Month: April 2007

  • A Public Service Announcement

    And now a Public Service Announcement
    from the Jimbo Advisory Board 

    Li’l Timmy was walking home
    from school one day while humming his favorite song. Meanwhile, his
    older brother Tommy was driving home from college at Faraway University.
    All was going well along the highways, but as he got closer to his parent’s
    home, he realized that he had forgotten the way. He called up his folks
    on his handy-dandy cell phone. Now, Tommy’s parents did not purchase
    a tracking device for their son’s car, and thus did not know his exact
    position. They asked him where about he was. He helpfully told them
    that he saw a gas station and a one-way sign. The parents quickly realized
    that they required slightly more detail than that, and placed in the
    request. After a pause, he said that he also saw a McDonalds. The parents
    thusly slapped their foreheads in frustration and decided to disown
    their son Tommy (and Timmy, just to be safe). 

    Remember: when asked for location,
    be sure to offer more distinguishing landmarks than a “gas station”
    or “McDonalds.”

  • tracert musicalPreference

    As some of you may have realized, my musical tastes are rather limited to classic rock and 80s music. For a while, I wondered why a guy being born in '87 could possibly like all of these classics. Well, I think I have finally traced the source. I blame... Alvin & The Chipmunks.

    If any of you grew up with these guys, you may well remember some of the music they played. There was a lot of classic rock and 80s music in their play list. They sang songs from The Beatles, the Beach Boys, Michael Jackson, Blondie, B-52s, etc. These songs were drilled into my head throughout my childhood, and I place all of the blame squarely on them. I remember watching the TV show pretty darn often (I may have even had a thing for the Chipettes, but I was too young to realize it). I never did get to see the movie though. I may need to reconnect with my childhood and see it. If I can ever find it. I'm not getting my hopes up.

  • Some Thoughts...

    Nine

    • Man cannot live on tube socks alone.
    • Don’t you hate it when you’re sitting on the toilet so
      long that your legs start to get numb?
    • Microsoft Outlook needs to allow for custom skins. My
      computer at work could do with a little pizzazz.
    • Hey there officer. Nice badge, nice badge.
    • J is the only letter that does not appear on the
      periodic table of elements. This is why I propose Hydrogen be renamed
      Jimbonium. Scientists… make it happen.
    • Unless you are in an environment that forbids it, I
      highly recommend that you breathe regularly.
    • Remember: It’s impossible to ban all restrictions.
      There will always be that one restriction that restricts all other
      restrictions.
    • Just once, I would like to see the phrase
      “highly-successful executive career as a hobo” on someone’s résumé.
    • I’m blind Carl… not stupid.
    • Somebody recently said to me that they think they have
      carpal-tunnel syndrome. All I could think of after that was a fish flopping
      around in a subway.
    • The weather is getting nicer, and my truckers’ tan is
      improving as a result.
    • I see the world as a very troubled and very funny
      place; often at the same time.
    • When I’m driving, I hate people who drive too slowly. I
      also hate people who drive too fast. I recently realized that I hate a lot of
      people.
    • I broke a nail, and my hair is ruined. Can you believe it? This thing cost me fifty dollars! BANG!
    • Out of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, which one
      do you think is picked on most by the other three? Probably Famine.
    • Shouldn't you be... I dunno... robbing a bank or something?
    • Ahh... the 80s. The decade when the men had more hair than the women.


  • Promiscuous Fiddler Crabs & Mudskippers



    I was watching a documentary in my Biology class about mangrove swamps and other estuaries the other day. Like most documentaries, it was a yawn-fest, but it got interesting when it began describing the lifestyles of various animals. It was kind of neat seeing a soldier crab build a full body igloo out of mud in a few seconds. I would post a YouTube video of it, but I'm far too lazy to look for one right now. It got even more fun when describing some of the animals' mating rituals. The mudskipper's was especially entertaining. They would build these short fences around their turf and defend it harshly ("Howdee, neighbor." "Get off ma' land!"). When they're picking up chicks, they would hop straight up into the air and send the message widely known in the animal kingdom as "Hey! Look at me!" As soon as a lady mudskipper enters his territory, the guy breaks out into a wild, seizure-like boogie, very similar to the courting human male in the "dance club" environment. If the female accepts, they proceed to rut like two young newlyweds on their honeymoon night. Fiddler crabs, on the other hand, are all about the one-night stand. When a lady crab wanders by, the smooth gent waves his big claw in a flirtatious manner. If the lady is smitten by his behavior, she will enter the guy's "love nest" and... y'know... shag. It's all rather fascinating. Though, I must admit, it is far from a turn-on.

