The Soap Box
A place for me to dump my brain and you to pick thru it

Perhaps I Need to Clean Out My Ears
10:13am

Am I the only one who thinks Daughtry sounds exactly like Tracy Chapman at least half the time in his acoustic recording of Elton John's Rocket Man?

PSA
5:05pm

Thursday, May 31st is World No Tobacco Day. People all around the world will not smoke that day. If you are a smoker and looking to quit, imagine thousands, if not millions, of people just like you not smoking and cheering you on to not light up. Why not give it a try? For smokers, there is nothing more important than to never quit quitting. If you need a hand accomplishing the goal of quitting smoking, call the Tobacco Quitline at 1-800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669).

Good luck!

Pirates
11:42pm

Yup, saw Pirates at 11:15 this morning. I wasn't expecting much, as I thought the second movie was an abomination, but I was hoping. Honestly, I enjoyed it! There was no bloated 20 minute scene on top of some doofy wheel. There was no Amazonian tribesmen mysteriously believing that Jack Sparrow was their god-king. And thank goodness, there were not 12 new characters like in Shrek 3. Even at a running time of 2:30, you could tell the original cut was longer. You have to pay attention or it's easy to lose track as to who is on what boat and how they got there. Also, if you go, wait through the credits to get a bonus scene at the very end. And as to not give away anything, that's all I'm saying.

This Is Getting Ridiculous
11:01pm

I want to continue to learn Spanish this summer. I looked into seeing if there were any language schools in Albuquerque. You'd think there'd be. I mean I think something like 34% of homes in New Mexico speak a language other than English but I could not find a language school. I went into the Spanish cultural center on campus and asked if someone there would be willing to tutor me and Spanish and the person there said, and I quote: "Uhhh...Spanish?" I asked the Spanish language department if any of their grad students would want to tutor and I was told, "Oh, no, I don't think so."

So then I went on Craigslist. I found one woman who was out of my price range ($30/hr). I found someone who was in my price range but she wont' email me back to set up an appointment and that's just bad business. I have no confidence that she would do what she said she'd do if she can't even email me. So then I found someone else on Craigslist.The headline states, "Spanish Immersion by private tutor" and reads:

Have you ever asked yourself if you want to learn or improve one of the most spoken languages in the United States?
Spanish is rapidly becoming the second language of the United States. My name is Enrico Castel, as a trained and experienced Spanish tutor, I enjoy teaching my mother language and have experience doing it. My classes are designed to encourage you to speak Spanish from the very first beginning-level class, and are tailored following your needs. I have experience working with university students. I offer flexible hours and a convenient location - right in your home or office in Albuquerque. I even have Saturday hours available. Respond to see my references in Albuquerque. Hasta Pronto.

So I write to Enrico and I get back a response from a company in Chicago who claim to teach Spanish over the internet! Hello? THis is not a private tutor. It really pissed me off that there is no one named Enrico as far as I can tell and that now some jerkwad company has my name and email address. Needless to say, I marked the ad as spam.

So, I'm back at square one. No classes, and no leads. How is it not possible to find a competent, reasonably priced Spanish tutor in Albuquerque, New Mexico?

Silly Cat Pictures
11:08pm

The first two of these pics you may have seen on Icanhascheezburger.com. They are my favorite 2 that I've found. The last one is the one I made out of a photo of our kitten, Bodhi.

GOD SPEED MOON CAT 

HELPER CAT IS HELPING 

Roadie Cat Performing Sound Check

Pet Peeve Alert
10:51pm

I should probably warn you that this post is not only a pet peeve alert but a geeky pet peeve alert and here it is:

That thing, that tilting line in a web address? That thing between the quotes right here: "/". That this is a slash or more specifically a forward slash. It is NOT a backslash. That looks like this: "\". So the web site http://imdb.com/title/tt0389790/ when spoken would be "http colon slash slash imdb dot com slash title slash tt0389790 slash."

It's funny because for years I never heard anyone make that mistake but recently I've heard it a bunch of times. I was shocked when Beyonce was doing a commercial for her music and she said "backslash" when she meant "slash" as demonstrated by the URL that was printed on the TV screen. I also heard one of the anchors on the Today show do it recently too. The thing is that this isn't something that changed recently. It's always been this way. Just call it a slash. That's it. Easy peasy.

