Neoculture's Rantings

Big announcement

2006-07-30T08:37:45Z

I have been watching a new (for me) show called "Ouran High School Host Club" and... what can I say... I am pleasantly surprised. What could have easily been a one-joke-wonder has me watching episode after episode.

Quick summary:
Ouran High School (and in fact Primary and Middle School as well) is the playground for the children of the obscenely rich. A "commoner" student called Haruhi manages to get a scholarship to the prestigious school but soon finds that a commoner amidst all those rich-kids is like a fish out of water. One day, Haruhi walks into what is supposed to be an empty music room but instead finds the "Host Club" - A bunch of high-school boys who have decided to play "hosts" to the high-school girls and make some money off it. Due to being completely baffled, Haruhi bumps onto a dais and manages to break the vase that was sitting on it - a vase which was meant for auction and was expected to fetch 8 million yens.
Now, Haruhi has to become part of the Host Club and play the Host for the Ouran High School female student body in order to repay the damage bill... there's only one problem. (Guess!)

As I said - it could easily have been a one-joke-wonder, but instead I have watched the first 6 episodes back-to-back and will be going back for more after I post this.

Oh, yeah, before I forget: The Big Announcement.

For those of you who don't already know, I have quit my job a Queensland Police and will be finishing there on the 4th of August. Yes, no longer will I be an Ingres A/P for QPS, but instead will be an Ingres A/P for CA-Ingres! Yummy. ^_^

You know you work in IT when...

2006-06-18T03:34:43Z

It's now been a couple of weeks, and no-one will get hurt by the re-telling of this :) , sooo...

As some of you (may) know, I work as an IT contractor. This involves an evil, Evil thing called night-time on-call... basically, if something goes to shit between 6pm and 6am, you get called in. Staff tend to do this in rotation, as no-one enjoys the duty.

The story begins with LadyD and I going to bed on Tuesday night. I am not on-call, and since the only people who have our mobile numbers know better than to call us after 11pm, the mobiles are downstairs.

About 11:30pm, I almost drift out of slumber under the (obviously) mistaken belief I have heard my mobile go off. This is, of course, impossible so I go back to sleep. LadyD reports a similar experience around that time but with her mobile.

At just before midnight, I something wakes me. First thing I do is check the time (midnight), the next thing I do is nothice that it is BRIGHT DAYLIGHT outside... with regular flashes of red and blue. And someone is bashing loudly on the front door!

Still dazed from sleep, I rummage around for clothes and make may way down to the front door in a half-closed pair of jeans and the first shirt I can get my hands on. The pounding is continuing.. I open the door to stare into a blue wall... OK, chest. I look up and here's a Police officer with a weird look on his face, his partner still in the car at the kerb, lights flashing, both spotties on the house.

The blue wall speaks and asks for confirmation of my identity. By this time, the last 6 months have run past my mind and I'm still trying to figure out what I may have done to warrant (puns intended) a midnight visit by the cops. By this time, half the neighbourhood is peering out of doors and windows to see what is happening.

"Sir," continues the blue smudge, "there has been a severity one problem with Polaris. Do you understand?" Right. Visions of a scene from "The Andromeda Strain" flash briefly through my mind ("Sir, there is a fire. Please come with us now"). "Yes," I reply. "It means we're in deep shit."

Police leaves, I get into my clothes and car and go in to work.

The rest of the story is pretty boring: system had been down since 4:30pm, nobody could figure out what was wrong, the on-call person admitted defeat, they called me in: 30 minutes to get to work, 30 minutes for briefing and problem-solving (wasn't our fault, someone else had bolixed the entire state), 30 minutes to make sure it was fixed, 30 minutes home. Asleep by 2:15am and up again to go to work at 6am.

So what happened? It seems that when work tried to contact me, they couldn't find me on their contact-numbers list (surprise, surprise!), so they looked me up in Queenland Transport's database and tried to call my mobile. I didn't answer. Some smart-alec remembered my wife, second search, another call, still no answer.

So in desperation, they called the dispatch center to send a car out to find me and tell me there was a Severity One. Unfortunately, whoever took the call and Dispatch misunderstand and issued a Code One job. For those of you who don't know what it means, a Code One is short-hand for "whatever it takes to do what you've been asked to do, do it!". Examples of Code Ones are: Armed roberry in progress, hostage situation, officer in danger, etc... No wonder the cops were being loud, thorough and unwilling to let us sleep. :)

So far, none of the neighbours have commented on the midnight visit.

Yeah, right...

2006-06-04T11:37:36Z

Really, I so don't think so...

FACT: You embody the German principle of Konstantzusammenschaft, which is best described in English (without using the obscure English word "sammenschaft") as "eternal togethermanship".

