Monday, September 3
Don't throw rocks at my bike!
Sunday, September 2
saturday night poker at karlemagne's
i don't get out much so for me it was an enlightening, though not profitable, excursion.
here are some things i learned...
-kevlar never answers his phone. don't even try.
- the location of poker chips can be deceptive. just because you were the last one to host doesn't mean they are necessarily still in your house. in all likelihood, kevlar has them.
- kevlar can find, answer and talk on his cell phone while riding his motorcycle with the help of specially designed helmet.
- a j got back a couple of days ago. he's giving up chewing tobacco.
- cocaine and heroin are acceptable substitutes for weaning oneself off the snuff.
- the legendary michael turton is a pretty friendly guy.
- the poker chips were in a green box in a white carrefour bag in the back room buried deep beneath karl's porn collection.
- there were 9 players.
- 2 were thin.
- 5 smoked. and aaron bummed.
- everyone drank beer.
- no one drank cranberry juice.
- 8 are married.
- 5 have kids.
- english brett was the last to show up.
- john had church.
- karl gave up his seat for english brett.
- that seat got good cards all night.
- karl disappeared into the back room for about an hour.
- michael turton was born in cleveland, oh.
- someone brought vegetarian squid which may or may not have been made from cheese. karl liked it.
- he made tex-mex popcorn.
- english brett buttons his flowered shirts all the way to the top.
- aaron got a new haircut.
- he had till 2 to stay out.
- single guys have no idea what it's like to be married.
- michael turton told a couple of pretty funny jokes.
- everyone talked all the time, all at the same time.
- sam was the loudest.
- karl has a big ass axis & allies board.
- it got big ell, sam and michael turton out of their seats.
- michael turton's board is 50% bigger than karl's.
- they're playing today at 7.
- sam likes to play the u.s.
- michael turton likes germany because it's a challenge.
- malv plays slowly.
- the fantasy football draft is today.
- a j inherited jerry's team.
- big ell got pimp's.
- lance is drafting from america.
- some people aren't too happy about this.
- at least one person at the table has had a vasectomy.
- another wants one.
- they're cheap in taiwan.
- cheaper if you don't get the anesthetic.
- english brett talks funny.
- big ell and his wife are having a new baby in 3 weeks.
- it's a girl! no, wait, it's a boy! no, it's a girl!
- he's moving back to calgary in january.
- fantasy baseball is the real man's fantasy game.
- big ell's yankees are having an unprecedentedly successful season.
- the shiretowners may well make the playoffs.
- aaron had a pretty good neck beard going.
- he wore his n y jets t-shirt.
- michael turton left early.
- sam is still talking.
- he called gay 5 card stud. queens were wild. no straights.
- he once did stand up.
- he really liked michael turton.
- for a while i called aaron noah 'cause he always seemed to have a boat.
- a j was chopped liver to sam.
- sam likes chopped liver.
- sam ate a lot of a j's mints and pringles.
- a j asked sam if he had brought anything to share.
- rye's cards sucked. some of them had nipples.
- big ell went to get beer when he sat out of don's game, which is a notoriously long game.
- don's game was over in 6 minutes.
- kevlar changed his pants in karl's living room.
- a j actually misses the kevlar / rye conversations!
- at one point, aaron looked at karl and said he was so horny.
- somewhere, out there, there's a GILF site.
- i learned what a "glory hole" is.
- aaron knew a lot about them.
- don't take panadol when drinking. it'll kill your liver.
- aaron and brett shared a pint of jim beam.
- sam's dating a mormon girl.
- if they get married, when they die they'll get their own planet to rule.
- it's still "2 and only 2", wagadoodoo style.
- kevlar made fun of my corona.
- karl's house is going to smell like smoke for a long, long time.
- i left before iron cross.
anybody know how that went?
Cricket bats
I have spent a few" handles" of beer listening to the merits of cricket. Last night at poker I had the fortune to ask English Brett " What is a cricket bat made from"? He told me "Yew trees", he expected me to understand.I told I would look it up.
Uses for yew trees
Yew is a resilient tree which will tolerate a lot of shade and withstand smoke and
salty winds. Yew wood is amongst the densest of all conifers and is elastic so was
once used for making long bows, spears and dagger handles.
An important anti-cancer drug is produced from yew hedge clippings.
Cricket bats are no longer made from springy yew wood.
Yew wood is a slow growing species in the U.K.. Perhaps it not grow commercially.
Could the elastic qualities of yew wood baseball bats be marketable?
What are the MLB rules for wood types for bat construction?
After a five minute search....
