Lost tribe

I heard about this "lost tribe" in the amazon rain forest that has lived in isolation. The Brazilian government flew over them and took pictures, meanwhile the tribesmen below shot arrows at the giant shiny bird.

The images were released to try to convince the Peruvian government to stop logging in the area, which has recently claimed that the people don't exist.

Anyhow, I was reading what the spokesmen were saying, and I was thinking that it sounded like these guys watch way to much Star Trek:

"We have been watching this isolated indigenous community for at least 20 years. The idea in revealing the photos was to raise the alarm over the risk threatening them," he said in a telephone interview from western Acre state, where the indigenous group is located.

"The world needs to wake up to this, and ensure that their territory is protected in accordance with international law. Otherwise, they will soon be made extinct," Survival International director Stephen Corry said.

Yeah, well, that is the Prime Directive.

Okay, maybe I'm the one who watches too much Star Trek.

Gatsby says hello

Every damn day.

If you have a nanogram of testosterone in your blood

You must go to the fights in Anaheim on July 19th. It has Fedor fucking Emelianenko. The guy is a god. In fact he is better than god. Once, when he was fighting in Japan, the yakuza tried to kill him by pushing him in front of a shinkansen (bullet train.) He died, but then when he got to heaven he went and arm-barred god and made god send him back to earth. This is a picture one of the angels took on his phone. It looks photoshopped, but thats how everything looks in heaven.

Women don't like this field

Women don't like the subject line of a message.

It is always strange when I get messages with [No subject] or something like that. Most email clients warn against sending a message this way.

How about this as a subject line, "Some words, possibly arranged in a particular order."

That is pretty agenda-less.

Buying underwear

I bought some clothing from Ex Officio for my trip to Japan. I'm trying to travel really light and camp some places, Ex Officio makes clothes geared towards travelers and backpackers.

It is clothing with "features" like:

• repels bugs
• high SPF
• fast drying
• light weight/compressable

In particular I was buying fast-drying underwear, you can wash the stuff out in a sink, wring it out, and it will be dry in the morning. Buying underwear is an odd experience for me. You see, I am a large man. By almost any metric. However, I wear medium underwear. My waist generally varies between 32-34", and and at my lightest in recent memory it was a 31". I wore size small then.

I wear large or extra large shirts.

I guess that people who buy underwear just don't look very much like the people who model it.

I eated a rat

My laptop

My trusty IBM Thinkpad T42 started dieing today, after 4.5 years of service.
I'm pretty sure the BGA for the video chipset started coming off the board. The only real repair is a new motherboard.

So, I did what I've been thinking about for a while...I bought a MacBook Pro.
I'm really happy so far.

I considered waiting and picking up a Panasonic in Tokyo six weeks from now, but I think I'd just rather not invest the time in making Linux work on a new computer. Windows is no option.

A big factor in the decision is the nice video editing software that comes with Macs. The video editing software for Linux is very flaky.

Give me crepes

Crepes!

New camera

I got my Panasonic TZ5 today. It is pretty amazing. I cropped this out of a picture I took in self-portrait mode. You can almost see my pores! That's some incredible resolution.

But it takes decent 720p HD videos as well. I think I need a couple more SDHC cards, but I don't think I'll have trouble finding them if I run out of space.

I got severe DOMS in my legs after working out on Tuesday. It is really odd to still be sore now, but I am. That kind of fouled up all my plans, which were anchored around leaving the house to work out.

Yeah, so the UPS guy arriving was the highlight of my week. Yay gadgets. Boo me.

Edit:

Oh yeah, I got a sample of these business cards I'm having made by this amazing craftsman.

Ugh

My legs are incredibly sore. I'm trying to get on a sane schedule, so I woke myself up early. So I'm tired too.

I ordered a new digital camera for my trip. I wish it was here. I could have played with it. It is a Panasonic TZ5.

Instead I did all kinds of shitty paperwork. I was then too depressed and tired to go to AAR. Plus I don't feel like driving up to Irvine unless I have some other things to do.

I should go to bed now, but after feeling tired all day, I am now no longer tired. My heart is almost racing.

I decided to book a real hotel for my first two days in Tokyo. $160 a night. I just don't feel like coping with jet lag in a youth hostel. So, my first two days are planned, 18 more to go. Day three, I'll get on a train and go somewhere. Don't know where, but I'm thinking:

Tokyo
Sapporo
Shiretoko National Park
Sapporo
Mutsu
Yagen Valley
Osorezan
Mutsu
Hiroshima
Oosaka
Fukuoka Yamakasa festival is Jul 1-20 -- Maybe I'll go Jul 1-3
Tokyo for the last 4-5 days.