The Loverboy
RandomGentleLoveMaster (RGLMm)

Well-liked. Well-established. You are The Loverboy. Loverboys thrive in committed, steady relationships--as opposed to, say, Playboys, who want sex without too much attachment.

You've had many relationships and nearly all of them have been successful. You're a nice guy, you know the ropes, and even if you can be a little hasty with decisions, most girls think of you as a total catch. Your hastiness comes off as spontaneity most of the time anyhow, making you especially popular in your circle of friends, too.

Your exact opposite:
The Billy Goat

DeliberateBrutalSexDreamer

You know not to make the typical Loverboy mistake of choosing someone who appreciates your good humor and popularity, but who offers nothing in return. You belong with someone outgoing, independent, and creative. Otherwise, you'll get bored. And then instead of surprising her with flowers or a practical joke, you'll surprise her by leaving.

ALWAYS AVOID: The Nymph

CONSIDER: The Window Shopper, The Peach

Link: The 32-Type Dating Test by OkCupid - Free Online Dating.
My profile name: Neoculture23

Last words...

2006-04-12T21:47:20Z

Your Famous Last Words Will Be:

"What we know is not much. What we don't know is enormous."

What Will Your Famous Last Words Be?

Not surprising, really

.hack! Whoot!

2006-04-12T21:35:18Z

.hack! .hack! .hack!

It's 7:30am and I just finished watching the first episode of the new .hack//Root series. Yes, I know I should be on my way to work by now but ...hmmmm.... some more fodder for my .hack//* addiction!

Previous series had a Wavemaster or a Twin Blade as a protagonist. .hack//Root has a Black Multi-Weapon. However, based on what I can gather from the opening and ending credits (and Freddo can tell you I'm good at that), I think a more accurate translation would be Dark Multi-Weapon.

Doesn't matter. Once more I get my fix of Wavemasters and Neko-Shoujo. ^_^

Welcome to "The World"!

More blogs... curious

2006-03-13T13:01:28Z

Your IQ Is 140

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average

Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius

Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius

Your General Knowledge is Genius

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

How the HELL did I score a "below average" on Logical Intelligence? I want a recount!

You Are 50% Weird

Normal enough to know that you're weird...
But too damn weird to do anything about it!

How Weird Are You?

Hmmm...

2006-03-13T12:33:28Z

You Are 60% Abnormal

You are at medium risk for being a psychopath. It is somewhat likely that you have no soul.

You are at high risk for having a borderline personality. It is very likely that you are a chaotic mess.

You are at medium risk for having a narcissistic personality. It is somewhat likely that you are in love with your own reflection.

You are at high risk for having a social phobia. It is very likely that you feel most comfortable in your mom's basement.

You are at medium risk for obsessive compulsive disorder. It is somewhat likely that you are addicted to hand sanitizer.

How Abnormal Are You?

The funny thing is, I did a semester's worth of Psych at U.Q. - not that I believe it made meany better as a person or help me decypher people any better... but it did mean that as a 1st-year student I was expected to be a test subject for 3rd-years.

Hmmm. Assuming the files haven't been cleared, there should be one in the Psych department stating that this subject is a raving axe-wielding homocidal maniac needing only the slightest provocation to set him off.

I'm kinda proud of that.

There's an AM in the morning?

2006-03-10T23:16:26Z

Where's my damn coffeee? Can't work without Java!

well, another weekend and another set of things that need to be done before the party starts

So if there's still 105-odd days 'till the Revel, why are we getting so worked-up now? Well, the pond needs to be finished and trimmed so that people don't trip into it, the plant-beds need to be filled so that it doesn't look like an industrial site, the place neees to be cleaned up (OMG!), etc, etc, etc...

Considering how late we make it home each night during the week, just about everything of substance needs to be done during the weekend. Bummeration.

I've told Police I am not renewing my contract when it ends, so it's back to the meat-market for Neo. Luckily, I have until August to find a new job. Yummy.

Howl's Moving Castle DVD is out on the 15th. Yay! Having read the book in the meantime, the movie now makes more sense to me... I probably shouldn't have watched it while I was half-asleep in the first place. Stupid.

Well, time to finish my coffee and get on with the day.

And remember: playing "got your nose" with the Master's Monster is only funny if the nose stays on.

Giving in.

2006-03-05T03:19:27Z

Fine, well,

I given in to LadyD1776's prodding and actually gotten myself a LiveJournal account. Don't expect a lot of entries on it - I tend to be on the reserved side. However, I have been told it's the perfect way to keep track of who is doing what (and/or to whom) without calling them every 30 seconds.

We'll see.