Happy New Year!

Its been a long time since I last posted something here... Haha..

Happy new year Alex, Thanut, and Shriram!

I hope 2010 will be a great year for all of us and may everyone's wishes come true!

Entirely in Paint - Collection 1

Windows 7 is amazing; and here's my first collection of paint drawings... entirely in MS Paint.

-Conflagration

- Figment

- I'm Batman

- Torch

- Tiger Knee!

- Free Fall

Off to the army

I shaved my head today.... this is the shortest it will go lol

Good Luck, Jibai!

Hey man, good luck in the military, and hope you don't come out of it looking more like a killer... Just thought I'd throw together some choice moments (at least, the ones I have pictures for) from your tenure here at Purdue (and a couple from Japan). We've been through ups and downs (mostly ups?) and so here's a little going away present (hehehe). Cheers, Shriram out.

By far the best opening shot of Alex.

Old School

Right, so a conversation with Thanut prompted this. Here are the lyrics to some of the old (but awesome) cartoon theme songs, along with some that are old, catchy, but not awesome (*ahemcaptainplanetahem*)

1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Heroes in a Half Shell)
Teenage mutant ninja turtles
Teenage mutant ninja turtles
Teenage mutant ninja turtles
Heroes in a half shell, turtle power

They're the worlds most fearsome fighting teens
(we're really hip) Teenage mutant ninja turtles
They're heroes in a half shell and they're green
(hey, get a grip) Teenage mutant ninja turtles

When the evil Shredder attacks
These turtle boys don't cut him no slack

Teenage mutant ninja turtles
Teenage mutant ninja turtles

Splinter taught them to be ninja teens
(he's a radical rat) Teenage mutant ninja turtles
Leonardo leads, Donatello does machines
(that's a fact, Jack) Teenage mutant ninja turtles
Raphael is K00L but rude
Michelangelo is a party dude

Teenage mutant ninja turtles
Teenage mutant ninja turtles
Teenage mutant ninja turtles
Heroes in a half shell, turtle power

2. GI Joe (A Real American Hero)
(shouted) Yo Joe!
He'll fight for freedom where ever there's trouble.
GI Joe is there.

It's GI Joe against Cobra the enemy
Fighting to save the day.
He never gives up.
He's always there,
Fighting for freedom over land and air

GI Joe- A real American hero
GI Joe is there

(spoken) GI Joe is the codename for American's daring, highly trained special mission force. It's purpose, to defend human freedom against Cobra- a ruthless, terrorist organization determined to rule the world.

He never gives up.
He'll stay til the fight's won.
GI Joe will dare.

GI Joe- A real American hero
GI Joe (fanfare)

3. Captain Planet
(spoken)
EARTH!
FIRE!
WIND! WATER! HEART!
GOOOOO PLANET!

By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!"

(sung)
Captain Planet, he's a hero
Gonna take pollution down to zero
He's our powers, magnified
And he's fighting on the planet's side

Captain Planet, he's a hero
Gonna take pollution down to zero
Gonna help him put asunder
Bad guys who like to loot and plunder!

(spoken) You'll pay for this, Captain Planet!

(rap?)
We're the Planeteers!
You can be one too!
Cuz savin' our planet is the thing to do!
Lootin' and pollutin', is not the way!
Hear what Captain Planet has to say!
(background, spoken) The power is yours!

4. Transformers (More Than Meets the Eye)
Something evil's watching over you
Coming from the sky above
And there's nothing you can do

Prepare to strike
There'll be no place to run
When you're caught within the grip
Of the evil Unicron

Transformers
More than meets the eye
Transformers
Robots in disguise

Strong enough to break the bravest heart
So we have to pull together
But we can't stay worlds apart

To stand divided we will surely fall
Until our darkest hour
When the light will save us all

Transformers
More than meets the eye
Transformers
Robots in disguise
Transformers

Autobots wage their battle
To destroy the evil forces
Of the Decepticons

Transformers
Transform

It's judgment day and now we've made our stand
And for now the powers of darkness
Have been driven from our land

The battle's over but the war has just begun
And this way it will remain 'til the day when all are one

Transformers
Transformers
Transformers
Transformers
More than meets the eye
Transformers

5. Ghostbusters

If there's something strange
in your neighborhood
Who ya gonna call?
GHOSTBUSTERS

