Hmm...
Brittany: Hehe - this is interesting: http://www.gizoogle.com  ¶ 11:17 PM 0 comments

  victor: ok, i know people are bored so check this out ----> You as a SouthPark Character


what do YOU look like???
  ¶ 12:44 AM 0 comments

  Check this out in honor of President's Day!  ¶ 5:52 PM 0 comments

  "I dream of things that never were and say 'why not?'"

Brittany: I’m feeling very Anne-ish today (reference to Anne of Green Gables). She always appears on damp, dreamy days when there is a tang in the air that calls me to worlds unknown. Isn’t it splendid to look at the vast expanse of sky…or to muse about the glassy void of the sea, wondering at things that remain unheard and unseen? What is it that calls us to distant lands…imaginary worlds that would not be half as nice in real life if we were ever to reach them? I think it is the knowledge that there are no restrictions on our imaginings. You can see the entire world in the tiniest flower when you step outside of everyday encumbrances and allow your mind to dream.

Days like today make me feel closer to both past and future. It is as if all the voices from many years ago are whispering secrets among the tree tops, reaching down to this present world and reminding us that things haven’t changed quite as much as we think.

Back to this present life: The muggy breezes dancing down sidewalks here are the same breezes that are being enjoyed by countless others many miles away. It creates such a sense of unity. I know most of you are probably reading this and thinking that it is just blather, especially given the headlines and intelligent topics of conversation I could have posted. The truth is, I started to post about politics…I considered posting about on-going tsunami efforts…and of course there was always the option of Iraq. But the more I thought, and the more I wrote, the more I realized how often we become bogged down with the harshness of reality. There is callousness…a business like air that is adopted when discussing matters of importance. It is an air that I adopt all too frequently (you should read the debate I wrote last night if you don’t believe me – heh), but today, I’m not going to care. Hehe. I hope someone has as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Have a dreamy day. ;-)  ¶ 1:07 PM 1 comments

  Johnathan: Hey guys. I was reading my usual FF-based webcomic and came across this picture:



X-TREME TO TEH MAXXORZ!!!


........

...so anyway... I think Hollywood is a big load of crap (apart from LotR, of course, haha). This is apparently supposed to be the new X-TREME Loony Toons... Go read the full post here. It's quite good.  ¶ 9:45 AM 0 comments

  victor: i thought i would let everyone know that the Georgia Tech Symphony will be having their concerto competition winner concert next Thursday (Feb 24th) at 8:00 in the Ferst Center. Louise (who is part of the forum) will be playing the Barber Violin Concerto and the other winner Svetlana will be performing Saint-Saen's Introduction to Rondo & Capriciosso. I'll be there so I hope to see some of you too.  ¶ 3:04 PM 0 comments

  boylan: Take it to the Bank Every once in a while we all stumble across something that is too unique NOT to share.

I just finished watching a movie that was, exemplary. Odds are you never heard about it, never knew it existed. Why? Because it debuted at a film fest and then went straight to DVD because a suit in Hollywood probably didn't think there would be a market for it.

What film? Simple: Interstate 60.

The IMDB summary:

Neal Oliver is a young artist, but his father doesn't like his choice and wants him to go to Oxford. Everything changes after Neal's meeting with O.W.Grant, who grants exactly one wish per person, as his name suggests. Neal wishes for answers, and so he must travel to the nonexistent Danver by the nonexistent Interstate 60. In this trip he hopes to find the girl of his dreams, following the trail of her photos on the advertising stands along the route. Many encounters await him ahead. Will he receive what he asked for?

But it doesn't do it justice. It was written by the guy who wrote Back to the Future, and has cameos by Michael J. Fox and Christoper Lloyd. Oh yeah, it stars James Marsden and Gary Oldman, oh, and Amy Jo Johnson, aka The Pink Power Ranger.

Interested yet?

You should be.

So go out and rent it from your local video distributor. Or obtain it any which way you choose. Meanwhile, the rest of you lot should post comments recommending movies that you have enjoyed that maybe don't get the attention they deserve.

