May, 2005

Current Events — 7 Comments
9
May 05

“Violent Video Games Are Like Porn”

California lawmakers approve a bill to ban the sale of violent video games to minors.

“For the same reason we don’t allow kids to buy pornography, cigarettes, or alcohol, we shouldn’t allow them to go to stores and buy video games that teach them to do the very things we put people in jail for–abusing women, joining street gangs, killing police officers, or even assassinating President Kennedy,” said Yee, a child psychologist, referring to scenarios in some video games.

I once saw a guy stick a beach ball up his ass and then two massive dildos the size of small dogs, but I never wanted to try it out. Nor did I ever want to stick eels in my fanny just to let them wiggle out. I also never wanted to have nails like this:

General / Moblog — 1 Comment
6
May 05

I Voted

As a member of the Commonwealth and a current resident of the United Kingdom, I am eligible to vote in the UK general election this year. I initally found this very weird, with having only a 2-year working holiday visa, and wasn’t going to vote. After some discussion, I decided that it was really my chance to help vote in a new government to see if there will be any change in this ridiculous War On Terror. I voted Liberal Democrat.

You can view the policies of the three main parties on the BBC website.

General / Technology — 5 Comments
5
May 05

Buddy List Cull

I’ve been using various instant messengers since I started wasting time on the internet talking to weird internet people. I started off by using IRC in 1994, when I still in New Zealand. I got my first ICQ number in 1997, back when ICQ was fairly new and interesting. I then ended up using some weird one for a short while that seemed to only be used by Spanish speaking people that let you put “sticky notes” on web pages, and would show you what other people were viewing that web page and you could talk to each other. I then moved to AIM when I first planned to move to the United States. I then moved on to MSN in the year preceeding my move to the United Kingdom. Seriously guys, can’t you all use the same fucking system?

After all these years, I’ve ended up with running various clients all with far too many contacts, a lot of which I hardly ever speak to. I’ve finally settled on using iChat for AIM, and Adium for MSN and ICQ. Tonight, I culled my collective buddy lists from about 150 people to 40. I then ensured that every single one of those 40 people were people I actually knew, spoke to, and put them all into Address Book. Because Address Book in OS X “talks” to your other programs, people’s full names, as per their contact card, would then show up on all my IM clients. Now, everyone I talk to has a first name and a last name, and I don’t have to see any of their stupid MSN names that they love to change oh so much.

Because iChat is far superior to other IM clients, I hereby reckon that everyone I know should get a Mac and use iChat so I can have the pleasure of speaking to them with said client. The rest of you can eet mijn testikels. Dank u.

Life — 4 Comments
2
May 05

My Cat Is Allergic To Fish

A few weeks ago, my boyfriend didn’t know that my cat was allergic to fish and and for some reason decided it would be a good idea to feed my cat some mussels. My poor cat puked her guts out all over the floor, the floor that I had to grope warm puke off of using rubber gloves and newspaper.

I gave my cat some rainbow trout tonight, and this time she didn’t puke because she’s only allergic to saltwater fish.

Life — 5 Comments
1
May 05

Leer Nederlands

Spending another long weekend in Antwerp with P and his family and friends has renewed my motivation to learn Dutch. It is incredibly frustrating that I can’t speak to his family, especially seeing how his mother and great aunt, who we stay with when we visit, don’t speak very good English. Or rather, it seems that they can talk to me pretty okay, but they have no fucking idea what I’m saying when I open my mouth.

I started with a little travel phrase book that I bought in Houston before I left the United States. I learnt some basic words – hello, goodbye, nice to meet you (which I practiced about 100 times on the plane to Belgium to say to his mother and didn’t get a chance to use as she cut me off mid-sentence to talk to me in English; gutted) – but didn’t managed to learn anything of use.

I now have a phrase book, a dictionary, a teach yourself book, and a multimedia CD for uber basic shit that sucks balls but taught me colours and numbers (donker blauw!). I’ve spent about a month in total in Antwerp over the past year, but still haven’t heard fuck all that I can actually use. I’ve even gotten to the point where I can understand about 50% of what people are saying, but have no means to actually spreek Nederlands.

Phrases I Can Currently Say:

  • Spreek u Engels?
  • Ik spreek gaan Nederlands!
  • Mijn naam is Ani.
  • Hoe gaat het?
  • Twee pintsje, alstublieft.
  • Waar is de apoteek?
  • Heb zin in thee?

Sadly, none of those phrases will in any way aid me in joining in on conversations that don’t include me being an annoying tourist or a housebitch.

Anyway, when I was in Antwerp last weekend, I found out that the photography course at the Royal Academy is only €500 a year for international students. The only drawback is that the course is taught entirely in Dutch. So, I’ve decided that I’m going to try and work hard to get a good grasp of Dutch over the next year on the notion that if I get good enough I might be able to study photography in Antwerp. That is, of course, if I get accepted as well.

I’ve ordered myself an Assimil Dutch course that comes with 4 CDs and a book. It also helps that my boyfriend is a native Dutch speaker, but then again I guess that would have also helped me a year ago when I first decided it might be a good idea to try and learn it. Apparently he prefers to speak English. What the fuck?

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