So I’ve decided I didn’t like the black background on my square thumbnails for my gallery and changed it all to white. Took awhile to redo all the thumbnails and the longest part was the custom thumbnails since those had to be redone manually. I also updated all the videos with a thumbnail that was just just all white or all black.
Patched Tooth
So I was trying to decide to talk about my broken tooth first or my file server first. Broken tooth won. Most likely because it’s a much shorter blog entry. Haha. My file server entry could probably fill up 3 or 4 regular blog entries in length. Currently I’m resizing my RAID 5 array since I picked up another Seagate 500GB 7200.10 hard drive.
Anyway, lots of people have given me suggestions and once again, thanks to Xyon for referring Dr. Im from Sunrise Dental. I had mistakenly heard Dr. Ian, but the receptionist on the phone must’ve heard it correctly since I did get Dr. Im when I got there. Most people’s suggestions were to get it taken looked at immediately, so I got the earliest appointment which was 2 days later.
It’s great to have a flexible work schedule, cause I just left work at 2pm and came back at 4pm.
Anyway, my last dentist visit was back in December. My parents have always been the ones setting up the visits for me. Haha. I don’t even go do a body checkup if my parents don’t nag me to go. However, my health has always been great, but my parents like to exaggerate things in front of doctor saying I had this, I’ve done that, making the doctor more nervous than me.
So I got in, filled out some forms, and waited for my turn. Was rather quick that I got seated. I got my round of questions and x-rays. They even had this panoramic x-ray thingy which I’ve never gone through before. Usually they just stick plastic in my mouth and shout beams of radiation into my face which is always scary. I wonder if there’s anyone who’s study for cancer/mutations in one’s face due to dental x-rays. I did noticed that the x-ray film placards they used were significantly fewer than the other dentists I’ve been to. They were also nicer on the gum as I recall 4 or 6 of those x-ray film placards previously gave me excruciating pain.
The dentist finally shows up and says from the x-rays my teeth look great. I mentioned about the hole in one of my tooth and he says that could very well be the case, since the x-rays only provide a 2D view of my teeth. He had on a pair of these funky glasses which had extended magnify glasses for each lens and starts checking each tooth. He finds the teeth with the hole and starts scraping out some food gunk. I had wanted to not each before I came, but I was too hungry, so a couple cookies had to be eaten.
He tells me that my original filling had fallen loose and now food and bacteria fill the hole. He says he’ll remove the original filling, clean it out, and fill it. He mentions that all my current fillings are metallic and the only fillings they use here are the white resin-composite. He prefaces his suggestions with that he doesn’t recommend his patients to redo their metal fillings, especially the ones in the back since they are hardly noticeable, but if I really wanted to, he would do it. I mention the fact that the current fillings have mercury and if that would be a problem. He goes mercury is only dangerous in vapor and liquid form. As a solid in the filling, it should have no harmful effects. I didn’t get a chance to ask him what if I swallowed the filling that had broken off, as that might’ve been what had happened.
RayAlome had mentioned there might be a chance that I’ll be getting a crown since the hole had already broken the outer surface, but it didn’t seem to be the case. After cleaning out the bacteria, they clamped my tooth down with a metallic ring and started inserting the filling and using what I thought was a heat gun, but RayAlome says it was most likely a UV-ray gun to solidify the resin-composite filling. Next he took what I can only describe as dental sander and sanded down the filling until it matched the shape of a regular tooth. Initially after the dental visit, the underside of that tooth was rather rough, but due to my chewing and eating and constant tongue flicking, it has not completely smoothen out
Afterwards, they did the normal cleaning (spinning toothbrush) and then went on to this drill like cleaning thing. That thing hurt… BIG time, even though Dr. Im claimed it would not hurt at all and was a new “advance” technique for cleaning teeth. Finally I got my fluoride treatment, supposedly to make my teeth whiter, and wasn’t allowed to drink or eat anything in the next 30 minutes.
Dr. Im said my teeth were in excellent condition and besides the fallen filling, there was no new cavities or anything wrong. He did mention that the tooth with the new filling may be sore for a week or two, but that is normal. I can finally eat candy and cookies and ice cream without the pain!
Since “someone” doesn’t like to have gross pictures posted directly on my blog, you can see my new tooth here: picture. The new filling is the white one stuck between the 2 teeth with metal filling.
Fixed Sidebar
My sidebar was beginning to be a mess and not many open the hidden lists. Therefore I’ve picked a few which I frequent and still gets updated periodically to be shown by default.
Code Geass and It’s Horrible Cliffhanger Ending
Before my cursing, I’d like to say that out of all the music they used in the opening and ending, the only one that I liked was Ending 2: Code Geass Season 1 ED 2. The song’s called Mosaic Kakera (モザイクカケラ) by SunSet Swish. SunSet Swish was also the group that did one of the ending songs I liked for Bleach. If you like the song, you can download the music video or the mp3. Somehow the way the lead singer sings a few syllables really fast, pause, and repeat really creates a nice melody that I enjoy.
