Isn't it ironic

It hasn't rained in quite a few weeks so I decided to wash my bike yesterday. So what happened last night? It rained of course. I swear. If anyone is having a drought, just ship me and my motorcycle over, I'll wash it and guaranteed it will rain within 24 hours.

Another Bombing in Poso

There was another bombing today in Indonesia. Not to worry though, it is nowhere near to where I am or where I am going.

Foxnews Article

Favorite Holiday

What is your favorite holiday?
Christmas
Easter
Thanksgiving
Halloween
Flag Day
Independance Day
Presidents Day

  

(I'm testing out polling software. Please vote)

Final Full Friday

Only two weeks to go till the end of the school year. This is the last full friday as the next two are half days. I've been working on editing the video together from the Rumors play. I had three cameras record it from three different angles and I'm editing it together. It really is coming out good. The only problem is they weren't the best of cameras and didn't have white balancing so everyone looks like they have hepatitus. Much better than the last recording though.

Feeling better

It has been a week since my last wisdom teeth were removed and I'm starting to feel back to normal. I've had some nasty problems in my nasal cavities and my throat, not to mention that my teeth hurt. I've been taking tons of different medications and I hope I can stop them soon.

On a side note, the school now has a gym so I don't have to drive downtown to work out anymore.

Preparing for the trip

I've been running around and getting things that I thought might be necessary for the road trip that is coming up. So far here is what I have gotten:

• tent
  
• sleeping bag
  
• flashlight
  
• compass
  
• maps of sumatra
  
• video camera
  
• tripod
  
• umbrella
  

I've also gotten lots of other small stuff. The big things I'm still trying to get are a leather jacket and motorcycle pants.

Panasonic NV-GS140

I bought a new video camera saturday. It is the Panasonic NV-GS140 which is the Asian equivalent of the NV-GS150. It has 3CCD technology which enables really good pictures and a 2.3 MegaPixel still camera. It also has a remote control. All this and it fits comfortably in your hand. Very nice.

I hope to film a lot on my trip this summer and hopefully put together a cool video for all of you.

Star Wars ROTS

Finally saw Star Wars: Return of the Sith tonight. If I were George, I would have condensed the first two movies into a half a movie and made this one into two and a half movies. Every reviewer has already said what I am thinking after seeing it. This is the movie that fulfilled our desire for more to the story. If you haven't seen it yet, go see it.

Post from my phone

I'm posting this from my phone. Why is that usefull? So that when i am riding my bike to Aceh, i can still update you.

Fun with teeth

I did get my last two wisdom teeth out last night. It went relatively smoothly and wasn't nearly as hard as the first two. I'm glad I never have to go through that again. One fun complication is that the root of the upper tooth was in my nasal cavity so when he pulled it out it created a hole between my mouth and my nasal cavity. I'm not allowed to blow my nose today.

Last of the wisdom

I'm getting my last two wisdom teeth out today. I'll be glad to have it over with. These shouldn't be as bad as the first two. They are both already erupted which makes the extraction much easier.

Rumors Pictures

This is a picture of all the men in the play. Here they are deciding who will be charley.



This one is their wives. There is a lovely shot of Cookie's 60 year old Russian dress.



This is the two cops investigating the gunshots. You can see the pictures of Charley and Mira on the walls. They are pictures of the two directors (me and Janine) from our senior year of high school.



Here is a shot of the whole cast and crew and the stage.

Newsletter 17

Newsletter 17 is now available. Get it while it's hot!

Bark Ode

Bark Ode

Oh how lovely can it be,
The stuff that wraps around a tree.
Rough and flaky to the ground,
Some is green and some is brown.

It can be used as mulch for plants,
or as a hiding place for ants.
Protecting trees is what it does,
Like a mammal's furry fuzz.

I will not write anymore on bark,
This whole thing was just a lark.
And so unless I've missed my mark,
There is not a single code in bark.

Rumors Results

Our last performance of Rumors was last night. It went incredibly well. Many in the audience said it was the funniest play BAIS has ever done. Lots of people came back to see it the second night. We had one major glitch last night right at the beginning. Our phone on stage wouldn't ring because a phone on the third floor got left off the hook. I had to run up and hang it up. The actors covered it well though.

I'm going to miss directing dramas. In spite of all the work I really do enjoy it a lot. On opening night when everyone is sitting there enjoying all the hard work you have done, it is very fun. We have the cast party in a few minutes. I'm taking everyone out to Longhorn, which is a nice restaurant with ribs and steaks. We made enough money to be able to afford it.

New Hard Disk

I went out yesterday and bought a new hard drive and now have everything installed again. It certainly feels a lot faster. I'm trying to figure out why and here is what I have come up with:

1. I installed all the latest drivers from Dell with improvements
2. The hard disk is faster (5400 instead of 4200 RPM)
3. I don't have a lot of extra programs installed yet
4. All the files have just been written to disk so they aren't fragmented yet
5. The hamsters inside my computer are running faster

Whatever the reason, I'm really enjoying the new speed. There was a time a few months ago where this laptop was so slow it was barely useable.