Bonus points if any of you say: Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Donnie Darko, Better Luck Tomorrow, Thirteen, etc etc. Oh, and if you did want to say any of those, sorry for stealing your thunder.  ¶ 8:47 PM 0 comments

  dzahsh: im glad articles like this that point out the US's backwards foreign oil policies are being written in mainstream papers like the NYTimes. Calls for grass-roots movements are too often dismissed as leftist/liberal. Thomas Friedman is a good opinion to read often, he knows the middle-east well.  ¶ 2:20 PM 0 comments

  sarah: after reading this article i started thinking do i want to live forever? what does living forever really mean?  ¶ 12:06 PM 0 comments

  christo almighty [dzahsh] hi, ill welcome myself here, crash this party, with some images from the new massive art installation in central park, ny by mega-scale fabric artists christo and jeanne claude, whove done impossible installations wrapping entire bridges, buildings and islands in fabric. this one they call it 'the gates' and its 7500 of these 'saffron' [its just orange, people] colored fabric structures lining 23 miles of central park pathways. it opened saturday and itll only be up for 16 days, to be then taken down and all parts completely recycled. its quite nice, very strange, i love it, stuff like this needs to happen all the time. christo has supposedly been trying to realize this project since 1976 before nyc finally allowed it to happen, which is quite pathetic, and christo has been a very respected artist since the 70s, incredible ideas like this need to be free to happen without loads of bureaucratic hoop-jumping, and especially they need to be able to come from any artist with an incredible idea, anyone, not just the artistic elite. thats why i love these graffiti/illegal artists, they just assume that public space is what it is, public, and they freely and publicly display their art with that assumtion, but anyway, here are some pics..

you can see 'lord' norman foster's neato new Hearst Tower going up in the background of the first pic [click to see bigger]

  ¶ 5:34 PM 2 comments

  [admin post] so i was wondering if anyone out there knew how to html framed websites... I have been trying to integrate frames into the forum to no luck. Just let me know and I'll give you admin rights   ¶ 3:37 PM 0 comments

  [admin post] the forum would like to welcome dzahsh to the group we look forward to your contributions   ¶ 2:23 PM 0 comments

  victor: so all this talk of lent has made me realize something. it seems that the idea of sacrifice is integral to our society these days. the ability to freely give up something of convinience to you in someone else's name (whether god or your puppy) seems to be an act which everyone can relate to. do you think this is part of who we are? how we think? I mean, the act of sacrifice is universal and pervasive throughout world history. From Mayan, to Christian, and Shinto, sacrifice is always an act which is done to show upmost respect or done in dire desperation. Religion is not the only institution which asks of sacrifice. School requires that you give up time and money in order to suceed, sports asks that you sacrifice your physical energy to progress, work asks you to sacrifice sitting around watching anime all day so... ok bad example. Anyways my point is: when all you guys screw up valentines you know at least one way to rectify your situation. :)  ¶ 5:14 PM 0 comments

  Brittany: In my C/E colloquium, it has been suggested that it is not necessarily important HOW things came to be…it is only the WHY that matters. Because what is life without a purpose? So many times people search for the meaning of life, but they always begin the search with themselves. Our quest for answers is often self-centered, focusing on what WE want…what WE think is best. People define their own goals and then pursue them.

Perhaps it’s the time of year, but it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to understand how individuals can find a life purpose without God. In the previously mentioned class, I am coming up against individuals who view my “need” for faith as a weakness. My life must be empty if I can see no meaning without God. This baffles me. If there is no God, what is it worth at the end of the day? If this world is all there is, where is the motivation? There MUST be a purpose…and that purpose does not lie within ourselves.

Even if I do not agree with an individual, I want to understand where they are coming from. Why do they think the way they do and how does it change their perspective? I’m starting to think that perhaps there is a difference in the way individuals define the word “purpose”. Theists might see “purpose” as a meaning to life…a higher reason for being here. Another individual, however, might assign purpose to various events or objects…nothing more. I don’t know. I sense the amazing presence of my God, remember the sacrifice made by His Son, and I cannot imagine going through life without it.  ¶ 12:04 AM 0 comments

  victor: i just wanted to wish every a happy chinese new years!! shin nien quai le!  ¶ 7:38 PM 0 comments

  victor: is anyone else getting desanitized by all the kill in iraq? a few months ago i would hear about a car bombing and the death od 4 or 5 people and feel concern or saddness but today, I was reading a story on CNN about how some 26 died in a attack and it didnt even effect me in the least. I think its kinda disturbing how little something like that is effecting me and im sure a few of u out there feel the same way.   ¶ 1:44 PM 0 comments

