Chicago, pt.1

for all 2 of you that actually read my blog because you like my blog, it will temporarily be a photo blog, i hope you enjoy it. sorry it took so long to upload the photos, been kinda busy... but if you appreciate good photography i hope it will be worth the wait. for the rest of you who don't really read my blog, just look at the pretty pictures, maybe click around & comment. although, if you are in that category, you probably didn't just read that sentence... anyway, this is of day 1 of Chicago, spring 2011, easter weekend. as you can see, the water was incredibly choppy and because of all the wind, a lot of mist was spraying and it made everything really cold really quick. besides the obvious fact of it being half-spring half-winter in the northern US, of course. chicago is a really nice city once it warms up.

so i'm thinking 3 pictures per post.. with my stock it should tie me over for awhile. is this too long or would you like more than this at once? i have some much better photos coming (obviously) just kind of my first day test run. tell me what you think in the comments.

photos coming tomorrow! But, something useful ahead...

have you ever seen those electronic traffic signs? ever wondered how they make them say the things they do? ever wanted to change one? if you answered any one of the 3 "yes", today is your lucky day. this is really random, yes but i needed filler until i get my 4.5 gigabytes of photos uploaded to my computer, filter the bad ones and post about them! i was there for 3 days, so expect 3 days of posting photos! until then, enjoy this:

CHICAGO MANE

this post is going to be a bit short, because i am on a short vacation in chicago. But, once i get back i'll update on all the swag i got + photos, and possible new videos. so to tie you over until sunday evening, check out my youtube videos, maybe even subscribe..!

but one thing that would be cool for you guys is to recommend something awesome to do while i'm here.

tell me what you think in the comments!

The challenges of a japanese student

Even though I really can't find that much particularly difficult about japanese, one way or another it tends to suck a lot of my day away from me. Especially the kanji. It's like a bittersweet learning process, being a westerner and all. one alphabet, no cool characters that people laugh at if you can actually read it. I have seen quite a few people with mis-written kanji on their bodies forever, but can never have the heart to tell them "i actually know japanese, you got that completely wrong". Even if you do read some things with out a japanese native there to verify, most people will say you make it all up anyways, but honestly, who really cares... But of course, nobody wants to hear about school while clearly slacking off on blogger, but I'm certified addicted to this blogging nonsense and I need to give you guys something to comment on everyday so hopefully you will come back everyday and click all of my posts and things I have to offer (if any) on my blog to keep our well oiled blogosphere economy running! so if you got this far into reading this, I applaud you.

***************If TL;DR -
Japanese is hard, so is kanji, I laugh at people with wrong japanese tattoos, stickers, etc., my blog is boring, comment NAO.

Peace, till next time. Most likely tomorrow. I'll get some cool stuff up soon I promise. Any requests? I can do pretty much anything.

Ana Somnia

if you have a webcam and a light, i would highly recommend playing this game (not really a game) but more of an art project, especially if you like crazy visuals. i included a couple of screen caps for people who dont wanna visit, what do you think of these?

http://www.anasomnia.com/

http://www.anasomnia.com/

http://www.anasomnia.com/

tell me in the comments if you have any crazy visualizers or crazy/creepy (LIMBO style, if you haven't seen it check it out) like these!

OVER 100 FOLLOWERS!

thank you all so much for giving me over 100 :]

only 8897 more people to follow me until..

ITS OVER 9000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
as a part of this, to show my appreciation, i will be doing a few requests (not really "requests" but stuff suggested) i got recently + a funny video to end

POKEMON DUBSTEP

POKEMON DUBSTEP

HARRY POTTER DUBSTEP + SLYTHERIN GIRL POLE DANCE

HARRY POTTER DUBSTEP + SLYTHERIN GIRL POLE DANCE

EPIC SKATE VID

EPIC SKATE VID

TROLL PICKIN' UP GIRLS

TROLL PICKIN' UP GIRLS

supa good hip-hop

Wiz Khalifa

oppinions on this guy? i think he's kind of a boss.

TGOD

NYPD arrests an innocent man

normally dont double post but this was just too crazy not to comment on, if you have the extra 5 minutes watch this video. as the info states, he was charged with harassment, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. this whole thing just seems very unnecessary, but tell me what you think in the comments.

How to Annoy People~

-Leave the copy machine set to reduce 200%, extra dark, 17 inch paper, 99 copies.

