Archive for September, 2006
September 17, 2006 at 1:59 pm · Filed under Lifestyle
Went to Celtic Fest, yesterday. It wasn’t as awesome as I’d hoped, but it was something to do.
The first thing I wanted to do was check out the fine beverages and cuisines. However, nothing seemed authentic enough for me. All of the food was from local irish-y bars, and it all looked rather ordinary. The bangers and mash were sausage and fries? They had fish and chips, corn beef sandwiches, corn on the cob, pizza, and some other stuff. I really wanted a plate of slop that was beefy, chewy, and plenty of vegetables. I also wanted a beer that came from a barrel freshly shipped from Ireland. Well, none of that. It was just Guinness, Harp, and Killians.
There were 3 music tents and the main stage. I spent half the time listening to music. There were people singing, playing the harp, and an Irish rock band. The main stage had this group of 5 brothers and sister. I spent the rest of the time at the dancers stage, which I could have easily watched all day. They had a mix of Irish and Scottish dancers from around the place. The Scottish dancers had the curly hair and the elaborate dresses and did kick-a-dee-doos, and the Irish dancers did Riverdance-ish stuff. (or it might be the other way around)
When I was about to leave, I heard someone talk about the ‘Sexy Leg Competition.’ “Ohh…sexy legs.” So, I decided to stick around, and I snaked my way into the event tent. I found a good viewing angle and scanned the crowd. I thought to myself, “Huh, there are an awful lot of female’s here to see sexy legs. No harm I suppose.” Then, I saw a man walk by in a kilt, and the sirens went off in head. Sure enough, it was actually a “Men in Kilts Competition.” But I stuck around anyways. It was all in fun. The majority of guys were all older, and careful about showing off some leg. There was a drunk guy who thought the competition was all about him and another guy wasn’t shy at all. He did a quick twirl and reminded everyone he wasn’t wearing underwear. And, that was Celtic Fest 2006.
September 14, 2006 at 6:42 pm · Filed under News Events
“In a post-Civil War northern Spain in 1944, a 12-year-old girl, Ofelia, moves with her heavily-pregnant mother and stepfather into a new home in the countryside. Her stepfather, Captain Vidal has been posted to this remote area to rid it of rebels. Disliked by the sadistic Vidal, Ofelia, who revels in ancient stories and fairytales, discovers an immense and ancient labyrinth guarded by a satyr. He tells her she is the long-lost daughter of the king of a magical land, and to regain entry to her kingdom she must carry out three tasks. So Ofelia enters a strange and no less dangerous world of fairies and extraordinary creatures such as the terrifying Pale Man.”
Watch the Trailer
September 14, 2006 at 2:05 pm · Filed under Photos
September 12, 2006 at 9:31 pm · Filed under Books
Finished The Sirens of Titan. The book seeks to ask the question about the meaning of life and to answer it. It also touches upon the issues of free will and omniscience.
One of the main characters, Rumfoord, appears to be the mastermind behind the events to shape the future of earth. He founds a new religion called “The Church of God the Utterly Indifferent” on the predetermined loss of the lives of hundreds of thousands of Martians. The two main teachings of the religion are that “Puny man can do nothing at all to help or please God Almighty, and Luck is not the hand of God”. Everyone on earth submits their lives to the religion under the justification that, “I was a victim of a series of accidents, as are we all…” Rumfoord goes through his life comfortably controlly the lives of all earthlings. However, he’s driven to madness to learn that his entire service was through the will of others.
The protagonist, Malachi, is put through the Martian invasion and these series of accidents to come to the conclusion, near the end of his life, that the purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved. He falls in love with his wife only a year before her passing. His son finds peace with a gaggle of bluebirds. Malachi leaves his friend, Boaz, on Mercury to look after a race of creatures. Rumfoord had a longstanding friendship with an alien. And in his final moments, Malachi believes to have met back up with his best friend Stony Stevenson.
I dont know what my next book will be, but I now have a starting point. Banned books week is coming up and Google has presented a list of major titles that have been challenged over the years. I’ve already read a few, and I might as well take a stab at the others. I suppose this could be mini goal #3/major goal #1. I also found a list of the top 100 top novels of the 20th Century. Winnie-the-Pooh is number 22?! I can believe it.
September 11, 2006 at 6:54 pm · Filed under Finance
So, …Apple has an announcement tomorrow. You may have heard about it. The one thing I’m betting on is a new iPod Nano, and you can bet I’m a gonna get me one. But, people are also speculating on a video service and possibly an Apple iPhone. What’s relevant about all this is that the anticipation is building up the stock price. If the announcement fails to live up to the hype or surprises investors we’re going to see a dramatic shift in the price. I got in at 67.4 a few weeks ago. It’s been doing well for the old portfolio. Unfortunately, oil is not.
UPDATE: The new iPod Nano has:
- capacity: 2GB -$149 , 4GB -$199, 8GB – $250
- dimensions: 3.5″ x 1.6″ x 0.26″
- battery life: 24 hour music playback! woah!
- skip free playback
Oil was completely inflated over speculation for the summer driving/Iran/Israel/hurricane season. Since none of these have been a threat to the supply in oil, the price is falling tanking! It’s fallen greatly these past 2 weeks from $78-$65 and who knows where it will stabilize. But, once it does, that should prove to be a good time to buy in. There should be a gradual rally when winter starts to kick in. (I need to emphasize should b/c I’m no expert and I dont think any of these so called “experts” deserve that title either. Otherwise, they would have forseen this dropoff. ) Since, I got in at the wrong time, I’m sitting around twidling my fingers. Many companies are at 6 month or year lows. So, if you’re interested, keep an eye out for these discounts.
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