then notice that all of the Spartans were way
  more jacked than him and then he'd run back to the gym to cry and try to get as diesel as the Spartans were when they were 13.  While this
  is going on, Bruce Lee, the Rock, Vin Diesel, and John McClane all slowly sneak away after they realize their ass would be grass in there.  The
  Terminators always were too dumb to know what was good for them so they try to grab and shoot the Spartans, but the Spartans are just so
  damned badass that the bullets (still) can't penetrate their abs, and the Spartan king punches his fist through the T100's face.  When the T1000
  sees this, he shape-shifts into a Spartan, but the king skewers his ass w/ his spear and hangs him over a fire, roasts him, and then eats
  his ass whole!
  
  This movie was just so badass, I have to recommend you don't eat for like an hour before or after because it'll make you want to go
  to the gym and bench-press a mutant hunchback and stab him in the face with a dumbbell.  I found myself thinking (afterwards), Were
  the Spartans even 1/1000th as kewl as this?  I think anyone who's got a little Spartan in them should wear a friggin' cape and
  fly around saving chicks from fires and shit.
  
  As if the Spartans weren't just badass enough, the Persians were awesome Spartan-fodder.  They had a turn-coat hunchback, a giant
  mutant badass that actually lasted for a couple of seconds against the Spartan king, a trans-sexual king (Xerxes), a praying mantis-executioner
  dude that was hilarious, and a whole army of dudes that read the Cobra playbook
  and filed their friggin' teeth to points just so the Spartans could have a reason to kill them last!
  
  I suggest a lot of red meat before the movie, and a lot of raw red meat after!  You're going to want to put a toga on and find some
  losers to impale with your spear...  This'll be totally normal, so don't be afraid.  Just calm down and remember this, the Spartans
  already mopped shit up and you just need to remember that we're all just girly-men compared to them... sorry.
  
  Anyway, after the Sparatans get done wiping the floor with all of the former best movie ever heroes, they have a Starwars-like
  ceremony where the 300 Spartans all walk down an isle lined with the former title holders and at the end of the isle, 
  Tricia Helfer, Halle Berry,
  and Milla Jovovich put meddals around all of their necks and then get eaten by 
  the Spartan queen (she was pretty hardcore too).
  
  Now go see this movie!  I'm seeing it again, later this week!

]]></description>
<author>spam@cs.ucla.edu (Eric Osterweil)</author><comments><![CDATA[http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1173714531]]></comments><pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 12 Mar 2007 08:48:51 PDT]]></pubDate>
<guid>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1173714531</guid>
</item>

<item>
<title>Et Tu BSG?</title>
<link>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1173212338</link>
<description><![CDATA[  I can't believe this is happening...  Battlestar Galactica (BSG) has been a beacon of
  light in the wavering/sometimes desolate
  wasteland of TV shows.  The series took a great old series 
  (BSG OG) and started
  a retelling that just kix so much a$s that I
  never even bothered to mention it here (except in passing)...
  
  Now, however, things are looking grim.  For those that have been missing out on the absolute best thing on TV, here's BSG in a nutshell (I
  really should devote some serious time to describing it properly, but that would take a book and overly long blog posts are against my 
  religion):
  
  BSG starts off with a set of 12 planetary systems that live in some sort of advanced technological state (they have spaceships
  and stuff) whose religion centers around a set of Gods and prophecies (sort of like ancient Greek/Norse/Roman mythologies).  
  These colonies are reaping the benefits of a 40-year peace accord with the Cylons.  The Cylons were AI machines that
  the colonies invented to do menial labor and serve humanity.  They held an uprising and started a war (40 years ago).  After an armistice was 
  reached,
  the Cylons took off to a home world of their own and cut off all contact.  In the really kewl miniseries pilot, the Cylons emerge after having 
  infiltrated and crippled the colonies' defense system and launch a sneak-attack that destroys, essentially, all of humanity.  After
  reemerging, it seems that the Cylons have found their own religion based on a single supreme being and, to be honest, BSG wastes most of
  season 2 beating us over the head w/ lame religious overtones as these 2 religions don't exactly jive w/ each other.
  
  The attack leaves a bunch of people stuck in in-flight transports and fleeing all of the cities that have been nuked.  
  Battlestar Galactica is an aging
  warship that was about to be decommissioned.  In the original, it was something like the flagship, and this was a nice twist in the retelling.
  The commander of BSG (Bill Adama) tries to get his ship into the fight but is convinced at the last minute that since the entire fleet
  has been destroyed in the sneak attack, he should shepherd the remaining colonists to safety, since humanity faces extinction.
  
  In this retelling there are a lot of gender reassignments, and they actually (imho) work out just fine.  Boomer is not only a woman, but a 
  Cylon double agent too.  This sounds tough to swallow, but Boomer in the original was kind of a fringe character, and a complete tool.  The new 
  Boomer is also a serious
  hottie (#2 most smokin' on the show).  Starbuck was (and is) the best fighter jock they have.  In the new version, Starbuck has gone from a he 
  to a she.  It works though (imho) because she's pretty hard core.  The new show pays homage to the old in many ways, and one is that the old
  Cylons and their ships (raiders and basestars) are shown as relics from the first war.  The Cylons' big advent is that they are now controlled
  by versions that look very human.  How human?  Well, I mentioned that Boomer is really a Cylon (no one picked up on that as she was growing up
  apparently), and 
  another Cylon is the hottest chick on the show.  Tricia Helfer... OMG, that woman is smokin' and she's a toaster.  *shrug*
  
  OK, so this show has been kickin' ass with kewl plots (although more viper fighting would be nice), and special effects that are so good
  that they basically blend in and you forget that they're not real.
  
  RUB
  
  Now the rub...  This week, they killed Starbuck!  They KILLED STARBUCK?!?!?  What the hell?  Her character has been in a downward spiral, and 
  that's been entertaining, but she dove her fighter into a planet because she was ready to die? Come on!  This is messed up.  Now the
  writers are taking liberties that I don't think they should!  I mean, come on!  She was supposed to represent that hardcore badassness of
  humans vs. toasters.
  
  This really pissed me off, and I feel like BSG may have just tanked.  I think anyone who's with me ought to drop a note, and we'll send this
  up the chain to the douche bag writers.  BSG doesn't need Starbuck, but turfing her like that his just BS (no G).  I've seen some
  forums talking about this, and others seem more optimistic than I am.  I'll be especially pissed off if it turns out that Starbuck
  is one of the final-five Cylons.  That would mean that her character (previously the bastion of human badassness) was really just a toaster, and
  the number of badass viper pilots that are human would be either 1 or 0 (depending on whether you think Apollo is badass or a pantie waste)...
  
  /RUB
  
  *sigh*  I used to look forward to BSG every week... :(  Does anyone have a spin on this that makes it feel less shitty?

]]></description>
<author>spam@cs.ucla.edu (Eric Osterweil)</author><comments><![CDATA[http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1173212338]]></comments><pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, 06 Mar 2007 12:18:58 PST]]></pubDate>
<guid>http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~eoster/blahdot/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?id=1173212338</guid>
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