A Good Nerd Joke

This joke was told to me at a meeting by Allen Mincer:

Two physicists are discussing the ignorance of 'everyday people' at a restaurant. One says that people aren't that stupid, while the other is convinced that most people don't know basic math. They make a bet that the waitress won't even be able to do the simple integral of x^2. They put $10 down.

The negative physicist goes to the washroom before the waitress can come by. The positive physicist sneaks over to the waitress, and says "My friend is going to ask you a question. Whatever he says just say 'x-cubed over three' " and the waitress protests, and he insists "just say x-cubed over three".

Soon, the 2nd physicist comes back, and the waitress brings over the bill. The negative physicist says "Ma'am, I was wondering if you could tell me what the integral of x^2 is?". She hastily slams the bill on the table and angrily says "x-cubed over three!". The negative physicist is surprised and hands over the ten-spot.

As the waitress walks away she says under her breath "...plus a constant!".

A Million Words 2007

As with last year, the World Press Photo winners has been published. Once again, the images are breathtaking. You definitely need to see the rest of the winners.

Subatomic Films on the Scene: Taco Bell/KFC

Closed For Business
Originally uploaded by subatomicfilms.

By popular request, Subatomic Films went to the scene of the Taco Bell/KFC rat infestation.

As most people know, The Subatomic Films office does enjoy a good burrito or taco from Taco Bell once in a while. In fact, we've visited this establishment once or twice, it being really close to our office.

Needless to say, we supported them through the E. Coli problem, and I know that this is an isolated incident, but it's going to take me a while to get over this one.

If you haven't seen the photos or video, you should. It's NAS-T!

The good thing is that the store is close to the Brooklyn Bound D-Train, which we used to get home even quicker than usual.

Subatomic Films on the Scene: NYU

IMG_7131.JPG
Originally uploaded by subatomicfilms.

Yesterday was the big "Find the Illegal Immigrant" game put on by the NYU Republican Club. This whole thing got so much international press that at times it seemed that there were more media than actual republicans or protesters.

It's probably obvious where I stand on the subject, so it was nice to see that a handful of people actually signed up to play the game, whilst there were hundreds protesting the whole thing.

The issue of illegal immigration is a serious multi-faceted one that we, here at Subatomic Films have strong opinions about. I'll get off the soap box and hope to live in a world without borders one day soon.

Kicking it up a Notch!

A recent study dates the use of hot peppers in seasoning and cooking of foods shows that people have been using it for 6,000 years!

I found it really interesting to note that peppers originated in the Americas, and made their way to the rest of the world via the explorers.

Kung Pao without the POW!? Curry Chicken without the burn? Fajitas without the Fire? Never!

Unfortunately, it'll probably take another 6,000 years before spices are introduced to Eastern European cuisine.

Reshoots & Re-Energized

Snow & Rails
Originally uploaded by subatomicfilms.

One of my classmates decided that she needed a days worth of pickups and reshoots for her movie to work. I decided to help out (since I was the original sound person).

Waking up at 5am, and braving the cold outdoors for 6 hours brought back a lot of memories. All of the waiting, stress, and physical exhaustion came too.

After the shoot (which went a couple of hours late, naturally), we went over to a restaurant in K-Town for some drinks and food, which was delicious.

During the post-production phase (which I'm in now), I sometimes get bored and frustrated with reworking the same material over and over and over. However, yesterday reminded me of just how much I enjoy making movies and how much I want to continue doing just that.

A HERNIA RAN IN?

I found this great site that turns your input into an anagram. The word game, not the indie-rock band outta Toronto.

Anagrams are my fun way of flexing the vocab muscles.

If you can unsolve this and the headline, you should get a job: A BELLE NETTING WHIZ

Drawing Lines in the Ground

The Times had a good article on the proposal that came out for the ILC (The International Linear Collider), and the billions of dollars needed for it.

The ILC looks to be an impressive machine that will be about 40km long. I have no clue how many football fields (the new standard unit of America) that is.

The problem with these huge collaborations is the amount of money needed for such experiments. The small amount of cash for Particle Physics in most countries looks to be already set aside for the LHC groups.

As for the location, history has dictated that Europe and the USA go back and forth for the location of the next big machine. I reckon it's Asia's (more specifically, Japan's) turn to host the machine.

Subatomic Films on the Scene

The House
Originally uploaded by subatomicfilms.

This morning, tragedy struck the Bay Ridge community. There was a big fire that killed two young girls, and destroyed their home. All of this a couple of blocks from where we call home.

As Jerry Springer would say, "Take care of yourself and each other".

Students Complaining. *Yawn*

Back in my undergrad days at York University in Toronto, I went to a few student protests. We'd go to the corner of University Ave and College St and shout "In a couple of years, this will be the only University or College that we'll be able to afford!". Then we'd all sit down in the middle of the street and block traffic. BADASS!

Outrageous tuition costs! Almost Four Thousand dollars a year!!

Well some things never change, as there was a massive student protest today in Canada, and I couldn't help but chuckle at the level of naivety of my former comrades.

Each year at NYU will run you about $40,000. That's pretty steep. I've got to be honest, I don't think I've ever heard anyone complain about it. People just pay it, because that's the price.

"Already, our engineering fees are about $6,500 a year, not counting books, which add another $1,200 to $1,300. One engineering text book costs $120 alone."

Nevermind that when/if this poor sap graduates he'll be ballin'.

Get back to class.

Get a Room!

Just what we need, more nude bodies on the internet.

Get Your T-Shirts!

The Big Game is hours away. The Times has a wonderful article on what happens to the losing team's merchandise whilst the winning team gets champagne sprayed over bright white t-shirts and caps.

As it turns out, the merch is sent over to poorer countries where they are distributed. However, it seems that MLB just destroys them, which is a tragedy.

I've got my piece of dubious merchandise: a baseball from the 1994 World Series.

I am the Snowball King!

It took months of embarrassment and months of trying, but I finally finished the game "Snowball Fight" game on my cell-phone.

The game, although not too hard to get a hang of, is quite long. You pretty much gotta take on other "gangs" of people (or snowmen and bears) and pummel them with snowballs.

After the last stage, this sign comes up that says "Congratulations you are the Snowball King!".

It made me feel good. However, it becomes kind of disappointing that nothing really happens after that.
Either way, stay clear of me during the next winter storm as I've been honing my skills.

Hop on, there's plenty of Room!

I'm not going to lie and say that I'm a big football fan. In fact, the only football game I've ever been to was a Toronto Argonauts game many years ago. I just never really cared for the sport.

However, I must admit that I've actually been following the playoffs this year and I am coming close to understanding how people can get devote their weekends to it.

I'm hear to pledge my allegiance to the Chicago Bears. It will be great for the city, and especially for my brethren down on 18th St Pilsen.