  Victor: Micheal Arad will be presenting his World Trade Center Memorial Design at the College of Architecture, Georgia Tech. Register for free here.  ¶ 9:57 AM 0 comments

  Brittany: Two teenage girls have been ordered to pay nine hundred dollars “for the distress a neighbor said they caused by giving her home-made cookies adorned with paper hearts.” The girls decided that it would be nice to bake cookies as a surprise for their neighbors. The presents were left in tins, “adorned with red or pink hearts”, and bearing the message: “Have a nice day.” One neighbor filed a lawsuit stating that the “unsolicited cookies” caused her to experience an anxiety attack that sent her to the emergency room the next day.

This pisses me off. These kids try to do something nice for someone else, and what happens? I mean…what kind of age are we living in when it’s no longer safe to commit random acts of kindness? Heaven forbid there be “unsolicited” good will towards fellow man. Cases like this really make me question what laws allow such to happen in our courts (same with the “hot coffee” suit).

First of all, a panic attack is a sudden rush of overwhelming fear that occurs without warning and WITHOUT ANY OBVIOUS REASON. It seems to me that the daft judge would take into consideration the fact that anxiety attacks are usually not triggered by a specific occurrence. This means that it is HIGHLY unlikely that the girl's cookies had anything to do with her attack.

According to the article, the woman feared that she had experienced a heart attack and went to the emergency room the next day. If you thought you had a heart attack, why in the world would you wait until the next day? Heart attacks are serious, woman! Get thee to a hospital ASAP!!! I have experienced a couple of anxiety attacks myself (blame it on college), and while I assumed all manner of things DURING the attack, I had the sense to figure it out afterwards.

Thirdly, from the sounds of it, she better be thankful that it was only cookies and not a flaming bag… ::grumbles::   ¶ 9:36 PM 1 comments

  victor: Can you spot a smile ? I got 15 correct.  ¶ 7:26 PM 1 comments

  [admin post] and a warm welcome to tlynnec who has decided to join us in the forum   ¶ 1:43 PM 0 comments

  victor: many of you know that I take photographs as a hobby. often, i would take my camera wherever I go just to make sure i dont miss a good photo opportunity. i think my camera has followed me from long hikes over the italian riveria to the gas station down the street. well I was wondering what everyone thought about photo ettiquete (sp?). have you encountered places where you were really annoyed that someone was taking photographs and whether you think it is rude that photographers take pictures of people without their consent (either as subjects or backgrounds)? often photographers say that as long as the subject dosnt openly protest you are ok to take a photo. i always have to question myself whenever i take my camera out but i just cant seem to stop taking photographs.   ¶ 1:37 PM 0 comments

  [admin post] i am happy to welcome Clark to the forum.   ¶ 9:02 PM 0 comments

  If I ever get out of here...

Brittany: The anticipation of a dreaded class is much worse than the actual class itself. I enjoy lectures more than I like to admit, but the five minutes before oration begins is sheer torture. I agonize over what the next hour will be like…how slow it will pass, and I feverishly contemplate starting an “If I ever get out of here” list. I know better than to actually compile the list...because no matter how distant the end seems, I will eventually “get out.”

This might not make any sense to anyone else, but in my sleep-deprived mind, this insignificant action is merely a small-scale representation of my life…

It’s amazing what one can discover by simply observing the little things.
  ¶ 8:42 PM 2 comments

  victor: for those who care, the unveiling for the new Atlanta Symphony Hall design by Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava will be Feb. 9th, you can RSVP your complimentary tickets via. the Atlanta Symphony website. (let me know if your planning on going because i am - i will also have a extra ticket for those who decide to go at the last minute or is too lazy to rsvp)  ¶ 11:07 AM 4 comments

  victor: Sarah's post with those strange animals makes me wonder if the possibility of other life (beyond the terrestrial realm) out there be totally impossible. If large animals right in our backyard can go undetected for so long (think of the okapi from eastern africa or ceolacanth) what makes the possibilities of living organisms (such as plants, bacterias, and stuff) be totally in the realm of impossible somewhere in the universe? I admit that the idea of sentient beings whom have the capabilities to reach us via the ways of the UFO is a bit hard for me to swallow (this given that life is carbon-based) but life itself I think would find a way to be if given the chance.   ¶ 8:18 PM 1 comments

