umdesch4's Semi-random Stuff

Oh wow! This rocks. Needless to say, I'll be buying this when it comes out in just under a week.

Doom 3 Video

From what I've been able to determine, the music is done by Chris Vrenna (session musician for Nine Inch Nails), and sound effects by Trent Reznor himself. Everything else is from the evil, twisted minds of ID software. Enjoy!

Warning: Rated M - Blood and Gore, Intense Violence

Not sure how long this has been around, but those of you who 'got' the 'All Your Base Are Belong To Us' craze a few years ago will definitely find this brilliant:

Yatta!

Uhhhh...enjoy!
umdesch4

Disclaimer: If you find Village People parodies done by mostly-naked Asian men offensive, don't bother...and don't talk to me, you've got serious issues.

I've been reading the news stories the last couple of days about how Linda Ronstadt's dedication of an encore to Michael Moore during a show in Las Vegas got her booed off stage and started a riot. Something about that just doesn't sit right with me. Linda Ronstadt fans causing a riot??!! You've gotta be kidding me! Or lying to me...collectively. Check out this article, and in particular the section that reads:

Not everyone present agreed with Mr Timmins' account, however. Paula Francis, a news anchor on a local television station, told the Las Vegas Review Journal that her experience of the concert was quite different.

"I was so stunned to read in the newspaper that anyone had a negative reaction," she said. "Everyone who was leaving when I was leaving was just thrilled. They thought it was a good concert." At the moment of the Michael Moore dedication, she said, "there were loud boos and there was quite a bit of applause. But everyone calmed down right away and seemed to enjoy the rest of the encore."

So why don't we hear about that view from any of the big media outlets in the US? I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader.

umdesch4

I just can't get over how great this song is. No, I really mean it. I've been listening to it almost every day for months now. I just never ever get tired of it. The most amazing thing is that it's computer-based. I don't have a lot of info about it, but I suspect that it was written entirely on a computer using a MIDI sequencer, or tracker, and soft-synths. But man, the spirit of it, the energy, the emotion...wow! Put on a pair of headphones and crank this one on repeat for a while.

Anyway, just thought I'd share! Radix - Plopalou

Enjoy!

umdesch4

I've noticed a disturbing fact about myself, and I'm wondering how many other Canadians it afflicts.

Test yourself and see:

Who is the Vice President of the United States of America?
Who is the Attorney General of the US?
Secretary of Defense?
Secretary of State?

Oddly enough, I actually know the answers. (Dick Cheney, John Ashcroft, Donald Rumsfeld, Collin Powell) I suspect that many of you knew this too, and if you didn't, you at least saw the names and thought 'oh yeah, that guy'. In fact, I can even recognize them if I see them on TV or in the papers.

Ok, next part of the test:

Who is the Governor General of Canada?
Attorney General?
Deputy Prime Minister?
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?

This was a crash and burn test for me. (Adrienne Clarkson, Irwin Colter , Anne McLellan, Beverley McLachlin) Check out this who's who list for more people I know nothing about. I went through that list and saw a lot of titles that sound like they should be really important to me as a Canadian, looked at the name, and went 'who?'

How about this?

Describe the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.
The Second Amendment?
The Fifth?
Quote anything you know from the US Declaration of Independence.

Lord help me, I actually know this stuff. The First one, which I can almost recite, is "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." The Second is the one about how "[...]the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." The Fifth, while being wordy, is commonly described as 'the right to remain silent'. I got a few of the words in between wrong, but I'm betting this will be very familiar to you all: ' We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.'

You know what? I was going to ask some questions about the Canadian Constitution, or Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but I realised it's pretty hopeless. I vaguely remember that we got one in 1982, and that it came from the British North American Act that was adopted in 1867, but I had to check online to make sure about that. As for what's in it, I didn't have the faintest idea until I looked here.

If I'm alone in my ignorance, then I guess I'd better get reading, 'cuz at this rate I'm going to get shipped off to the US for knowing so much more about them. But I suspect that I'm not alone in this. Yikes!

umdesch4.

Just to let everyone know, I had a post on here that I decided was probably too controversial for prime-time, and possibly something that could affect me personally if the wrong people took offense to it. So, as much as it pains me, I took it down.
 
I do feel, however, that it is important for people (especially those I work with) to be aware of, so I kept a local copy of it, and I will make it available to those who email me asking about it.
 
"May you live in interesting times" - Ancient Chinese curse
 
umdesch4.

I grabbed a BitTorrent of the documentary 'The Corporation' that aired on TV Ontario a while ago, and watched it this evening. (The fact that I can do that being kick ass point #1) Of course, as always with me, I couldn't help but take note of the music in it. In particular, this piece . Knowing that there was a heavy Canadian involvement in this show, I figured I'd Google Leonard J. Paul, the creator of that music (kick ass point #2). I found this and this among other things which makes it clear that he's a Vancouverite. How cool is that?

So, I drafted up an email to him (kick ass point #3), that went like this:


So, now I'm posting this to my blog (kick ass point #4), to further demonstrate how kick-ass the internet is, and ask if anyone wants to come with me to one of the shows if he responds.

Well...I think it's pretty cool that I can do all that in one evening. The Internet kicks ass. QED

umdesch4