If there's something weird
and it don't look good
Who ya gonna call?
GHOSTBUSTERS

I ain't afraid of no ghosts
I ain't afraid of no ghosts

If you're seeing things
running through your head
Who can ya call?
GHOSTBUSTERS

An invisible man
sleeping in your bed
Who ya gonna call?
GHOSTBUSTERS

I ain't afraid of no ghosts
I ain't afraid of no ghosts

Who ya gonna call?
GHOSTBUSTERS

If ya all alone
pick up the phone
and call
GHOSTBUSTERS

I ain't afraid of no ghosts
I here it likes the girls
I ain't afraid of no ghost
Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah

Who ya gonna call?
GHOSTBUSTERS

If you've had a dose of a
freaky ghost baby
Ya better call
GHOSTBUSTERS

Lemme tell ya something
Bustin' makes me feel good!

I ain't afraid of no ghosts
I ain't afraid of no ghosts

Don't get caught alone no no

GHOSTBUSTERS

When it comes through your door
Unless you just want some more
I think you better call
GHOSTBUSTERS

Who ya gonna call?
GHOSTBUSTERS

Who ya gonna call?
GHOSTBUSTERS

I think you better call
GHOSTBUSTERS

Who ya gonna call?
GHOSTBUSTERS

I can't hear you
Who ya gonna call?
GHOSTBUSTERS

Louder
GHOSTBUSTERS

Who ya gonna call?
GHOSTBUSTERS

Who can ya call?
GHOSTBUSTERS

Who ya gonna call?
GHOSTBUSTERS

6. Duck Tales

Life is like a hurricane
Here in Duck - burg
Race cars, lasers, aeroplanes
It's a duck - blur!
Might solve a mystery,
Or rewrite history!

Ducktales! (a - whooh ooh)
Every day they're out there making
Ducktales! (a - whooh ooh)
Tales of daring do bad and good
Ducktales!

D - D - D - Danger!
(Watch behind you)
There's a stranger,
(out to find you!)
What to do?
Just grab on to some...

Ducktales! (a - whooh ooh)
Every day they're out there making
Ducktales! (a - whooh ooh)
Tales of daring do bad and good
Ducktales!

Not pony tales or cotton tales, no
Ducktales!
(a - whooh ooh)

Anyhow, that's all for now; cheers folks, Shriram out.
ps- bustin' makes me feel goood

Happy Bday Jibai~

I wished you already, but figured I'd post (as a placeholder if nothing else hehe)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX! Man, we're getting old. Cheers, Shriram out.

Jap trip

alryt guys... i purchased my ticket to jap land alrdy. i leave the us on the 19th nd arrive in narita on 20th at 1 p.m.

uh ooh, swine flu! (rhyme!)

Folk-dizzles, swine flu is basically now considered a pandemic in tokyo, are we still going? I'm gonna need an answer in the next couple of days, as I need to apply for a visa (which if I understand correctly, you guys don't). Let me know, or it'll be another trip I'll have to pull out of, which I really don't want to have to do. Otherwise, I might just go independently and try to meet up with you guys there lol- which would become a logistical nightmare. So please please, let me know soon. Cheers folks, Shriram out.

Oh boy, how could I forget?!

ALEX CONGRATULATIONS, MAN! I totally spaced on the fact that you graduated a couple of days ago, and I was sitting here pretty wondering what you guys were up to over there. How was the ceremony? Did anyone bring a camera? Heh, Cheers, Shriram out.

ps- Can we make the japan trip after the 16th of june? even just by one day is fine... cuz the 16th is my mum's bday, which I wanna be here for. Lemme know dude.

if the Fates don't conspire, I'm just a _really_ unlucky guy.

So I got into Manila a couple of days ago, and it was awesome to see my mum and dad, and walk around the house and just enjoy being home. But to truly appreciate HOW happy I was to go home, we must go... oh jeez, more than 24 hours into the past.

Pre 7:00 am, on the way to Indianapolis Airport (16/05/09)
Previous night's flood waters shut down most of the convenient ways to get onto I-65... So we got delayed. Eric and my memories drifted to the past christmas, when the fates came together to hit us with a hurricane on my way to the airport, delaying my flight; and it looks like they were trying again. Scoreboard check! Shriram 0, Fates 1.

