The Romanian Dream

LX Skye

Mircea — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:02:05 +0000

We had just finished hiking in the beautiful Arches NP and we were driving back to the camp area in which we spent the night while visiting the Moab area. We were just flipping the radio back and forth trying to find something interesting to listen and we somehow ended up listening to KZMU, a local radio station. The show was promoting a local artist, LX Skye. (thinking back we thought his name was Alex Skye, but never mind that). Among random tidbits about how he developed his style and how he mixes his music we got the chance to listen to some of his creations. Actually, you can see the whole playlist from that day here: http://www.kzmu.org/playlist.cfm?mode=display&id=4474

Something special about the voice, or maybe the guitar, the rhythm, the way some of the tracks sounded as country, while others reminded us of jazz or rock… we don’t know precisely what it was. The idea is that after listening to Stuck In Albuquerque we were hooked. The way genres are mixed within the songs is simply brilliant.

When we returned from vacation I looked up the songs, but apart from the playlist above I couldn’t find anything else. Rather disappointing. After that we forgot about this artist for a while until I recently decided to look him up again. Surprise:

http://www.amazon.com/LX-Skye/dp/B003VNIZ3M

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/LXSkye

http://www.store.limewire.com/store/app/pages/artist/ArtistHome/artistId/524685/

I kid you not, for the first time in my life I actually bought a whole album online (it has 2 parts so it’s actually 2 albums: Skyeology & Skyeology 2). It’s that good.

Favourite songs (the best of the best ) in this order:

Let’s Go Sailing
I Will Not Go Quietly Into The Night
Stuck in Albequerque
The Theme From the Monkey Wrench Gang
Let’s Dance
Listen to My Heartbeat
Heal Me

Capitalism: A Love Story?

Mircea — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 01:31:57 +0000

So, I recently watched “Capitalism: A Love Story” by the self proclaimed great director Michael Moore. The movie is shot in the same style Moore did his other movies. Everything that you see should be shocking and the director/the main actor/the narrator/you name it sees himself as the guy who will open everyone’s eyes. Will cure the world of cancer and will unleash the second coming of Jesus on Earth. Seriously? Sergiu Nicolaescu and Chuck Norris are jealous of this guy.

Overall, the movie is a huge tearjerker. Confronted with the not so comfy truth of what Capitalism is all about, in essence, we are lead to believe that other better systems exist and work. The big thing that this “messianic” director misses to see is that human nature leads to many of the situation he presents, not capitalism. Capitalism is just a vector for greed mingled with stupidity.

In the end, if you think about it, the purpose of the movie is to make money. The purest expression of capitalism. I kid you not.

For a complete laugh, checkout the “Do Something” section on the movie’s web page:

“Turn off the TV and the Blackberry and go for a 30-minute walk every day. Eat fruits and vegetables and cut down on anything that has sugar, high fructose corn syrup, white flour or too much sodium (salt) in it (and, as Michael Pollan says, “Eat (real) food, not too much, mostly plants”). Get seven hours of sleep each night and take the time to read a book a month. I know this sounds like I’ve turned into your grandma, but, dammit, take a good hard look at Granny — she’s fit, she’s rested and she knows the names of both of her U.S. Senators without having to Google them. We might do well to listen to her”

Although the advice is sound it comes from a guy who can barely walk and breathe…

The “Not My Fault” Culture

Mircea — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 05:04:19 +0000

The scene unfolds very quickly as one reckless driver doesn’t stop at… a stop sign and hits a car who was passing through the intersection. In his defense he did brake after seeing the other car. Damages are somewhat minimal: the right fender for the victim, the front bumper for the aggressor. Not really a big deal. That’s why we have insurance, right?

The interesting part starts now. If you were to ask the person who failed to stop: “whose fault the accident was?”, a magical moment will take place. You will find out that maybe it was the car’s manufacturer fault that the breaks didn’t stop the car sooner. Or that it is the others driver fault, because he was obviously speeding though the intersection. Or maybe the Stop sign is not visible enough. Or the road is not well maintained. Or whoever is responsible for the road knows that this is a dangerous junction and should have placed a traffic light there. Or maybe it’s because a squirrel chewed on the brakes while the car was parked. See a pattern here? Everybody and everything is to blame, except for the one that should get the blame… at least in his eyes. It’s what I call the “Not My Fault” response.

The response is so common and so well rooted in the behavior of the people in the US that I say that the culture around accountability is the “Not My Fault” culture. Admitting that it’s your fault will cost you. It’s safer to just play dumb and pretend that you’re actually a good person.