@#$%!
@#$%!
@#$%!
Did I say @#$%! yet?
@#$%!
@#$%!
@#$%!
I’m still so pissed right now, imagine how pissed I was last night at 5am when I finished watching episode 25. I was so pissed, I couldn’t stop myself from cussing out in a chatroom. I wasn’t even able to fall asleep for over an hour because I was so angry. When I woke up this morning, I still had a big empty feeling inside me. How the heck could they end season 1 like that.
I started watching this series either on Sunday or Monday of this week. Last night, I only had 3 episodes to go, so I decided to finish watching all 25 episodes in 3 or 4 days. Big mistake. The ending left me in a state where I was not functional at all. I was so disappointed with how they ended season 1.
Usually, when a season ends, it gives viewers at least some type of closure, but leaves a cliffhanger so you’d watch the next season. However, there was NO CLOSURE AT ALL!!!
Just thinking about it makes me want to yell @#$%! @#$%! @#$%!
Don’t get me wrong. The series was awesome. The story was very fast paced, and none of those Naruto/Bleach style battles which take 6 episodes to complete. Each battle pretty much lasted the episode and sometimes you have more than 1 battle.
** MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD **
Besides Death Note, Code Geass also reminded me of Gundam Seed Destiny. Not just because it had robots, but the protagonist and antagonist were very similar. I forget the names of the characters in GSD, but like Lelouch and Suzaku, they were also very close friends with different ideas of how they should change the world. Both wanted to make it better, but they were on different sides of the war. One would try to convince the other to join their side, just like how Lelouch tries to convince Suzaku. Along the way, you get your robot upgrades and of course different sides have different technology.
Anyway, what Lelouch did to Princess Euphemia was really sad, and I wished he could’ve taken it back and accepted her offer like he decided to. But now it’s too late. I almost cried. *sniff*
Episodes 24 and 25 were released as “specials” as they came out months later after 23. I thought since season 1 ended, it would be a good time to watch it as I’ve heard people were dying just waiting for the last 2 episodes.
However, apparently I didn’t hear the last part where 25 almost killed them, now that we have to wait for season 2 to see what happens.
Episodes 24 and 25 were set up to be the big battle which would end it all. Either the Knights of the Black Order will win, or the Empire of Britannia will successfully destroy the terrorists. However, they decided just to tease us. Not only did they not complete the battle, but they’ve introduced new major aspects to the series.
A new “witch” gets introduced. Her name is V.V. and she’s come in contact with Suzaku. It’s not clear if Suzaku has obtained a Geass as well.
V.V. kidnaps Nunally, and Nunally (sister of Lelouch) being Lelouch’s raison d’être, he had to go rescue her leaving the battle midway. He gave full control to Toudou, but having the brains of the entire operation leave midway is bad both for morale and strategy. I first heard the word raison d’être in Ergo Proxy, also another anime series I finish recently. The definition is: The claimed reason for the existence of something or someone; the purpose of something or someone. I wouldn’t recommend Ergo Proxy for most people, unless you like mixing philosophy with anime. It just got utterly confusing and too philosophical to the point it wasn’t really enjoyable anymore. The animation and graphics were awesome though.
Last seen, it looks like the Empire of Britannia was going to be able to hold back the invasion until reinforcement came. Everyone in the Order of Black Knights were very confused why Zero (Lelouch) would run away in the midst of battle. Ougi (who is dying) had told Kallen to follow Zero, as Zero is not the one to abandon them in the midst of a battle. Something serious must’ve came up and told Kallen to go protect Zero.
And now back to the students. It’s obvious Shirley knows something is up and she is pretty sure Lelouch is Zero, but every time she’s about to confront him, something happens. She’s utterly confused what Lelouch did to her to make her forget him completely.
Then there’s the young girl (head of one of the major Japanese families) that says she’ll be wife of Zero and be his angel. Zero denies her request stating he’s already made a pact with the devil. Speaking of which, we still have no idea what the contract he made with C.C. is. We also never find out C.C.’s real name, but that doesn’t really bother me as much.
The last we see of C.C. is she charges into Orange-kun’s (Jeremiah) robot and dives into the sea with him. It looks like in order to take him down, she’s going to sacrifice herself. But she states, I wouldn’t want to commit lovers suicide with you (Jeremiah). Given that C.C. can’t seem to die, that would make sense. However, I’m still confused as to why she gave up on Mao and why he wasn’t able to fulfill the contract, which leads back to the question of what the heck the contract is. The contract was mentioned in the 1st episode, but never gets revealed even in the final episode of the season 1. Will Lelouch ever be unable to fulfill that contract?