  Wow. Everyone should definitely go to google, type in their name, and see the results. It's so weird. Apparently there is a recording artist and an author with the same name as me. There are so many people...and they're all so incredibly different - it's really bizzare. It's like I'm reading about the life I have that...I...didn't know...existed? Haha. Did I mention that I'm VERY bored?   ¶ 11:11 AM 2 comments

  Sarah: Strange Sea Creatures

first let me applogize for this really long pic filled post but my sister forwarded these to me and i wanted to share.

The tsunami or "harbor wave" that was generated by the December 26th earthquake in the Indian Ocean moved outward from the quake's epicenter at roughly 500 miles per hour. Only when the waves left the deep water and started climbing up the land shelf did the giant wave (actually a series of five waves coming one after another) slow down. In doing so, the waves scoured the entire seabed beneath them, and brought up marine creatures from well over a mile deep, leaving them behind as the waves receeded. Scientists know more about the surface of the moon than they do about life at these depths. The 24 pictures, photographed at seaside in Phuket, Thailand, show just some of the strange and wondrous undersea life forms (previously unknown) that were kept and preserved after the tsunami left.

basketwork & eel

black dragonfish

blind lobster

blob fish

carrier shell

chimaera fish

fangtooth

firefly squid

gunard

hatchetfish

lizard fish

oreo dory

prickly shark

sea spider

shovel nosed lobster

stargazer

stone crab

swimmer crab

tongue sole

umbrella mouth gulper eel

viperfish

coffinfish

chimaera pup

crab

  ¶ 10:43 AM 2 comments

  [admin post] a good evening to grace and lexi who has decided to honor us with their addition to the forum... i have to stop watching Iron Chef   ¶ 8:42 PM 0 comments

  victor: so state of the union aside. someone explain to me what groundhogs day is, how it came about, and why it is important. i have been listening to people talk about it all day on the radio while at the office and i realized the only thing i know is that its somehow related to winter and shadows... someone needs to americanize me.  ¶ 8:40 PM 0 comments

  sarah: i don't' know if anyone has seen this yet but i think it hilarious. it makes microsoft sound like a little kid not getting it's way.
  ¶ 11:24 AM 1 comments

  victor: did everyone see this story?  ¶ 9:09 AM 1 comments

  [admin post] and a special hello to Frederic and Howard   ¶ 11:38 PM 0 comments

  And Now for a Rant on Time,

Johnathan: I would have posted this as a comment under Brittany's post, but I felt it was too long to put there, hehe. "Time" is an interesting subject (and one that I was contemplating a mere few months ago, actually). I came up with an interesting theory, however stereotypical it might get, hehehe...

Think back to your childhood... remember how you were always bored? Car rides took forever. You felt as if you were faster than the wind and nothing could outrun you. For the most part, time seemed to proceed no faster than a crawl. Now think about the present day... You never have enough time to get everything done. You struggle to get things done "on time" and the world around you seems to whir by. Now here's my theory:

Perhaps time is relevant to size.

Take into your consideration "short" people (here's where it gets stereotypical, haha). I'm talkin really short people... like... shorter than, say, 5'4" (give or take a few inches). I don't know about you guys, but the shorter people I know are always bouncing off the walls. They have more energy than they know what to do with. Perhaps they really have the same amount of energy as us normal heighted people, but their time just seems to move more slowly (hence why they seem to move so fast to us).

Now let's take a look at big folks. Not just tall people. Big and tall people (maybe over 6'7"... not necessarily fat, though). Most of the bigger people I know tend to move and talk more slowly. Maybe it's because time seems to move more quickly to them and they therefore appear slower than us. Imagine a room with a really short person and a really big and tall person. I picture the tall person getting annoyed with the really small person because they won't stop going and going and going (no offense to any of you short folk out there ;)).