  • Simpsons Anime?

    Who thinks that a Simpsons anime would be nifty? Lisa's hair looks really neat in this picture, but Smither's face and position is a little... awkward. Same with Marge's hair. It just doesn't seem natural. Flanders turned out perfect, though.

  • The Meeting

    Last night at work, I had the first of what is
    called a “quarterly meeting.” These meetings are special because they happen
    every quarter, are mandatory, and have quotation marks around their names. It
    was a potluck, so we were all required, under pain of death, to bring some food
    for everyone to share. I had brought a salad (which had spawned one of my
    previous posts). I thought it would have been the lamest entry of the lot, as
    it required very little time and preparation. To set the stage, let me tell you
    that I work almost entirely with women. I know that may sound like the plot to
    some sitcom or harem-comedy anime, but it really is not that exciting. When I
    brought my salad, I was amazed to find that it was one of the few entries that
    were made from scratch. Sorry for being sexist, but I just assumed all women were good cooks, similar to the way all men are good at activating loud bodily functions on cue. I thought it was a born instinct. I suppose I was mistaken,
    and I apologize. After the meal, the actually meeting took place. This mostly
    took the form of PowerPoint handouts and some positive reinforcement. Let’s
    just say that I am an ardent Dilbert reader, and I am finding the strips to be
    less and less funny as they are coming truer to life.

  • SimCity DS

    I don't know if I ever brought it up before, but I am really looking forward to this game. SimCity 3000 was my favorite SimCity game, and this one seems like it will be a spiritual successor. I am looking forward to its rumored release in June of this year.

  • Cooking with Jimbo 2

    Hello friends, and welcome to a second installment of
    Cooking With Jimbo. Last time, we went over the easy procedure for baking an
    absolutely dee-lish German Chocolate Cake. Today, we will go a little easier on
    you and teach you how to prepare a large, fresh Garden Salad. Now this may
    sound easy, but don’t let your previous assumptions fool you. Let us begin.

    Step 1: Buy Ingredients
    This should generally be your first step in almost any
    cooking endeavor. If you were here for our first installment, let me tell you
    now that there is no such thing as an “instant salad mix.” Sure, you have those
    bags that come with a complete salad inside, but frankly they taste terrible
    and should be avoided like a herd of diseased bison. Now, some things you might
    want to pick up include: lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, red
    onions, and dressing. Here are some important steps to take when purchasing
    these things that make you look like a knowledgeable individual. First, you
    must remember to squeeze everything, including the dressing bottle. This is
    generally a test of freshness. I don’t exactly know what the criteria are, but
    you must never purchase the first of anything you pick up. You should squeeze
    it, frown knowingly, and then put it back. Afterwards, you are free to pick up
    whichever one you like. When purchasing the dressing, and you plan on using this
    salad to feed others, it is critical that you buy common dressings that actual
    humans are known to consume. A good benchmark is how many words it contains.
    You should generally aim for shorter names, such as Ranch or Italian. Long
    names tend to taste like sewer water, and should be avoided. The question of
    croutons may arise. Since I am probably the only person in the universe who
    actually eats croutons, I would recommend purchasing a bag and then having it
    express mailed to me so that I can eat them and you don’t waste your money.