Random Thoughts
5:48pm

I recently got hooked on Diet Sunkist orange soda. It tastes just like un-diet orange soda! It's delicious! And what's better yet, it has no caffeine. I started drinking it instead of other caffeinated sodas. But then I actually looked at the ingredients and it DOES have caffeine! WTF? I mean, why ADD caffeine to a drink like orange soda? There is no reason for it. I don't get it and I'm pissed! Now I'm addicted to a fricken caffeinated soda! Granted, it has half the caffeine of Red Bull but it has more than iced tea. I guess I'm gonna have to just go with the iced tea even though I don't care for it nearly as much as soda.

For perhaps the last time in my college career I got a 4.0 this semester. Yay for me!

A bunch of shows are ending for the summer. This means I'll have more time to do other things right? Well, no. Stupid TV has to go screw up the seasons. Rescue Me starts this month and Big Love starts in June and I think Weeds starts in August. And yes, I am addicted to So You Think You Can Dance, which starts this week. So I guess the TiVo will continue to get a workout.

How To Make a Buck The Most Despicable Way Possible
9:44pm

This is extremely disturbing.

Revenge of the Sequels
1:52pm

Hollywood's never been known to stop flogging a dead horse. It's almost as if original ideas are frowned upon in Tinsel Town and this summer is no different. I counted at least 15 sequels (or not even sequels but just remakes) coming out between May and August. They include (in order of release date):

Spiderman 3
Shrek the 3rd (saw it. not so good.)
Pirates of the Caribbean
28 Weeks Later
Hostel:Part 2
Ocean's 13
Fantastic 4
Evan Almighty
Live Free or Die Hard
Harry Potter
Bourne Ultimatum
Daddy Day Camp
Rush Hour 3
Mr. Bean's Holiday
Halloween

Now, I'm not saying all these movies are going to be bad. I plan to see Ocean's 13 (it looks better than Ocean's 12, which I boycotted), Bourne Ultimatum, Pirates, Harry Potter and maybe Evan Almighty (just because I think Steve Carrell is sooo damn funny) but really, Daddy Day Camp? Who greenlit that? And do we really need another Halloween movie?

On the other hand, I hear the very original Waitress is supposed to be excellent and has a tragic real life story behind it. The writer/director Adrienne Shelly died before the movie could open. If you go see the movie, she plays one of the waitresses. Other than that, I haven't heard any positive buzz on anything else coming out this summer.

Unusual New Mexico News
10:45pm

I have 2 stories for you. The first one has to do with a young tagger who thought it would be a good idea to spray paint inside an electrical substation on Wednesday in Santa Fe that was surrounded by a concrete wall and razor wire. Well, the spray paint carried an electrical charge, burning the young man on over 80 percent of his body. Check out his pants that he somehow managed to strip off before calling 911. He was airlifted to a burns center in Phoenix where he passed away today.

The other is about a young male bear that walked into a gastroenterology lab belonging to the Presbyterian Hospital in Rio Rancho without an appointment. He basically hid in a bathroom until he was tranquilized and released about 40 miles away in the Manzano Mountains.

Kitty Jail
7:35pm

Our little kitten Bodhi likes to sleep in places where he feels safe. When he first got here, that meant sleeping behind books in a bookcase. He also likes to make tents out of our bedding and watch the world from inside his sanctuary. Lately, he has been enjoying sleeping under a papasan ottoman, which he is getting too big to do. Now he has to curve his body around the frame in order to fit. Nick has taken to calling his latest sleeping place the "kitty jail." Regardless of what you call it, that kitten is cute as hell all curled up!

What Is The Point Of This?
2:31pm

Finals ended last Friday and professors are supposed to have all grades in to the registrar a maximum of 48 hours after the final. This means I should have my grades by now but I don't. Which is typical actually. But I just got this email from the registrar and it states:

"For your information Spring 2007 GPA (Grade Point Average)information will be calculated into your Cumulative GPA officially on the evening of May 23. If you believe your GPA is incorrect after this date, you may contact the Registrar's Office for more information."