And if you think that things are not that bad, think about liability waivers. Why would, for example, a gym need a liability waiver? I tell you why… because if someone breaks their neck while going down the stairs they would actually sue the gym if it wasn’t for that waiver. It’s not your fault that you are a dumb-ass and cannot pay attention while going down the stairs. It’s the gym’s fault for putting the stairs in your way.

When stupidity overrides common sense, “Not My Fault” becomes the default.

Hiking – Camp Muir (Rainier) – Trail

Mircea — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:27:15 +0000

Location:

starting from Paradise, WA up to Camp Muir on Mt. Rainier
http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/camp-muir
http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/Camp_Muir_Rainier_7602.asp

elevation gain ~ 4700 feet (1430 meters)
round trip distance ~ 9.4 miles (15 km)
time ~ 7 hours (5 going up, 2 going down)
Camp Muir elevation ~ 10080 feet (3072 meters)

Date:
21.08.2010

Pictures:

Map:

Taboo – Immigration

Mircea — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:20:23 +0000

Introduction here: http://theromaniandream.com/blog/2009/07/17/taboo/

Instead of spitting venom, here is an infographic on the immigration ‘process’:

Source: http://reason.com/

Isn’t that f*ing awesome?

Comcast?

Mircea — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 04:52:07 +0000

Here are a series of 3 (three!) spam emails received from Comcast.

Mail1:

Mail2:

Mail3:

Takeaways:

I am a valued customer. The kind that continues to keep an overpriced internet subscription and gracefully ignores spam email.

The initial email subject was: “Great News: We’ve Increased Your Download Speeds”

The internet provider may not know what kind of subscription I have, but that doesn’t stop him from spamming me. Great success!

Starcraft II Review

Mircea — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 04:36:00 +0000

Where do I begin?

Probably I should state upfront that I am a Blizzard fan. Let’s say that the games that Blizzard created are a part of my youth. Warcraft/Diablo/Starcraft… you name it.

Starcraft II – Wings of Liberty came out on the 27th of July. It was a long awaited – 12 years – sequel of the brilliant, for its time, Starcraft. While the game has all 3 races that we’re used to, the single player campaign is only present for the human race. As far as I understand the Zerg and the Protoss campaigns will be launched separately, and you’ll have the “privilege” to buy them, if you want.

The human campaign has 26 missions (actually 29, because at some point, supposedly, you have the option to do either A or B and this results in you playing a mission or another. You can always go back and play the other mission). I found the campaign missions to be surprisingly easy on normal level – not once have I had to load a saved game because of the game flow. I did have to reload the saved games several times though because it crashed.

This leads me to another interesting point: How can you work on a game for such a long time and still have it crash? How can you release so many patches right after the game has come out? (around 3 weeks since the release and we already have 3 patches out). That says a lot about the quality and the producer’s desire to monetize the game

The cinematics in the game as at the high Blizzard standard. The in-game graphics are beautiful – your mileage may vary depending on the graphics card you have.

As far as playability, the game is at least as playable as the original. Lots of new units for all races which will hopefully change a bit the dynamics of the game. The number of units you can control simultaneously is no longer limited to 12. As an overall experience the game isn’t very far from the original. Which is good on a certain level, and a bit disappointing on another level.

One thing that sucks is that you have to be connected to the internet (battle.net) all the time to be able to access the game and play with your character. No more playing in LAN. WTF? I think that Blizzard really screwed up the Battle.net part, but hey… they do integrate with Facebook… and they give you shiny achievements badges for all kinds of crap that you do… that should make us feel a lot better, not.

Overall the game is worth at least some attention at this point if you’re into games in general, and real time strategies in particular. I guess only time and the hardcore fans in Korea will make Starcraft II into another legendary game or just put in on the shelf of disappointing sequels.

Enjoy the game for now See you on Battle.net!

Hiking – Olallie Lake – Trail

Mircea — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 03:17:09 +0000

Location:

Olallie Lake

http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/talapus-lake/

Date:

15.08.2010

Pictures:

Map:

Magic Pipes (Mind Jogging – 5)

Mircea — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 01:11:36 +0000

From: http://www.brainbashers.com/games/magicpipes.asp

Hiking – Lake Wenatchee / Hidden Lake / Deception Falls, WA

Mircea — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 16:09:12 +0000

Location:
Lake Wenatchee / Hidden Lake / Deception Falls – all near Stevens Pass in WA

Date:
07-08.08.2010

Pictures:

Map: