Volunteer

Volunteered today at this event. Overall it was ok, mingled a bit, still working on my communication skills, got home a bit late, around 9-ish. Heard that economy's slowing down a bit so this company isn't doing any hiring at the moment but still doing ok.

Won some cool stuff, got an umbrella + toque. Cool stuff. Learned something interesting, if the projector is on keylock mode, you just hold the green button (power on) for 10 sec or so, that will remove the key lock and then you can turn the projector off with the red button. Neat stuff :D

And I got the chance to talk to Ms. El. Interestingly, met her 2 times this sem now, had a class with her last sem. Maybe I'll give my contact the next time that Ms. Serendipity is on my side. Good luck with your interviews!

First indoor climbing experience

So I went here http://www.verticalreality.ca/courses.htm as part of a school group. It was pretty good overall, $12 for 2 hrs + $2 for shoes. Didn't get to climb that much, at least I finished climbing the first few easy ones, overall, climbed about 4-5 walls, not too bad I think. Got some sore fingers and a knee scratched in the end but it was cool. It's reeeeaaalllly hard to get a grip on those things.

I just decided to look for some climbing tips and found these:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqFXB3wmZlA
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqFXB3wmZlA
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqgeBpWE-8k
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFQPCJTh51A
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuqIJWGA0hA
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bbz8Ne_RoY
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUJKOZ8bA9M
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVarAU2tWqQ
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAWBbrOhZeQ
• http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Tips+for+Indoor+Rock&search_type
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGigb4PPd-k
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wk9rUEw6Qk&feature=related
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7hrePm3OUs
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vz51stE8R4

TODO:

• stretch the fingers and arms prior to climbing
• Need more finger/forearm power
• rely on my legs more
• stick my stomach to the wall
• do traversing (side-ways) climb

Hopefully I'll improve the next time!

Terry Fox Run 2008

Going here today http://www.sfu.ca/terryfox/, under the pouring rain :D

The run was great, didn't stop a single bit and took me about 35-40 min give and take a few min. awesome!

Beautiful Script

This is one beautiful code http://snipplr.com/view/5084/downloader-y-conversor-de-videos-de-youtube/

`cut` works like str.split(), -d is delimiter, -f is field number

#!/bin/bash

if [ $# -lt 1 ]; then
echo "Uso: $0 "
exit 1
fi

ID=`echo $1 | cut -d= -f2 | cut -d\& -f1`
FILE="youtube-${ID}"
BASE_URL="http://youtube.com/get_video.php"

wget -O /tmp/${FILE} $1

if [ $? == 0 ]; then
T_PARAM=`grep '&t=' /tmp/${FILE} | head -n 1 | awk -F'&t=' '{print $2}' | cut -d\& -f 1`
VIDEO_URL="${BASE_URL}?video_id=${ID}&t=${T_PARAM}"
wget -O ${FILE}.flv $VIDEO_URL

if [ $? != 0 ]; then
rm -f ${FILE}.flv
exit 1
else
echo "Formato (avi , mpg o wmv): "
read formato
ffmpeg -i ${FILE}.flv ${FILE}.$formato
fi
fi

rm -f /tmp/${FILE}

The Pleiades

Went to a genomics conference and heard about http://pleiades.org/
they work on MiniPromoters that targets specific gene expression for gene therapy. They seem to be successful, claiming to have cured 12+ patients with Batten Disease by implanting genetically modified cells into a specific area in the patient's brain.

I was curious to know what the story behind "Pleiades" and good ol' Wikipedia comes to the rescue :D

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades_(mythology)

One of the most memorable myths involving the Pleiades is the story of how these sisters literally became stars, their catasterism. According to some versions of the tale, all seven sisters committed suicide because they were so saddened by either the fate of their father, Atlas, or the loss of their siblings, the Hyades. In turn Zeus, the ruler of the Greek gods, immortalized the sisters by placing them in the sky. There these seven stars formed the constellation known thereafter as the Pleiades.

Grabbed the image off Wikipedia :D

More action, less thinking ...

I always seem to have a problem putting my thoughts into action hmmm... for example, saw this lady carrying a big bag of chips, walked right in front of me, I was carrying nothing, just walking to check the status of the pizza for this event ...

I should a, would a ...

who knows, she could have been the one ...

Fly to Heaven

Wouldn't it be nice if you can fly your way to heaven?

Aigoo

Most good things come to an end, I'm pretty sad to see the aigoo site going down ...

You and I will meet again,
When we're least expecting it,
One day in some far off place,
I will recognize your face,
I won't say goodbye my friend,
For you and I will meet again.
~Anonymous Author

But then again, another one springs back up :D

Rowing

So I tried rowing today at the gym, I went for 10K m, managed to complete it in under 49 min, which is not bad I guess for a first try, since the times one on this list is around 33-48 min, and that's without stopping, cooool.

Only bad thing is that my butt aches like crazy that it makes walking and sitting .... unpleasant :(

Grouse Grind

We did the Grouse Grind today. Took about 1hr 40min, we were pretty out of shape but heck, we finished it! Yey!

Maybe I'll give it a try again next week and try to do it under 1hr? Yeah right!

They also have ziplining (one word, people hanging on wires) but I heard it's not as fast as the ones in Whistler :(

Vancouver Aquarium

Lots of fishy in this place. Too bad we spent too much time watching the otters take a bath that we missed the good seats over at the Dolphin show :(
Oh, I forgot to mention that there's also diff sorts of life there, like sea horses (alsmost missed this one, no pic :(), nemos (didn't see this one), frogs, snakes, perverted turtles, butterflies, monkeys, tarantulas, sea lion, beluga (& new born), crocs.

Origami & Sadako Sasaki

I shall write peace upon your wings, your heart and you shall fly around the world so that children will no longer have to die this way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadako_Sasaki

Found out about her from the Origami Club. Touching story. Worth the read.

The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)

"A discovery made by a kung fu obsessed American teen sends him on an adventure to China, where he joins up with a band of martial arts warriors in order to free the imprisoned Monkey King." IMDB

Jet Li & Jackie Chan

Looking forward to watching it!

forbiddenkingdommovie.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0865556/