Now I need to figure out what is possible.

In progress... I think I'll try camping near hot springs in a couple places. Should be fun, and save some cash, while giving me an excuse to buy a nice sleeping bag. :)

bleh

Exhausting workout.

Exhausting interaction with UCLA financial aid office.

Horrible day.

I'm done feeling horrible. I'm letting it slide off, like water off a ducks ass.

Edit: Okay, so I checked one little box wrong on my FAFSA application, and it upped my expected contribution from zero to $20k+. I've figured out how to fix it now, but I have to wait a few days.

Dog

The dog...he has a very expressive face.

I was sitting on the couch, and he trotted up to me, tail between legs, with a very anxious and sad expression on his face.

I said, "Do you need to go outside?"

We started heading that way, and as soon as he made it to the tile floor, he started wretching. He vomited, but not the usual yellow pool. There was solid oblong object in there. It was still completed coated in bile, so I could not tell what it was.

I put a plastic bag over my hand and then picked it up. My hand told me what my eyes couldn't. Rat. Most of a rat, I suppose. My dog is no hunter, but he also doesn't usually eat stuff that has been dead for very long. I suspect this little rat was near-dead due to poison or something. So I'm keeping my eye on the dog. He seems fine now, but if starts to get sick, he may need to see a vet.

So I cleaned up the rest of the mess. Lots of bleach.

I still feel dirty.

Thursday...

I haven't updated in a while, but I got an email from UCLA on Thursday saying that dropping ICS 6B will not affect my admission.

So a Bruin I am. Unless somehow I fail statistics, which I need to work on today.

Hence the short post.

Today...

I woke up incredibly early, for no good reason. I had a bunch of errands to run, and I needed to go to UCI, so I went in to work with my mother.

My first errand was to go ahead and drop ICS 6B at UCI. I had to get a signature from the ICS counseling office, but they were gone most of last week. After I got it, I walked out to the extension office, while I was there I also remembered to get an official transcript for UCLA.

After that I drove to REI in Santa Ana and bought this backpack.

Then I went to No Limits and did Muay Thai. I felt horrible the whole session. I've been having lower back problems, and I have a low level cold I think.

Went to UCI and picked up six boxes of Mother's Day gift bags from my mother's office, and then transported them across Irvine to the headquarters of a non-profit that runs shelters for battered women.

Came back to UCI and went to the AAR meeting. Fun.

When I got home Berkeley's welcome package was here. Also I got an email from UCLA saying I should apply from a scholarship from Sallie Mae. $1000-3800.

You can see the numbers below, Berkeley is still offering more money. I dunno, I'm pretty sure UCLA will come through with the cash when they realize I'm not getting a Cal Grant. Who knows though, if I don't hear anything this month I may just go to Berkeley instead.

Yeah, I'm crying with a loaf of bread under my arm.

What, should I be happy?

Every school I've been admitted to has given me a need/merit based scholarship. UCLA's was among the smallest, so I'm not quite blown away by this dinky certificate. Please, UCLA, up my scholarship!

My financial aid

Here are my financial aid offers. Note that UCLA and UCSB believe I am getting $7129 from a Cal Grant, which I am not. I have asked UCLA to revise their offer.

Recent picture

Not such a good one. Meh.

Sending it to UCLA to get my student ID.

Sweet time

UCLA is taking their sweet time reviewing (or rereviewing?) my application.
Actually, it has only been a week, and they said it could take three weeks.

Berkeley was much faster in responding to my messages, but it took a lengthy email exchange to clarify my record. In the end they did not rescind my offer of admission, so I'm in there.

I feel will feel a little silly turning down UCB, but if UCLA doesn't rescind the offer I will be going there.

UCB is 21 on the US News and World Report's list of top universities and UCLA is 25. The top 20 are all private, so you can expect to graduate broke and indebted if you go there.

However, on this random sites list, UCLA is number seven on the list of hottest student bodies. UCB does not make the top 50.

Would I make such an important decision based on something so trivial. Of course!

Yesterday was pretty crazy

My friend Clif asked me and some of the AAR guys to go to the Red Bull Air Race in San Diego. I asked my old friend Kris to come, and we met up with another of Clif's friends in San Diego.