-In the memo field of all your checks, write "for sexual favors."

-Specify that your drive-through order is "TO-GO."

-If you have a glass eye, tap on it occasionally with your pen while talking to others.

-Stomp on little plastic ketchup packets.

-Insist on keeping your car windshield wipers running in all weather conditions "to keep them tuned up."

-Reply to everything someone says with "that's what you think."

-Practice making fax and modem noises.

-Highlight irrelevant information in scientific papers and "cc" them to your boss.

-Make beeping noises when a large person backs up.

-Finish all your sentences with the words "in accordance with prophesy."

-Signal that a conversation is over by clamping your hands over your ears and grimacing.

-Disassemble your pen and "accidentally" flip the ink cartridge across the room.

-Holler random numbers while someone is counting.

-Adjust the tint on your TV so that all the people are green, and insist to others that you "like it that way."

-Staple pages in the middle of the page.

-Publicly investigate just how slowly you can make a croaking noise.

-Honk and wave to strangers.

-Decline to be seated at a restaurant, and simply eat their complimentary mints at the cash register.

-TYPE IN UPPERCASE.

-type only in lowercase.

-dont use any punctuation either

-Buy a large quantity of orange traffic cones and reroute whole streets.

-Repeat the following conversation a dozen times.

"DO YOU HEAR THAT?"

"What?"

"Never mind, it's gone now."

-As much as possible, skip rather than walk.

-Try playing the William Tell Overture by tapping on the bottom of your chin. When nearly done, announce "No, wait, I messed it up," and repeat.

-Ask people what gender they are.

-While making presentations, occasionally bob your head like a parakeet.

-Sit in your front yard pointing a hair dryer at passing cars to see if they slow down.

-Sing along at the opera.

-Go to a poetry recital and ask why each poem doesn't rhyme.

-Ask your co-workers mysterious questions and then scribble their answers in a notebook. ------Mutter something about "psychological profiles."

WHY I HATE PENNIES, pt. 2

The fact that pennies even exist has been proven impractical, in multiple studies, and even in law. In 2007, a New York City man persuaded a state senator to draft a bill requiring pennies to be accepted everywhere and at all times, the bill was not passed. While federal law states that coins are legal tender, it does not compel anyone to accept them. If a business doesn't want to take pennies it has a legal right to refuse them, which is only more of a reason that they can be referred to as “useless”. In 2008, 5.4 billion pennies were produced. That's more than twice the number of quarters minted and five times as many dimes. The penny accounts for roughly half of all coins minted within a year. About 1,000 pennies are made per second. The average price for zinc has shot up from 35 cents a pound in 2002 to 63 cents a pound in 2005, and still rising. According to http://www.metalprices.com, the November 16, 2010 London Metal Exchange, which is the world's largest market in contracts on base and other metals, price for zinc per pound is $1.0251. February 28, 2008, Rep. Zack Space stated that, "Given the current cost to make a penny and volume of pennies minted, simply reducing penny production costs to face value, the United States will save more than $500,000,000 in the next ten years alone". Approximately 10 million shiny new pennies are punched out every day by government workers, who could be more useful doing anything else. They cost more in employee hours than it would cost to toss them out. There were 2,354,000,000 pennies minted in 2009, and going by this number, $1,577,180,000 were wasted last year alone, calculated by the excess cost of a penny, 0.67¢ multiplied by how many pennies were minted in 2009.

If pennies were eliminated, stores would have to round prices to the nearest nickel. A study conducted by Robert M. Whaples, an economics professor of Wake Forest University has analyzed 200,000 transactions from 20 locations of a gas station and convenience store chain across seven states (Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia), and he concluded that consumers would not actually suffer. Purchases at gas stations and convenience stores are just as likely to come to $7.02 as $6.98, so the rounding up and rounding down would cancel themselves out. On average, shoppers would lose nothing, averaging about 1/40th of a cent per transaction. "It's time to eliminate the penny," said Whaples, who estimates that the United States loses roughly $900 million a year on penny production and handling.