But why stop there? Take a look at insects. Most of them barely live a few days. But maybe what seems to be only a few days to us is really years to them. As hokey as it may be, I really found the end of the first "Men In Black" to be interesting, where it depicted our galaxy in a marble. Millenia could pass by in our time and it would only be a few blinks of the eye to some greater creature that's larger than we could imagine. Apply this concept to atoms, too. Look at how fast they revolve. How many times do electrons revolve in a second? Maybe that's the atom's equivalent to years...

Now before I start to get REALLY radical with this train of thought, I'd like to see what you guys have to say, haha. Keep in mind that these are just random "what if's" I thought of a few months ago and the theory probably has absolutely no REAL scientific backing. Just food for thought, I suppose :)

And again... I meant no offense to all of the really big and really small people out there. Nothin' but love <3

  ¶ 9:04 PM 1 comments

  victor: ok just as an aside from the conversation (and to help make this more of an "open source" website) I would like to introduce archive.org to those who dont know it. (Umm and a warning... the videos are huge so be sure you have a fast connection.) - feel free to post other "open source" sites and I will add them to the sidebar.  ¶ 8:23 PM 1 comments

  [admin post] I am glad to see that Lauren and Laura Regine Kahjie Sissoko (are you sure you didnt miss any part of that?) have joined us in the forum.   ¶ 8:11 PM 0 comments

  Time After Time...
Brittany: “It is possible to believe that all the past is but the beginning of a beginning, and that all that is and has been is but the twilight of the dawn. It is possible to believe that all the human mind has ever accomplished is but the dream before the awakening.”

As of late, I have been considering the concept of time. We see the effects of time everyday. It never stops for anything in this world, moves slowest in times of sorrow and quickest in times of joy. We are always longing for more of it, but with each gained moment, we edge closer to our own passing. It would be impossible to say that time is man-made, but man is the only one who places such emphasis on the division of time. As Thomas Mann stated, it “has no divisions to mark its passage…only we mortals ring bells and fire off pistols” to mark the beginning of a new era. The rocks and trees do not cry out because to them, every end is simply the beginning of another beginning. The continuing circle is absolutely mind-boggling to me.

Another interesting point is the current concept of time. It was only a little over 120 years ago that the standard of “global time” was determined at the Prime Meridian Conference. Before then, towns around the world were on their own local time, determined by the rising and setting of the sun. It is only since individuals became so hurried that the need for a uniform system arose. It seems that a nation with 144 different periods of duration (not to mention world times) would be rather chaotic. On the other hand, observing time in regards to the natural world would probably force people to slow down and be more in tune with the things that surround them. I suppose I am considering this more after watching “Shawshank Redemption” this weekend. I can’t imagine what the passing of time must be like in situations such as that…it’s a totally new concept. Heh. Okay, it’s TIME for me to head to class. Blah. Have a wonderful day.
  ¶ 1:49 PM 2 comments

  [admin post] i would like to say good morning and extend a warm welcome to papsou and Spelunkore.net   ¶ 9:32 AM 0 comments

  [admin post] pleased to welcome to Ann and Forrest to the forum   ¶ 1:03 AM 0 comments

  Brittany continues the trend... I suppose I will continue with the trend of elections. As I was saying earlier (and as has been mentioned since), this new government cannot be considered democratic. It is more concerned with a pro-American government rather than a true democracy for and by the people. I was in total support of war in Iraq, but there comes a point where one becomes entirely too involved. If we really mean what we say, why not let the Iraqi people set up their own government and then get our troops out instead of hanging around to make sure the scales are tipped in our favor? I'm not saying that I think we should pull up stakes. We should certainly finish what has been started, but...I dunno...there's too much American influence and that's what the terrorists hate. Perhaps it is a poor attitude, but at times I rather favor the idea of isolationism (heh - I know…it didn’t work). But it sounds nice…involvement without commitment, no permanent, entangling alliances – hehe. Seriously, though…no one ever bothers Canada… ;-)  ¶ 12:05 AM 1 comments