The race, was actually the qualifying session. It was pretty exciting, but I'm not sure I'd do it again. We left there, and headed up to the Stone Brewery in San Marcos. That was a lot of fun. The beer was a little too good though. I had two drinks and some amazing onion rings. I should have had a single drink.

Still our group split up at that point, and I drove Kris back to Mission Viejo. We got back at 7:45pm and wasted some time. Then put on pirate regalia and headed up to Heina's party in Irvine.

I had this brilliant plan to do all my drinking for the night in the first hour, so I would have plenty of time to sober up. I remember having about 6 shots, and I think the beer from the Stone brewery was still in my system.

I must have had more to drink.

Anyhow, net result, I made a fool of myself and only remember perhaps half of the night. I still had a decent time, but I didn't use good sense.

Oh well, live and learn. I've never even approached my limit, with regard to alcohol. I always have been very cautious. Now I found it, and went way beyond it.

Finally, him Mom, don't worry. This is not the start of a trend.

Anyhow, some of the people from the party have chatted with me, so apparently I did nothing to make myself a pariah.

Another crazy week.

I decided to drop ICS 6B, and UCLA will have to reexamine my admission as a result. I (and my academic counselor mother) don't think it will make a bit of difference. The class wouldn't have counted for anything other than units at UCLA.

It also looks like UCB may be a solid backup. I wouldn't mind going there! They are looking at my record again too, for the same reason.

On another subject, this Wednesday, the fine people of AAR at UCI asked me to introduce Francisco Ayala for a lecture. He is one of the top biologists in the world. I'm not sure why they asked me to introduce him, except they know I like speaking in public. Also, they probably wanted to involve me more in the club, thinking I would be an officer next year. I would love that, but I really hope to go to UCLA. I want to live away from home, but not too far. I want to get the Cog. Sci. BS with a computing specialization, which UCI doesn't offer. I know UCLA "ranks" higher but I don't even care about that, I got in at UC Berkeley which is the top public university in the US. UCLA is just the top choice for me, for a variety of reasons. Their "atheist" club has had events with Dawkins and Sam Harris. Why? They are in LA, the media capital of the world. They are probably a weaker club overall than AAR. I just want to live there for part of my life. Maybe act in a student film. Be an extra in a Mentos commercial. Meet Steve Gutenberg. That kind of thing. I also want to live in New York, London, and Tokyo. Who knows?

Overall, finally at 25.75 years I feel like I might find a way through this life. Being in school still, I feel very old, but I think I'm figuring things out. Hell my grandfathers lived to 89 and 91. One of them was obese and one was an alcoholic. I'll probably live to 95+, I'm just getting started in life.

Anyhow, Ayala has an interesting position.
- Evolution and religion don't conflict at all, in fact evolution is the best fit for any theistic philosophy.
- Intelligent design proponents are blasphemous, because they essentially accuse god of causing all the fucked up things in biology (20% of pregnancies end in spontaneous miscarriage.)

I'm glad he spoke at our club, and I appreciate it. I find his position a bit condescending though. He acknowledges that the bible can't be trusted as a literal source of history. However he thinks that all things numinous belong to the religious domain.

I think this is condescending. No good scientist takes the position that phenomenon X is impossible to explain. Even if it something beyond the big bang. They just say it is inexplicable right now. I think everything can be explained through science, but just not yet. Maybe our race will extinguish itself before we explain everything, but that's our fault, not the universes.

Oh well I'm rambling now, tonight, my mother said to me, "It is good you're going on in school, because you'll probably find people to talk to about this kind of thing." Paraphrasing, but something like that.

Oh yeah, and Tuesday night I saw Expelled, the Ben Stein movie. Utter tripe. No, not tripe, shit. I've eat tripe, it is fine.

Update

Once more, looking back on my post in December...

• Berkeley - Cognitive Science Accepted
  
• Davis - Linguistics or Science and Tech Studies Accepted
  
• Irvine - Informatics or Earth and Environmental Science Accepted in History :/
  
• Los Angeles - Cognitive Science (Pre) or History (Pre) Accepted in Cog Sci!!!!
  
• San Diego - Cognitive Science or Linguistics - Cognition and Language Rejected!
  
• Santa Barbara - Psychology or History Accepted, I emailed their admission counselor
  
• Santa Cruz - Linguistics - Computation or Classical Studies. Rejected!

I apologize for the blink tag.