7:00 am, Indianapolis Airport (16/05/09)
We arrive, I run into the airport because I'm really pushing it to catch my 7:30 flight to Minneapolis/St. Paul Int'l Airport, when the gate agent looks and me and says "did you really think you'd make the 7:15?" I paused, confused- wondering why she would say 7:15 when NWA.com said 7:30... but of course, what was I thinking? It's Northwest, obviously the checkin agent is right, and the website is wrong. My previous itinerary was IND-MSP-LAX-NRT-MNL, which required my 7:15 take off to MSP. Thankfully, a few merciful keystrokes on her computer later, the check in agent says "don't worry, we can get you on the 9:20 to Minneapolis, from where you'll fly directly to Narita." I was happy, and just before I started celebrating, she warns "don't make this a habit." "Yes, ma'am," I reply, and dash off happily towards the gate (and Caribou Coffee, which served as my breakfast in Indianapolis, and as you'll see later, my lunch in Minneapolis). Scoreboard check! Shriram 1, Fates 1.

9:20, Indianapolis Airport (16/05/09)
Nothing really to report, we flew to Minneapolis; no big deal, nothing significant happened.
Scoreboard check! Shriram 1, Fates 1; halftime.

11:30-ish am, Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport (16/05/09)
We land at MSP, and about 2.5 hours later, nearing our boarding time, we find out that at our connection (the one that will take us to Narita Int'l Airport) has been delayed slightly, for mechanical trouble. Didn't seem that big a deal, but I smiled quietly to myself, because I half expected it. A few more hours later, we find out that it is because there is a failure with the APU. This is only slightly more worrisome, because it could potentially be a big deal, but at the same time, at least they found it. After poking and prodding some more, they realise that the APU is totally fine; the sensor that checks whether the APU is fine or not, however, is malfunctioning and showing high current drain where there was none. Seems like a fairly quick fix, yeah? Well, it would've been- if the part were in Minneapolis. Unfortunately, we had to wait as the part was flown into MSP from DTW (another 2 hour delay). Finally, about 4 hours after our scheduled departure time, after receiving vouchers, and after I grabbed a sushi box for dinner, we boarded.

7:40 pm, Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport (16/05/09)
We know that there's a good chance that we'll miss our connections, and they (the gate agents) told us that we wouldn't be able to find out ANY information regarding the transfers until we were in the air, and they could begin the rebooking process. Most of us know, however, that we'll probably be really late for our flight, and as a result, have to hop a really late plane to get where we need to go. A glance at the scoreboard: Shriram 1, Fates 3.... pretty sneaky, fates.

x:xx am, Somewhere in the air (16-17/05/09)
We find out that there's no way we're going to be able to make any sort of flight, so we're offered more vouchers, and a complimentary stay at a hotel in Narita, so we can take our flights the next day morning. Now it's just a matter of landing. Scoreboard: Shriram 1, Fates 4.

11:30 pm, Narita International Airport (17/05/09)
We've landed, we're all tired, but it's okay- it's time to go and get some rest, right? Not quite; there's still the little issue of swine flu. In come 4 or 5 men and women with level c/d HAZMAT suits, one of whom is carrying a thermal imaging camera. For the next 1.5 hours, we sit and wait while the cameraman checks everyone's heat signature to check for fevers, and finally, after everything is done, we get to leave. Only few of us have the wherewithal to realise that even if we'd made our MSP-NRT flight on time, there would be no way to make the NRT-MNL connection, since the swine flu check itself would've eaten up half an hour PAST our layover time. Scoreboard? Shriram 1, Fates 5, Fates seem to be pulling away.

1:00 am, Narita International Airport (18/05/09)
Finally, after making it out of the airplane and walking around, there is a little matter of customs/immigration in Japan to handle, since the hotels weren't in the airport.

