March 2003 Archive

• That last entry was too depressing, and the two before it were too nerdy. The main purpose of this site is entertainment, so I will try to keep it funny. So, I'm going to make up a joke right now. You've never heard this one before, because it's coming right off the top of my head. Ready? Here we go. I'm all set to start writing an original joke. Here it comes...
  A plumber, an electrician, and a lawyer were sitting on a bench in Baltimore. The phrase "America's Greatest City" was painted on the bench. The plumber turned to the electrician, and said, "Why is Baltimore America's greatest city?"
  The electrician replied, "Beats me."
  So the plumber asked the lawyer, "Why is Baltimore America's greatest city?"
  The lawyer admitted, "I have no idea."
  "Me neither," said the plumber.
  Then something funny happened that made the joke really really good. It was so hilarious, that you couldn't help saying, "Wow, Wysz is the funniest person ever! I will do anything for him!"


• I haven't seen any of my friends since Winter Break. Well, except Bill. But Bill is about as exciting as, well, me. My point is that I'm sick of school. I'm tired of working, and May is still too far away. I've lost interest in almost all of my classes, and it doesn't look like Fall 2003 is going to be any better. I know I complain a lot but I just can't wait for SUMMER.


• In preparation for MTV Lock-in, I visited the Hopkins Digital Media Center (DMC) today to see what equipment they had to offer. I reserved a Sony PD-150, two batteries (including one that is supposed to last 9.5 hours), and a tripod. I played with the 150 for a bit, and now I think it may be my next camera. Right now I have a TRV-900. I would still use the 900 a lot, since it has an excellent balance between professional features and consumer portability, but the 150 would add several advantages. It can record in either miniDV or DVCAM mode (but only on miniDV tape), it has a nice focus ring and lens, and has 2 built-in XLR inputs! Black and white viewfinder (B&W is actually preferred in viewfinders) with color flipout LCD. Excellent. There goes all the money I make this summer. Anyway, I'm now officially certified to take out the DMC's one and three-chip cameras, and audio equipment (shotgun mics, etc.) I think there was also something in the paperwork about license to kill, but I probably won't be needing that.


• Finally back online. (See related message somewhere below.)
  Summary of Tony Trumbo's response to what the RESNET tech told me: They don't know what they're talking about. Those types of viruses don't affect Macs, and they don't scan port 110 (the POP3 port).


• Skier Wysz: why aren't you asleep
  Speier70: i was talking to some people. you wouldn't understand.


• Please note Blake's pride in his use of "octupii." First of all, the correct spelling of the singular is "octopus" and the plural can be either "octopi" or "octopuses." And Blake has multiple grammatical errors. He often uses the plural when he's talking about one octopus. "i hav an octopii on my head" "Octopus means only one octopii"
  shkenblke2: hey, what would u do if u had an octopus on ur head?
  shkenblke2: cause i think that could b fun
  shkenblke2: ya know, u could walk around, and people would just give u that "what the f***" stare
  shkenblke2: and u wold just b walkin around just chillin, thinkin, hey, i m not like everyone else, i hav an octopii on my head
  shkenblke2: and then u could try and sell it to Tommy Hilfiger or American Eagle
  shkenblke2: it would b the next black
  shkenblke2: i would call my new line...
  shkenblke2: Tentacles a-go-go
  shkenblke2: or sumthin like that
  shkenblke2: and if Calvin Klein likes it, we could bottle a scent called... Octopus. u c the joke in there lies in the word octopus, b/c octopii is plural, so Octopus means only one octopii, so u dont even need 2 call it Octopus one, y know?
  shkenblke2: my latin teachers would b proud
  shkenblke2: and then everyone on the blok would have them
  shkenblke2: then it would just become a fad instead of a trend
  shkenblke2: then i would hafta start selling blue ring octopii, and everyone that would buy them would die from their venom, and then i would start a new marine-wear line


• Ted is not tall. He was tall until his graduation party. At the party, he revealed to me that he was only 6'11" with his clogs on. In reality, he is only 6'9" or 6'8" or something short like that. What a loser.
  Ted's rebuttal:
  Pez Man40: i am seriously like 610 611
  Skier Wysz: you told me you were 611 with your shoes on loser
  Pez Man40: i am but i am 6 10 with out them


• I can wiggle my ears. Seriously, it's sweet.


• Money can't buy happiness.


• My roommate's last name is Butt.


• My roommate has a lot of cars. He has 7! His family has a total of 9.


• "Gee, Wysz." I just thought of that. Did anyone else ever realize that before? I guess my name is kinda cool, you know you "wanna be like Mike" and of course "nobody beats the Wysz."


• After writing the "MTV Lock-In" entry, I realized that maybe some of you were wondering "What else has Wysz been involved in at JHU? I thought he just stayed in his room all day." Well, I do spend most of my time in my room, but I have ventured out a few times.
  
  I guess the first thing I did was get a job. For the first semester, I was the projectionist for my Introduction to the Study of Television class. This basically meant that once, twice, or sometimes even three times a week, I had to press "PLAY" on the VCR when the professor wanted to show a clip. Not bad at all. I had to be there anyway, so there was no inconvenience. Not only did I get three credits for that course, it fulfilled the "core course" requirement for my major, it is a prerequisite for many other classes, it was relatively easy, and I got $7 every time I showed up!
  
  This semester, I had an experience that was eerily similar to my high school days. Instead of working on finishing the ridiculous amount of homework that I had to do on a Tuesday night, I videotaped a concert at Hopkins for free. I was there for over four hours, and after a 30 second setup of the camera and tripod, spent most of the time sitting around waiting for the show to start. Even though I did it for free, at least my name will be in the credits of the DVD that I apparently was taping for. For those of you who care, or don't, the group was called "The Dismemberment Plan." I didn't know this at the time, but they are actually well-known. At least Nolan told me they were. My comments on the actual performance? It was loud.
  
  This next thing is kinda nerdy; you have been warned. You may have heard of this thing called Internet 2 (i2). It is a special version of the Internet that can only be used by certain universities and government agencies. You have to rent out specific blocks of time to use it. The advantage of this setup is that it is super-fast, so it can transfer multiple streams of live high-quality audio and video. In the past, they've used to do things like have a concert with musicians in two different locations, or have a lecture at one school sent to a video screen at another. Anyway, Hopkins is getting involved in a project using i2. Poets from JHU will read their poems, while dancers and a small band at UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) will somehow interpret the readings. Yeah, I think it sounds dumb and boring too. I will be the camera operator on the JHU end of the operation, so my video signal of the poets will be sent to a large projection screen at UMBC. There will be a live simulcast of this event on the regular Internet, and I will post that URL when somebody tells me what it is. Believe me, I will not be offended if you have no desire to watch. I just hope I can stay awake through it.


• I will soon be contributing to the decline of American entertainment by working on yet another reality show. Another teen reality show. On MTV. A group of Hopkins people is creating this show called "MTV Lock-In" that they are going to pitch to MTV in May. The idea? Lock 50 people in a house party from 9PM to 5AM on a Friday night, and follow three main characters around for those eight hours. I will be one of the camera operators. What do I get out of this? 20 bucks, free food and drink, my name in the credits, and the ability to honestly say that I was at a college party for eight hours. At first I thought that this was going against my morals or whatever and giving me no right to complain about what's on TV, but then I realized a couple things. First of all, the chances of this thing actually ending up on TV are very slim. Second, if the show does get on TV, it will be on MTV, which I never watch anyway. The kind of people who would watch MTV (no offense to any of my MTV-watching friends) actually like this kind of "reality" stuff, so good for them. For me, I good reality show is COPS. It's not a game show, and it shows what most of the people would be doing even if there weren't two guys with a camera and boom mic following them around.


• Recent AIM conversation with my sister:
  Lauren: r u talking to anyone else
  Me: a couple friends yes
  Lauren: o
  Lauren: what couple of friends
  Lauren: did u meet them at school
  Me: no i was talking to matt and meghan
  Me: from ga
  Lauren: o
  Lauren: i thought u went crazy and actually went out and met people


• Blue Man Group's second album, "The Complex," will be released on April 22nd. This is the first CD that I've ever pre-ordered.


• I had a great vacation (leaving school when you don't have a break is a great feeling), but came back to a computer problem. Actually, I came back to find two problems, but one of them is not a big deal. Not being able to get on the Internet is a big deal. I came back on Wednesday night to find that my computer is Internet access-less. I am only online now because I'm "borrowing" somebody's wireless connection. (shhh!) I called the tech people on Wed. night, and they said they would call back on Thursday morning. Around 2PM on Thursday they finally called me back, asked for my IP address, and then said that somebody would call me back "in a few minutes." At 5:00, I called back to see why they hadn't called. I was told that the person who was supposed to call me usually leaves at 5, and would call back on Friday. Well, nobody called me on Friday, so I called them again. After listening to hold music (yes, JHU tech support has hold muzak), they finally get on the line and tell me that the person who was supposed to call already left. I crossed my fingers and asked if he would be in on Saturday. The tech guy just laughed at me. "Nobody's here on the weekend." It's Monday and I call back. I get to listen to classical music while on hold for 20 minutes, and then have someone get on the line and tell me that the tech will call me back. Believe it or not, someone actually called me within 30 minutes. He said that I was kicked off for running some sort of "port 110" scan or something. I don't even know what that is. He asked if I had antivirus software installed, and wasn't happy to hear that I had uninstalled my copy of Norton, because I didn't have "real-time protection". I told him that I didn't have a virus, but he made me install AntiVirus again and scan my computer. He turned my connection back on and told me to call him back after the scan if it didn't find any viruses. Sure enough, I ran the software and didn't have any viruses. I called back and got the tech's voicemail, and left him a very pleasant "I was right and you were wrong" message. He hasn't called back.


