Thursday, July 29, 2004

Nyark!!

Recently found webcomic the norm by Michael Jantze. I think its great stuff, and well worth the investment to read it. Amazing how the grim reality called life can be made so lively.

I remember that when I was still in varsity, I used to have the panic attacks about getting into the workforce when I leave Uni. The thought of getting up every weekday to do a job that you probably will hate in a little cubicle trying to meet deadlines, and the fact that you can't say that your dog ate your work bothered me and kept me up for nights.

Now I don't have to cope with that now... I've managed to find a cure for those anxiety attacks. It's called internship. No fuss, no muss. You will always have some time to muck around, and any job given to you will never have a chance to carry over to the next day...

I seriously need to get a real job.

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Life with a capital 'B'

Yeah I know. Life hasn't got a 'b' in it. So what. That's what I'm doing now. Being bored. Thank God for homework. Too bad I don't know what the half of it is, though. I could be really productive today.

At least I did the other half. I just wrote about how I might be a drunkard, what a cigarette looks like to a blind man, and early last week, a complete advertising campaign on how to sell a paperclip on half of an A4 sheet. Remind me to post a picture up of it sometime.

Excuse me while I go scream...

Thursday, July 22, 2004

Get up and smell the rain

Hey wow! Blogspot.com just added this beautiful little composition doodad to the post creation. Great job guys! Now things will be alot easier to prettify. Okay, now I'm just abusing it, but its still pretty neat.

Okay, back to the topic at hand. Ever wonder what that wonderful after rain smell really is? Is it just the extra moisture in the air you're smelling? Or is it because grass has a natural aroma that we don't normally smell because of the layer of dirt coating it, and the dirt is washed away when it rains?

Well, its neither of these things, but easily plausable still, I suppose.

The real truth behind this is really because trees excrete oils from it bark over time. So when the sky starts to fall on our heads, the oil mixes itself with the water. The water serves as an aerosol for the oil, very much like gas in a bug spray can, so that when the rain stops, and the water starts to evaporate, it carries with it some of the oil, which proceeds to float into our nasal passages, to make contact with the smell receptors. That's what causes the after rain aroma.

But that's not the only reason. That's right. There's more than one cause for this smell.

You may have already said to yourself, "I don't have any trees anywhere near my home for miles. How could this be?" Don't worry, Comrade Kenny will tell you and make you all smart and comfy about this. The other cause of the freshly cut grass smell are spores. Thats right. Spores. Before you all panic and rush yourselves to the nearest ER, think about this. We've really been breathing in these into our lungs for ages. Now, there's nothing growing in you, nor are you suffering some debilitating lung disease, are you? Are you?

I'm sure you'd want to know what kind of spores are these? Simple. They belong to bacteria called Actinomycetes. So that means you're not going to grow mushrooms in your lungs anytime soon if you're still not convinced that the spores aren't detrimental to your health. You're going to get a debilitating disease that eats away at your brain. Anyways, these Actinomycetes things live in moist soil, and produce spores when its dry, very much like most other bacteria when faced with hostile environments. So when raindrops land on the soil, it kicks up all the little buggers into the air as well as transport then when the water evaporates into the air.

Not all after rain smells smell so great though, as most may have noticed, especially if you're a sity slicker. This is thanks pretty much to humans in general, and not because dogs, cats, and rats have been peeing and pooing around the alleys and streets, or even in your prize winning bed of flowers. I'm sure they'd
(the dogs, cats, and rats) like us to thank them anyway, for making the world a much more fertile place, but humans don't have kind of appreciation, so there's no gratitude for them here. Probably the reason why they poo at your doorstep every once in a while. Just so you'd notice their contribution and remember to thank them for enriching the front door with nutrients.

As I was saying, the cause of the unpleasent smells is acid rain. Yup. It falls, mixes with organics and breaks them down, or mixes with all the chemical crap that we throw around that causes it to react and produce strong smells, stronger than that of tree oil and bacteria spores. And these smells are generally unpleasant. I would know. I walk by some drains on the way to work and get englufed by these "aroma's".

Its a general rule that the longer it doesn't rain, the stronger the smells will be. This dry period allows all the goop I mentioned to accumulate; the trees become oilier, bacteria become spore-rier, and streets become crappier.

Hope you're all happier knowing what after rain smell consists of, and that you're all able to go to sleep smiling, knowing more than the person who hasn't read this about after rain smells, allowing you to become more of a smart ass. Enjoy.

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Lovely Morn!

Well,
I'm guilty of not going to work yesterday. Yep. That's right. But you didn't catch me red handed.

I didn't go for work simply because I was still suffering from some after effects from a bug I caught in Sydney.

Anyways, because of that, I didn't bother to update my blog. But you didn't miss much. Nothing really happened much to me. Just saved the world twice in one day via Hellboy and Paycheck, and still had time to save a couple of thousand ringgit from the government's grubby paws.

Both Hellboy and Paycheck are excellent films, and neither is short on action. But I loved Hellboy a whole lot more because of the humor and the noir feel of the movie. Granted, it isn't something everyone would appreciate a whole lot. If you're not into films where the protagonist makes witty comments in every moment, and I'm not making light of the mention of 'every moment', then this isn't the one for you. The only qualm about the film I have is the inclusion of the female character. Not much went into her development in the film, and her presence there seemed more of a side note to the whole experience.

Also found out my script writing tutor is being sued by a former acquaintance because he called him a 'drama queen' in an article. Why he's so peeved off is because he thought my tutor had called him a 'queen'. I suppose he wanted to be called a drama king.

Monday, July 12, 2004

Back from Down Under

Hoo Wow. The whole trip was a blast. The travelling, the walking, the sightseeing, the shopping, the conference.

For those not in the know, I've returned from my trip to Melbourne and Sydney day before yesterday, and I spent the whole day yesterday veg-ing out.

I feel happier, more joyful, closer to Lai Yee, and set more on fire for God.

So much about the bad feeling I got about the trip before the trip. Bad things did happen, but only in the first 3-4 days. I won't expound on that, but rest assured, this has been the best holiday ever.

Did I tell you guys I brought a virus back?