(The following are how long I had to wait to be serviced in line)

30 minute wait (for about 8 people), 1.5 - 2 minute service time. (At this point, it becomes relevant that there are 4 bloody people servicing us for the shorepass application, and I don't see how people could take so long in that line when it only took me about a minute-and-a-half to get through).
Line 2 - Handing the shore pass application to the immigrations officer, who then will fingerprint us, take our picture, and stamp some stuff onto our passports.
45 minute wait (the US citizens didn't need a shore pass, but needed to go through this line)
3 minute service, including a short conversation in japanese where I asked him where the restroom was. Again, do people not realise that the immigration counter means GET YOUR DAMN PASSPORT READY AND DO NOT STOW IT IN YOUR 800 CUBIC FOOT BAG AND SPEND THE NEXT 15 FREAKING MINUTES LOOKING FOR IT? Geez.
Line 3 - Going to get our rebooked tickets
5 minute wait, less than 10 seconds service time. This was nice- just go, show your ID, get your ticket, aaaaand?
transition seamlessly to
Line 4 - Bus line to go to a hotel
This wasn't so bad- except for the fact that I was supposed to go to the Radisson, but when I was the 5th or 6th to get on the bus, the gentleman from the Radisson said that there were no other rooms, so the rest of us got to go to Hotel Nikko, Narita. My problem wasn't with the hotel I was sent to; perhaps just with the fact that the total number of people sent to either hotel should have at some point matched up with how many rooms there were left. The bus ride was about 10 to 15 minutes from NRT to the Hotel Nikko.
Line 5 - Getting a room.
My. God. The hotel's receptionists asked us for just two things. 1) Passport 2) Boarding pass. AGAIN; DO NOT PUT YOUR PASSPORT BACK INTO YOUR 800 CUBIC FOOT TROLLEY YOU MISERABLE PONCE! This took about an hour. Scoreboard? Shriram 1, Fates 150,000? I'm fairly certain the Fates had a parade at some point.

Finnnaaallllyyy obtained a room at something like 2:30 am, at which point I had some dinner, got up to the room, showered, and was asleep by 3:00.

6:29 am, Hotel Nikko, Narita (18/05/09)
Somehow, I manage to wake up almost exactly one minute before my alarm goes off- of course, I spend an extra 5 minutes marvelling in it. Then comes breakfast (which was a great buffet) and then another shower, and then check out. We get on the bus at 8:05, and we're there by about 8:20, no problems. Scores: Shriram 2, Fates 150,000

8:25 am, Narita International Airport (18/05/09)
Line 6 - Getting rechecked in; this didn't take much time. However, because of my score that morning, the Fates decided to throw a few last impediments my way.. I was seated in 59-E. Not only is that on the ass end of the plane, it's a middle seat. As you've met me/seen me before, you know that that's a terrible seat for me. Unfortunately, on one side is an old man, born 1933, whom I obviously couldn't ask to switch with me, and on the other side, is a father of 2 supermarket owner. Unfortunately again (that seems to be the theme of my life lately), his children are 4 and 3 years old. This means a) I can't switch with him, and b) his !@#!$ 3 year old daughter just would not shut up. I literally hurt my own ears when I screwed my headphones into them further than they possibly should've gone, just to avoid hearing her waaaah, waaaah, waaaaah.

The rest of the story is uninteresting; got home, ate (lunch), read a book, ate again (dinner), read more, slept.

Final Score: Shriram 2, Fates ∞; and that's the way it's probably always going to end up. Sorry for the very, very long post, but I felt this deserved it. I have some pics on my phone, it's just a matter of getting them onto the computer and getting them posted. Cheers folks, Shriram out.

Nuy happy Birthday

Sup man, i forgot to wish you happy birthday on the phone today, so here it is....
Happy Birthday man! 24 years old now... lol

Teddy Bear~ Happy Birth Day!!

JIM JIM, HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY~
i wonder if anyone wil read dis.... afterall, dis blog is ABANDONED lol

Happy New Year '09!

Folks, some of you I've spoken to of late, one of you I haven't- but I just wanted to wish everyone a very, very happy new year 2009, and hope that this year is as fantastic as the best year you could imagine. Cynicism says that's unlikely, but who cares, we can always hope.

I got to bring in the new year with my family at Montemar Beach Resort (about 3 hours away from Manila), and it was amazing- food was terrible, but my mum is always prepared, and had enough food to feed us should we have gotten lost for 3 years or so :)

I'm going back to the US of A on the 4th of January, and I know that Alex and Taka will be at Nut's, and that you'll be busy Eric... so anshinshiro, I'll be taking the limo. I'll definitely give you guys a call when I get back, though.

Anyhow, I don't have pics of my trip (they're with the parents, but I'll get them eventually), and if I get them, I'll post... but I just wanted to wish you all a very happy new year.

Cheers folks, Shriram out.