OK, so EVERYTHING is done by computer so it's not like someone is calculating these GPAs by hand so why is it taking 12 days after the last final for the University to release our GPAs? It's not from laziness which just leaves stupidity as far as I can tell.

It Finally Happened
10:51pm

I had to pay over $3/gal of gas for the first time! Wahhhhh! I've been priding myself on the fact that I've not paid $3 or more per gallon up to this point but there was no avoiding it tonight. I paid the big $3.07/gal.

What are you paying these days?

Here's Some News
7:00pm

One of Nick's nephews (he has more than 25 nieces and nephews) will be hosting TRL tomorrow on MTV. He won a nationwide contest and was flown to NY with a friend. He'll be interviewing Mike Meyers, Fergie, and some other chick I've never heard of live from Times Square. Pretty cool, huh? Oh, he is known as Randy by the family, but he is listed as Randall on the MTV website.

Hello, It's Me
8:37pm

I've thought about us for a long, long time.

I'm one of those bloggers that when in my car, away from my computer, I always think of things to blog about. Then, when my iBook is in my lap, I have nothing to say. However, I thought I better check in here so everyone knows I'm not dead...yet.

It Was Time
9:25pm

So, I haven't really cut my hair in a while. Mostly due to laziness, time constrictions or lack of funds but really the first reason is the most salient. For some bizarre reason that I really can't explain I decided I needed to get it cut...I mean REALLY cut. So here is the before...

Yeah, it was long. It looks like I have Cousin It on my head. If I stretched it out when wet, it went down to the small of my back. And here it is now...

It's just a tad different. And here is what was cut off, which will be donated to Locks of Love...

It feels great! It feels light and soft. I love it! How it looks, well, I'm still getting used to it but I do like it. It just doesn't look like me.

So now I figure I'm good for another 5 years when I'll consider getting it cut again.

Catch Up
10:21pm

I finished my take-home final yesterday around 1:30pm and found myself bored by 6pm. Surely I had something that was due today, if not this week. It's gonna take me a while to realize that I can take things easy. Granted, I need to do a lot of writing this summer but nothing needs to be done right now. I'm teaching a class in July and I hope to learn a little more Spanish in June.

I'm not sure why but the Psych department has been DRAMA central lately. I honestly don't remember it being this bad since I got there. Just to set the rumor mill straight: no one has registered a formal complaint against a professor, no one got drunk and emailed the first year class, no officers involved in the elections from 2 weeks ago "fixed" them, and the person you who think registered the formal complaint did not sleep with who you think she did. There. I think that covers it

I'm trying to figure out a way to make a little extra money this summer. As I am an ordained minister, I'm advertising my services as a wedding/commitment ceremony officiant on craigslist and on another site. Since there are no Justices of the Peace in NM, there is often a need for a non-denominational and legal way to get married and that's where I hope to come in. I've done a couple of ceremonies in the past and they have been fun. One couple from last summer were getting married here because it was easier than them getting marriend in England, where they lived. I was a little nervous with that one because if I screwed up the paperwork, they would not be able to get the proper documents to 1) get out of the country and 2) for the bride to become a British citizen when she got back there, which she needed to do to be able to accept a job offer. However, I never heard from them again after the ceremony so I assume all went well!

So, that's about it from here. Hope you all are doing well.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

Pirates Beware
11:09pm

The RIAA have asked UNM for the names of 16 students who have been pirating music from the internet. All the RIAA has is IP addresses so they are asking the university to track down the students and then forward them a letter from the RIAA. Apparently, UNM has spent hundreds of hours trying to track them down but hasn't been terribly effective.

So, if you have been going on campus to rip off music, you might want to start going to your local library instead.

Almost There
8:38pm

Tomorrow is my last class for my third year of graduate school. Hard to believe it's been three years. Honestly, it feels like longer. Tomorrow I also initiate my comprehensive exams. I then (in theory) will have 6 months to finish my exams which are misnamed. In truth, my "exams" are a 50 page paper that (again, in theory) I can get published. I calculate I have 2 more years of classes then I get to go on an internship and be underpaid for another year. Whoppee! The fun never stops.

Blog Name: The Soap Box
Email: jenben[at]g-r-c.com
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