C.C. also keeps saying she’s an accomplice, but not a comrade, but she keeps doing things that seems to risk her life in order to save Lelouch’s life.
The season ends with Suzaku and Lelouch pointing a gun at each other. At this point, Lelouch has taken off his mask and revealed that he is Zero. Kallen is shocked beyond belief and is left shaking on the floor. At this point, Lelouch begs Suzaku to join forces with him temporarily to rescue Nunally. However, Suzaku denies his request and says he’ll kill Lelouch and go rescue Nunally on his own. The last thing you see, well hear, is a gun fired and a flash of Nunally’s image.
So they end season 1 without letting us know who dies, an incomplete battle, basically no closure. Nothing at all.
Code Geass vs Death Note
So after recommendations from a couple friends, I began watching Code Geass. I noticed quite a few similarities between the main character in Death Note (Light) and the main character in Code Geass (Lelouche, also known as Lulu).
Code Geass is turning out to be quite an interesting anime and so far I’ve watched 6 episodes in one day. Season 1 titled “Lelouch of the Rebellion” is merely 25 episodes, but there appears to be several .5 episodes stuck in between.
Both stories begin with the main characters obtaining a power beyond this world which allows them to control people. Light obtains the ability to control people by writing the names of the victims and how they die inside this particular notebook. Lelouche can control others by making orders looking directly into the person’s eye.
The downside of Light’s power is the fact by controlling the person, Light has to ultimately send them to their death. The downside of Lelouche’s power is that he appears to only be able to use it once per person.
Both want to change the world and rid this world of scum and corruption. Both see that the end justifies the mean.
Along the power comes a mysterious person or creature. Light has a Shinigami and Lelouche as C.C. I don’t know much about C.C. yet, but she appears to be an experiment or alien of some sort. Both entered a binding contract with their mysterious person/creature.
After obtaining their powers, both tested to see what the limits of their powers are. Light tested it with prisoners, while Lelouche tested it on students in the academy.
There are a few differences.
The Shinigami basically told Light that he wasn’t going to really help him much and was just enjoying the show. C.C. told Lelouche that they are now accomplices.
I was going to say Suzaku was like L, but that’s not clear at this point yet. Suzaku might very well get an order to hunt down Zero (Lelouche’s alias).
** PREDICTIONS/SPOILERS **
I have a feeling since Lelouche’s sister Nannally is blind, she would’ve recognized his voice as Zero from the TV. But that doesn’t appear to be the case yet, or maybe she’s hiding the fact. I also have a feeling that Lelouche will lose his sister for his cause, just like how Light had lost his father.
I would do anything to pass this exam.
I got this joke from elbandmonkey’s Xanga:
A student comes to a young professor’s office hours. She glances down the hall, closes his door, and kneels pleadingly. “I would do anything to pass this exam.”
She leans closer to him, flips back her hair, gazes meaningfully into his eyes. “I mean,” she whispers, “I would do anything.”
He returns her gaze. “Anything?”
“Anything.”
His voice turns to a whisper. “Would you… study?”
————————————
Now if only my students had the same idea and I don’t mean studying…
Haha.
Kopi Luwak
Last week during dinner with some coworkers, I brought up about the most expensive coffee in the world. It started with talking about water, tea, and coffee having no calories if you don’t add milk or sugar. So while on the topic of coffee, I had remember seeing them talking about the most expensive coffee in the world in a Chinese detective drama series I saw a few years back. I forgot what it was called, but I remember how it was made. I recalled that they had to feed the coffee beans to a cat. The cat would them poop it back out (I know, faux pas for dinner topic). Somehow, during the digestion process, the cats inner body adds something to the coffee beans that makes it taste and smell a lot better.
Everyone was so disgusted by this fact, they claimed they wouldn’t even try it. I couldn’t understand why… I mean, the coffee beans will be thoroughly wash and all the poop would be removed and there won’t be any remnants of the poop or the coffee beans ever being inside a cat’s stomach. I had brought up about vegetables being inside fertilizer and people just washing it and eating that, but they said fertilizer wasn’t exactly poop. Xyon gave the example of if I would eat undigested corn stuck in my poop if they washed it very carefully. He does have a point, but nonetheless, I don’t think my stomach makes corn taste or smell better, so I wouldn’t do it.
Anyway, after I came home, I decided to look up some information. It turns out it’s called Kopi Luwak. According to Wikipedia:
Kopi Luwak or Civet coffee is coffee made from coffee berries which have been eaten by and passed through the digestive tract of the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus).