Money was created to have a common medium to facilitate the exchange of goods and services, and as shown, pennies do not serve that function. The obvious solution to make a penny less expensive is to change the composition of the coin, integrating cheaper metals or perhaps even plastics, which some European countries have done with their currency. In 1943, at the peak of World War II, the US Mint coined pennies in steel, in response to wartime demand for copper for ammunition, so as proven in history, pennies can be made with cheaper materials but for an unknown reason the government will not change the metal composition. I propose that a cease production of all United States pennies begins immediately, and for all current public circulating pennies to be returned to a United States mint or other refinery and refunded for its metal content value as oppose to its face value until our government can find either a cheaper metal to make pennies with, or to cease production permanently of the clearly useless coin.

Many highly creditable sources, including Harvard professors and nationwide associations, shows that eliminating the penny would not pose a great cost to an average American when purchasing anything, would be immensely more convenient and would save billions of dollars a year to put toward more efficiencies that our country is currently working toward, but cant because of lack of funding. In addition, the United States’ economic situation is in a very poor state right now, and by losing up to $1.5 billion to perpetuate the production of a money piece that can easily be done without, we do not have the time, nor the funds, to keep things the way they are. This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed; the penny needs to be stopped to create a better future for our entire country.

my photography

this is of 2 girls i met during my trip to University of Michigan a few weeks ago. It was a pretty random find to see these girls being so open about their artwork, but i guess it worked out for my i got some great shots, here are some of the best:

also shoot some video for a local skate company, heres one of my featured skaters (also linked to my youtube channel! maybe subscribe if you like it? :D )

tell me what you think?

comment

follow

always welcome

always follow back.... etc ;)

not my photography...

i just really love this picture.

WHY I HATE PENNIES, pt. 1

Pennies should no longer exist. For every citizen in the United States, with the exception of the company that is the primary provider of the zinc used for the pennies, called Jardon Zinc Products, Pennies are incredibly expensive and problematic. Cost more than they are worth, inconvenient as a useful monetary value, and useless for anything practical today.
The cost of a penny is largely dictated by the materials used to make it. Pennies contain 97.5% zinc, with 2.5% copper to give them their distinctive coppery color. Prices of these metals have risen recently in response to inflation, an increase in prices due to more money getting circulated in the economy, and increasing regulation of mining, which has made the cost of metals extraction much higher. As of May 2010, it costs about 1.67¢ to mint a penny, making the face value of a 1¢ penny less than its actual manufacturing value. In addition to the penny, the nickel also has a physical value, which is higher than its face value. Nickels cost around 7.7¢ US to make, which is about 64.9% more than its face value. Other currency, such as dimes and quarters, costs much less to make. The face value of a quarter may be 25¢ US, but it only costs 10¢ US to make one.
It is unlikely that the cost of production will ever fall below one cent, and with more pennies being made each year, and like other government agencies such as the United States Postal Service, the Mint is expected to be financially accountable for their specific tasks, and the business practice of distributing something with a value less than its manufacturing cost is obviously jeopardizing their financial accountability. If creating a penny is costing more than what it is worth, we are technically throwing away money, and the resources to make the penny.
Pennies are extremely inconvenient because they are not accepted in most places that we generally use coins, like vending machines or toll booths, and pennies are generally not accepted in bulk. There are even machines that stretch pennies out for souvenirs. People often do not use cents to pay at all, they are much more likely to simply use larger denominations and get pennies in return. The National Association of Convenience Stores and the Walgreens drugstore chain surveyed transactions throughout multiple stores, and have estimated that handling pennies adds 2 to 2.5 seconds per cash transaction. Assume that the average citizen makes one such transaction every day, and in turn, wastes 730 seconds a year. In 1948, the average wage in America was about $1.20 an hour, or about $2,900, which means if a penny took less than 30 seconds to pick up, save, and continue about your day, it was much worth saving. The average worker today earns just over $36,000 a year, or about 0.5 cents per second, so by this basis, if you find a penny on the ground, it is literally not even worth your time. When accounting for the entire US economy that fits into this category, That's going to add up to about $300 million per year for lost time alone.
The "give a penny, take a penny" trays, dishes of pennies which you can take for free if you want them, or dump off your extra pennies into, at convenience stores and elsewhere reflect the fact that most people realize nowadays, the penny has fallen so much in value, that it is mostly a waste of time to worry about. It's free "money" which nobody bothers to take because it has no value. The trays save the seller time, and the buyer the inconvenience of having them. "When people start leaving a monetary unit at the cash register for the next customer, that unit is too small to be useful," argued Harvard economics professor Gregory Mankiw in a 2006 Wall Street Journal article

Will continue with part 2 later!