Did you know there is a baseball research institute?
After May 2006, they have approved which bats and balls can be used in MLB.
Is it clear?

Bug Killer
The Mantis has excellent eyesight, can rotate it's head 360' and watches me closely when we are in the same room.
Orginally I pulled him from the rice pattie to bring in for my third grade science class. But it is just too cool to watch. Oh well the kids can help me name and feed it.
I hope "little Johnny" doesn't freak "teacher! a bug, kill it, kill it.." little girls crying, boys screaming, mayhem, shelves falling., ashtrays knocked over, shoes burning..
Saturday, September 1
Canadians in Taiwan.
Proportion of Foreigners teaching English by home country population.
1 in every 741,289 Japanese
1 in every 465,116 Americans
1 in every 266,666 Irishmen
1 in every 184, 263 Australians
1 in every 83,333 South Africans
1 in every 46,511 New Zealanders
1 in every 28,571 Canadians
Why are there so many Canadians?
I would have to say I came here after being unable to land a decent job in Canada.
Scott Summers's post basically stated there are so many Canadians because an arts degree is un-remarkable in the Canadian job market. The Canadian ex-pat population in Taiwan is less employable in Canada.
Somewhere I read that overseas language teaching is only recognized as an marketable achievement in the U.A.E.
I think we always knew we were not so different from the "FREAKY" ex-pats
Thursday, August 30
Virgo
(August 23-September 22)
Symbol: The Virgin
Ruling Planet: Mercury
Element: Earth
Cross/Quality: Mutable
Group: Intellectual
House Ruled: Sixth
Polarity: Negative
Opposite Sign: Pisces
Favorable Colors: Navy & Neutrals
Lucky Gem: Peridot
Key Body Part: Nervous System
Period: Aug.23 - Sept.22
Basic Profile:
Analytical, rational, fair, methodical, talented, planner, hardworking, discriminating, tasteful, motivated, reserved, intelligent, creative, orderly, structured, but can be critical, rigid, sarcastic, snobbish, narrow-minded,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Famous Virgos:
Stephen King, H G Wells, Leonard Bernstein, Michael Jackson, Sophia Loren, D. H. Lawrence, Queen Elizabeth, Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman, Oliver Stone, Dorothy Parker, Bruno Bettleheim, Geraldine Ferraro, Julio Iglesias, Marcia Clark
Click on the link and find out if today is your lucky day.
Wednesday, August 29
Carrefoure American promotion
Junk food and Tide laundry detergent.
Way to go USA!
A whole wall full of snacks.
The Thai promo had furniture and Hawaiian shirts.
OK, so maybe if they promoted Canada they would show Hot Chic calendars and maple blah blah blah.
Did you know that steel wool is flammable?
I haven't had a fruit roll up in more than a decade. If only they had imported red or black licorice.
I wanted to drop 26000 nt for a 37" panasonic television. I couldn't do it so I bought a new tool box for 249nt$.
My new job has a massive Mac with Final cut pro in English. I think the next Ktv will have more successful chrome-magna effects.
Tuesday, August 28
A Poem / Sermon
Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some; it is in everyone. And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
acid to kevlar's heroin
| Your Personality Is Like Acid |
A bit wacky, you're very difficult to predict. One moment you're in your own little happy universe... And the next, you're on a bad trip to your own personal hell! |
f b u
Monday, August 27
Personality test
Your Personality Is Like Heroin |
You're capable of the highest highs and the lowest lows. Addicted to feeling good, you'll do almost anything to avoid pain. People seek you out, even though you can be quite moody. They're hooked on you! |
Sunday, August 26
Damn you 7-11!
Traditional cradle
Polanco's Error
The term "ordinary effort" is what makes "baseball error" more clear to me. Polanco must have bobbled fielding the grounder, missed the double play at second and made a poor throw to first. For his correct field position but poor execution he received an error.
His first error in a year seems note worthy for The China Post but didn't make the highlight reels.
Saturday, August 25
Detroit and the Yankees
The hair cut was bad, the neck rub was fantastic. The girl kept looking at me like I was supposed to ask her out...
A quick google says Polanco threw high to the plate after getting a bouncing ground ball a runner scored.. but I think he caught the ball and threw to first avoiding trying to tag the guy running to second. He didn't get the guy at first, cause he didn't catch the ball.. What was the error? ?
Zeitgeist
A two hour movie, related to 9/11 conspiracies and the IRS. Part III (most interesting) has several comments about Bush and the federal bank reserve. As well as commentary about the North American Union.
Video plays much better if you go directly to google video.