Kopi Luwak is the most expensive coffee in the world, selling for between $120 and $600 USD per pound, and is sold mainly in Japan and United States, but it is increasingly becoming available elsewhere, though supplies are limited. One small cafe, the Heritage Tea Rooms, in the hills outside Townsville in Queensland, Australia has Kopi Luwak coffee on the menu at A$50.00 per cup.
Kopi is the Indonesian word for coffee, and luwak is a local name of the Palm Civet. The raw, red coffee berries are part of its normal diet, along with insects, small mammals, small reptiles, eggs and nestlings of birds, and other fruit. The inner bean of the berry is not digested, but it is believed that enzymes in the stomach of the civet add to the coffee’s flavor by breaking down the proteins that give coffee its bitter taste. The beans are excreted still covered in some inner layers of the berry. The beans are washed, and given only a light roast so as to not destroy the complex flavors that develop through the process.
So it turns out a it’s not exactly a cat. A Palm Civet is actually a cat-sized mammal in the family Viverridae, sometimes referred to as the Toddy Cat. And it’s not really coffee beans, but coffee berries. I had no idea coffee berries existed. Anyway, I’ve pretty much gotten to the point I’d tried anything if someone recommends it to me, and wouldn’t mind trying a cup of this coffee. I personally don’t like coffee that much, and if I do drink it, it’s usually in the form of mocha or a lot of milk and sugar.
But A$50 (~US$40) for a cup of coffee… Wow!
MandalayX’s Visit
Last week, I met up with MandalayX as he was up in Seattle for the PAX 2007. I was invited a few friends, but PAX isn’t really my thing. I enjoy playing games, but not as much as what most people would assume. Let’s just say the game I play most often is still probably Free Cell, and I can go without turning on my Xbox 360 for months.
We met up on Thursday night and we caught dinner and just chatted. There was a lot of catching up to do. For those who don’t know, MandalayX was my roommate freshman year in the dorms. We’ve kept in touch, but didn’t really see each other that often after the 1st year. He appears to be doing well, but his hours are rather harsh. I guess that’s the problem with family businesses. He wanted to check out my place so I took him back and showed him around. He even got to try out MexiCoke. He said their wasn’t much difference in the initial taste, but the aftertaste was definitely different.
All in all, it was a pleasure to see him again. That reminds me, I still have some food left over from that night… Guess that’ll have to wait till Tuesday as I’m going over to a friend’s place for a cookout for Labor Day.
Scissors Are Sharp
So I did something rather stupid a few days ago. I was using my scissors and I noticed some sticking thing got attached to one of the blades. It was probably from the packaging tape was cutting apart earlier, so I thought I’d just rub it off. After a few rubs, most of the sticky stuff was removed and I was happy.
However, a few hours later, I noticed that the skin on my thumb felt funny when I was rubbing it. Looking at my thumb, I noticed line after line of what looked like paper cuts. There were about 6 of them in all. However, they weren’t painful. The skin on my thumb is rather thick, giving it some more protection I suppose. Anyway, I applied some Neosporin to it and decided to put a bandage after I showered since it didn’t really bothered me (unless I rubbed my fingers).
Anyway, when I was about to take a shower, I noticed some dirty spots on my sink and decided to clean it a bit. I’ve been meaning to clean the whole bathroom for some time (actually for a few months already) and thought since I had some time this weekend, why not do it now. Boy was that the wrong decision. I had forgotten about my thumb and the moment the cleaning solution touched my thumb, OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD DOES IT BURN!
I immediately started to wash my thumb and the only thing left was just a mild sting. Immediately after taking a shower (I tried my best to not use that thumb to shampoo my hair or lather the soap), I put on a band-aid and all has been well ever since. So yep, the bathroom cleaning task has once again been postponed.
I would post a picture, but I fear Derek would stop reading my blog since he had warned me about posting gross pictures after I posted an image of my mouth and broken tooth.
Gutter Boats
Today I saw a ball on my way to dinner. It’s one of those bouncy balls you can get at Target which are filled inside a big cage. After seeing the ball, I was more alert to see if there were any children playing around. The ball was just sitting next to the sidewalk in the gutter.
This started a train of thoughts which led back to my memories of playing ball when I was younger. We live on a hill and whenever the ball (be it tennis ball, basketball, cherry ball, baseball, or even super bouncy ball) went over the fence, we had to chase it as it would keep on rolling downhill. That’s why I was especially wary of children around when I noticed the ball. This led to the memory of water running downhill along the gutter in our neighborhood.
This eventually led to back in the days when my mom was watering the plants or we were washing the car, we’d end up with a stream of water flowing along the gutter and into the sewer. When we were small, we would build these little paper boats and see it flow along the stream. We would follow it to right before it enters the sewer hole, which was usually a few blocks away. Sometimes along the way, there could be some obstructions like leaves or rocks, and we would have to give it a little push for it to continue.
Those were some fun times.