• Here's how the room selection process for next year's sophomores works at Hopkins:
  First, you register online as a group of 1, 2, 3, or 4 people, so you can choose who you will live with. Those going for singles of course register as a group of 1. A few weeks later, each group (not each person) receives a random priority number. The groups are then expected to prepare a list of possible room selections. On the day of contract signing, groups are called into a room by priority number, where they register for the remaining rooms. Lower number means you get to choose earlier, therefore you get a better room.
  Well he's my experience so far:
  -Register on 1st day as group of 1
  -Receive priority number 430.... out of 455 total.
  Oh well, just another reason to be bitter. Anyway, I'll probably end up in the same building I'm in now. Did you know that I live where they send you if you're kicked out of another residence hall? Yes, it's really that bad.


• During Spring Break I got a new pair of glasses so I can see at night after I've removed my contacts. I haven't had glasses since Middle School, and even then I hardly wore them. Anyway, I went to The Optical Company alone, which meant I did not have my sisters or friends to give me guidance. I let the woman working there pick out the frame and went home. I went back the next day to pick up the glasses and pay for them. When I got home, I looked at the receipt and it said Women's Frame or something like that. (I don't have it with me.) Do I have women's glasses? Click here to see a picture, and let me know what you think. Until then, I will be careful where I wear them.


• Being home is cool. When I go into Doylestown it's like one of those old movies where everyone knows each other. I went to the optometrist, where the doctor and two of the staff know me, got a hoagie at the Carversville General Store, and was greeted by name at The Computer Forum. (Cue the Cheers theme.)


• I don't know what to think about the fact I was excited when I came home and found that the Electrasol tabs now come with Jet-Dry PowerBalls built right in.


• Me: What time is your exam tomorrow morning?
  Omar: 9 o'clock.
  Me: Ten? Wow.
  Omar: I said nine.
  Me: Oh, sorry, I don't always comprehend the single digits when it comes to waking up in the morning.


• If I ever met a captain, I would call his or her Captain's Log a dairy, just to see if it would make him or her mad.


• Favorite Mr. Rogers episode: The Crayola Factory.


• For all you bored college kids out there, I found a fun new activity that you can do from your dorm room! It's inside-out door knocking. I was bored in my room, so I knocked on my door. Yep, I knocked from the inside. Please note that I wasn't trying to anger anyone, so I didn't pound or bang. I simply wanted to see if I got a funny reaction. I was hoping that maybe someone would try to let me into the hallway or something. The first knock received a "What was that?" from across the hall. I waited a minute and then knocked again. This time, I heard a knock in reply. I opened up the door to see who it was. It was a sandal, obviously thrown from the room across the hall. I let Sir Anger calm down a bit, then it was time for knock number three. I watched through the peephole as the guy across the hall walked up to the door, mouthing something. I can't read lips, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't thanking me. After he went back inside, I knocked one more time, to see if maybe I could figure out what he was saying. Apparently the sandal was some sort of warning shot, because this time he threw his PHONE. That's right, he threw his phone at my door. I guess that sometimes college, even if you're at Hopkins, is fun.


• Omar: Why do you always play the same Dreamcast game?
  Me: Because I'm too lazy to to change it.
  Omar: So what if one day you turned it on and there was somehow a different game in it? Would you play that game?
  Me: Well, first I would go into a violent tantrum because the game wouldn't be changed unless someone had touched my stuff, and I don't like people touching my stuff. But after that, yeah, I'd probably play the different game.


• What do people mean (and do they even know what they mean) when they say something like "I learned so much about myself" or "You have taught me a lot about myself"? I think out of all the clichés there are, that one annoys me the most.


• Something else that annoys me: When someone says "It's not the heat, it's the humidity." This is especially annoying when the person says it as if he or she is revealing a secret of the universe, by opening the statement with something like "You know, it's not actually the heat...". Everyone knows the effect of humidity, so why do people always have to say it? Don't tell me it's just the heat; I already know.


• Here's a scenario: There are two law enforcement agencies working in the same city to reduce the drug dealing. They each are running their own undercover sting operations. Due to a lack of communication, neither agency knows that the other is working in the same area. One agency is posing as a buyer, and the other as a seller in a large drug deal. They both don't realize that they're dealing with another agency instead of real drug dealers. Anyway, when they do these operations, they usually plan on a specific time to make an arrest, usually right after the final deal is made. An undercover agent then gives some kind of a signal, and the officers come out, weapons drawn, and make the arrests. In this case, where both agencies will be running out with guns probably at the same time, what happens? Do they both panic upon seeing weapons and fire? Do they realize that everyone's on the same side? Is this the dumbest idea I've had?


• I'm having second thoughts about this PSU thing. When I agreed to go, I didn't realize that it was SO FAR AWAY.