    Step 2: Prepare the lettuce
    The lettuce is the most important part of the salad, so it
    is important to make it look good. The first step to take is to whack it, as
    hard as you can, against a sturdy countertop. I have yet to see the value of
    this, but it sure is fun. Once is enough. Afterwards, you should rinse your
    head of lettuce. This does not really accomplish anything but make the lettuce
    wet, but you have to do it or you will die. Next, you will want to peel off the
    layer you just washed, because it came into contact with the outside world and
    must be eliminated. The last part is to tear off leaves of lettuce into
    manageable bits and put them into a large bowl.

    Step 3: Prepare other ingredients
    This step primarily involves use of a knife, so if you are
    not comfortable using one, then I do not recommend you prepare a salad. You may
    want to prepare something easier, such as a pudding cup. Right, let us begin
    with the cucumber. You should rinse it, just as you did with the lettuce, and
    then cut it into slices about the thickness of a Sacagawea dollar coin (not
    lengthwise; the other way). Next, you will want to take a potato peeler and
    peel off the outer skin of the carrots. Do not let the name "potato peeler" confuse you. It is really multi-functional. It would be preferable to others in the
    house if you did this over the garbage disposal, but it does not matter to me.
    After it is freshly shaven, you slice it in much the same way as you did the
    cucumber. As for the onion, you should be creative, because I am too lazy to
    list the steps necessary for that mess.

    Step 4: Mix ingredients
    Now, just add all of the rest of the ingredients (sans the dressing) into your large bowl. For this next bit, you will want to take
    a set of metric salad tongs, and “mix” the salad until the parts or somewhat
    evenly distributed. This is to ward off any potentially picky eaters that may
    only want certain parts of the salad. Now, just cover it with some high-grade
    saran wrap, and you are ready for the final step.

    Step 5: Relax after that hard work with a good movie
    Might I recommend The Naked Gun 2 ½?

  • Lucky Star: Episode 1

    So, I finally got to watch the first episode of the much-hyped
    anime Lucky Star. It was produced by
    the famous KyoAni, so I was expecting good things. I was expecting a fun anime
    with lots of different characters that fans can latch on to lamprey-like and
    obsess over like a deranged serial killer. Ultimately, Lucky Star delivered. As I watched it, I could not help but connect
    it to another famous anime called Azumanga
    Daioh
    . It is very similar in style and story structure (in the sense that
    it has neither). It seems like it will be a series of disjointed episodes that
    will lead all the way up to an exciting climax that involves absolutely
    nothing.

    I kind of liked the art style. It had a very childish
    quality that fit the anime’s theme (whatever the heck it is). It seemed like
    the backgrounds were done in crayon most of the time. The characters were also
    highly dependant on their cute-i-tude. They were all absolutely adorable. I’m
    sure that after more people see this episode, there will be a huge throng of
    Miyuki fans (myself among them).

    Do I recommend watching this anime? Perhaps. If you
    liked Azumanga Daioh, then you should
    definitely watch it. If you have not seen it, and are not sure, then just give
    it a shot. Also, I have not yet seen any mechs, so if you like mech anime, you
    might want to look somewhere else.

  • Now With 90% Less Leeches

    Well, my college was having a blood drive, and out of the goodness of my heart (and emptiness of my stomach), I decided to give some blood. Those snicker-doodles were looking especially tasty. I began the process with a quick questionnaire. It asked me a multitude of rational questions that were solely for the purpose of the blood-test, such as whether I was a prostitute or if I had ever been in prison for longer than three days (I'm serious). Over half of the questions had to do with a certain word which I will not utter here (it rhymes with "mucking"). After answering all of these questions, the doctor ultimately told me that I was ineligible to donate blood. Sadly, it was not for a fun reason like gratuitous drug use or getting a coiled snake tattoo. It was because I had lived in Europe for more than 6 months. That was it. I was rejected by the system. It seems that my blood was too good for them. Well, fine then. I didn't want to give them any of my stupid blood anyway! They appeared to be rather medieval in their blood collecting anyway. They had others sitting down with one of their arms over a bucket, while a highly trained doctor (she was wearing a stethoscope, so you know she was highly trained) stood over and sliced at their arms with a scalpel. They told me, though, that they were deeply sorry that they could not take my blood, and allowed me to take a cookie anyway. That snicker-doodle tasted like victory.