Break a leg

Sorry I haven't been posting much. I've been really busy with finishing up the drama. Opening night is in a couple of hours. We had a really good dress rehearsal last night and hopefully tonight will be good too. We are close to selling out which is impressive considering we have two nights at 200 seats per night. Not bad for a small community. I think everything is ready including all the video cameras to catch different angles.

One of the best parts about directing is that the night of I have relatively little responsability. All I have to do is make sure nothing falls apart. Everyone is trained in what they are supposed to do so I can just watch. Way better than acting. I'll let you know how it goes...

Knoppix Rocks

My hard drive crashed yesterday and I haven't backed up my data since November. Luckily I have a copy of Knoppix lying around that I used for class. Since my laptop wouldn't boot from the hard drive I put in the CD and booted using the CD drive. It started no problem and I was able to transfer almost all of my information off the hard drive to the server. Now I just have to wait for the new hard drive to arrive so I can reinstall everything. I'm now using my laptop without a hard drive using only Knoppix. It is suprisingly useful. Way to go Knoppix!

Buzz

Last night when I was riding home from watching "Kingdom of Heaven," something fell out of a tree and hit me in the chest. It felt like a small stick so I didn't think anything of it. After a few minutes though It started feeling funny and I thought it might have gotten stuck on my shirt so I reached over to grab it and throw it off when it stung me. I flung it off as fast as I could and regained control of my bike. I thought I had lost it but then I felt it land on my right arm. I have no idea how since I was traveling about 50 MPH at the time. I carefully hurled it off my arm and gunned it out of there. I now have a sore pinky and a mildly interesting story to tell. I don't know if it beats the time I hit a bat while I was riding.

Drama Stage done

We had our last work day for drama today. We finished painting and getting all the stuff for the stage. There are now just a few things left to do to finish it like a doornob here, curtains there. For the most part it is done and looks great. One more week and we will be done. Practice went well yesterday. The first act is looking really good but the second act is still pretty rough. We tried the firework for an explosion yesterday and it sounded really good. It is loud.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

Today is the 5th of May and also a holiday here (although not because of Mexico). I get in an argument with a teacher every year whether or not Cinco de Mayo is Mexican Independance day or not. According to all the resources I can find, it is the celebration of the battle of Puebla where Mexico defeated the troops of Napoleon III. Mexico was already a country before that. She still insists she is right because she is from Seattle and she knows. Never mind that I lived in Texas for 10 years. Which one is closer to Mexico again?

Anyways, this is a special 5th of May because it is 5/5/05. Only 397 days until the end of the world.

Rediscovering Dialup

I brought my computer home yesterday because I was having difficulty sending an e-mail from school. I dialed up from home instead of using the campus's network. There has to be something wrong with the network because the dialup feels way faster. It is sad when dialup feels faster than our broadband internet. Not to worry though, I've contracted a company to install satellite internet at the end of this month. That should be a huge improvement. Maybe even better than dialup!

From the horses mouth

I got the stitches in my mouth taken out today. It is finally getting back to normal where I can chew on both sides. I guess that means it is time to mess up the other side. The dentist says it won't be as major a deal though, nothing like last time. I'm going to wait till after the drama on the 13th and 14th. Speaking of which, it is coming along nicely and should be a lot of fun when we perform it. We still have the technical rehearsals and dress rehearsals to go. Still some work on the set to do and props to get. Tomorrow is a Muslim holiday, not sure what, but it is a welcome break after a very tough three days. I can't wait till the drama is done because then I don't have anything big left before the end of school

Post from my phone.

I am posting this from my cell phone. It was rather difficult to
figure out but is working now. I'm using my Sony Ericsson T630
connected using GPRS to the internet and then gmail with
gmailwireless.com to send an email to my blogger.com address. Pretty
cool.
Why would i want to do this? Well, the plan is to be on the road this
summer where there is no internet so i want to use it to keep you up
on how the trip is going.

Policemen and Speedbumps

The Indonesian word for speed bumps is polisi tidur which literally translated means "sleeping policeman." I laugh every time I hear or say the word because I always picture a policeman lying down on the road asleep as I zoom over him on my bike.

On the subject, has anyone else ever noticed how much the highway patrol and highway bandits from the middle ages have in common? Both hide along the side of roads, waylay passers by and take their money. Why do we put up with it?

Drama Updates

The drama is comming along nicely. The stage is painted and the second floor has been built. It is going to look really nice though. We are still working on putting in the four doors and the fake door and window. Practices are continuing after school and are going well. All the students have their lines down but we still have a lot of pauses to remember them. Two weeks and counting till performance. I just have to make it till then.