Peter’s Blog V2

Adding to the list of subway signs that should trigger an alarm: when a dozen people pour out of one door as you attempt to board at a non-attraction station.

We have all learned by experience to avoid empty subway cars, half-empty cars, and dark ones.  But when I boarded this afternoon finding myself among a number of brave passengers who refused to evacuate, they were all covering their noses with scarves, sweaters, and jackets.  My NYC survival instincts were slow as I was distracted trying to locate a seat, but at least I realized in time that I’d be better off not sitting down. At first the subway car was filled with an aroma of some sort of feast featuring lots of onions; then the aroma turned into something more like a post-feast person having either thrown up all over the floor or taken a dump in his pants.  Since nothing was immediately visible on the floor, I assumed the latter.

I joined the other passengers to make a funny face while controlling my breathing to a minimum, thanking myself for planning to get off at the very next stop and MTA for not having another “we’re being delayed because of train traffic ahead of us” moment.

Two of the hottest current headlines: people oppose the use of public or private insurance funds to kill embryo cells, yet get upset that doctors may no longer recommend an ineffective and potentially harmful procedure for women.

Although the majority of our society isn’t about making sense, people should realize that our tax dollars are already used in tens of thousands of ways that we may not approve.  Don’t like to kill?  Too bad, we’re already paying for missle launchers abroad and don’t have any say in it.  Abortion in perspective is really not a big deal.  America won’t be a very honest land of the free if our people keep sticking their noses in their neighbors’ pregnancies.

The mammogram issue is funny in a whole different way.  All the testimonials go something like, “I had it, I think it worked, so it must work for everybody and I’m pissed off that doc might no longer recommend it.”

Eco-terrorists value the lives of animals or plants more so than they do their own kind: ALF blows up animal laboratories and meat packaging plants; Sea Shepherd Conservation Society attacks fishermen and their boats; others burn down houses, injure hunters and loggers, etc.  The FBI considers eco-terrorism the #1 domestic terror threat.  They might have a noble cause, but the extra mile they go to glorify their “righteous” beliefs is the main distinction between them and the normal people.

Imagine a Hollywood situation where you are at the end of the world among the only dozen survivors on Earth.  On top of that, all food sources vanished, except rabbits who magically reproduced everywhere.  Now, what could possibly make the situation worse, than if half of the survivors were animal rights extremists?

Yeah, they vow to destroy you if you dare touching the rabbits.  You can choose to die starving or be killed by your fellow critter-loving humans.  That’s totally messed up.  Isn’t it?

I present to you… Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots and the prime example of somebody with a noble cause and freakishly too much passion for it.  Protecting humans is a great thing to do, but going as far as sacrificing himself and slaughtering his own kind puts him right up on the list with the Whale Wars people.

Let’s see.  The Transformers are a dying species and the Decepticons are working hard to ensure their survival.  However, since the early 80’s, the Autobots had plotted to destroy their every attempt at collecting food = energon cubes.  I thought the Autobots need energon to survive, too, but for whatever reason they enjoyed throwing the entire last colony of Transformers into a lose-lose situation.

Sure, the Decepticons might have to stomp on a few hundred people or blow up a volcano or sun during the process.  But should Transformers really care?  For the prosperity of human kind we also slaughter other animals and cut down trees, so there’s hardly any difference.  Unless you’re one of those who enjoy pouring blood on rich women’s fur coats or support the killing of abortion doctors, please join me and say -

Optimus Prime is messed up!

I went to see Toy Story 1 & 2 tonight, back-to-back, alone.  This was the only movie I ever went to the theater by myself for, besides the Passion of the Christ (yeah… kind of in a different category).

For the longest time, I wondered how it’d feel to pay $16 to watch two movies that I already knew by heart.  It was totally worth it.  Aside from the new 3D rendering, the higher video definition made visible differences from my DVD copy and I saw a lot of details for the first time.  In addition, Disney/Pixar made a bunch of fun clips to fill the 10-minute intermission, so there was something new.

The crowd was also great.  Given their age range (most of them not younger than myself), I’d think of them as veteran Toy Story enthusiasts.  However, everyone still enjoyed the movies thoroughly, cracking up at those 14-year-old jokes that they probably saw coming.  I think Toy Story is the greatest cartoon ever created, and it was nice to see these other fans.

Little Roach is not a small roach.  Measuring in at 1.8 and rounding up to 2.0 inches, Lil’ R always makes mommy proud.  Today, his buddies invited him to restaurant-hop for some delicious Japanese, Malaysian, and Argentine leftovers.  Unfortunately, he took one exit too early in NYC’s underground express and ended up in a dinky fitness club.  Hey, even the mightiest of them all could still sometimes mistaken the smell of human sweat for rotten delicatessen.

Though lost, Lil’ R remained content.  There was something about this place that could calm a cockroach.  The dark rubbery floor helped him blend in even in fluorescent light, and its soft touch allowed his silent footsteps to be even more quiet.  He felt like a super ninja, moving swiftly in disguise.  He trekked with confidence from one side of the room to the other; and he trekked back.  Being an invisible ninja was awesome, and it’d be so much better if only he knew where he was going.

Lil’ R continued trekking across the room.  However, little did he know that there were lurking dangers about in this dinky room full of heavy metal parts and giant warm-blooded monsters.  Also little did he know, that the monsters had already noticed his “stealth” moves.

The first to react was Rice Boi #1.  Though facing up on a bench, his natural senses from the Continent of All-Martial-Arts-Including-Ninjitsu had realized Lil’ R being in his close proximity.  He stared at this amature ninja through those prescription lenses, and continued staring as he finished that set of bicep curls.  Entirely disgusted, as soon as he put down those dumbells, Rice Boi #1 headed directly out the door and vanished from the room.

Also equipped with sharp senses and prescription lenses, Rice Boi #2 might have been the first of the giant monsters to notice Lil’ R’s presence.  Not wanting to disturb each other’s peace, he planned his moves wisely to maintain a minimum distance of 3-5 feet from Lil’ R.  But not everyone stayed out of the little ninja’s way - Big Amigo saw him on his way to switch barbell plates, frowned for a second and kicked like he would to his national sport of football.  Big Amigo’s big tennis shoe smashed into Lil’ R and sent him flying - after the last bounce on the dark rubbery floor almost landing within the 3-foot radius from Rice Boi #2.  Lil’ R’s hard-shell defence kept him unharmed, but this sudden move nearly sent Rice Boi #2 over the edge of freaking out.  God knew whether he could have exploded into a Super Saiyan then stomp Lil’ R flat and rip Big Amigo apart.  Thank goodness - all was good and no animal was harmed in the process.

“Fuck this,” Lil’ R thought, “I can’t find my way out of here.  I’ll just ascend to ground level and break into those restaurants through the front door.“  Wow.  The ground level.  It was a treacherous world out there - two or three of his brothers were found dead on that sidewalk every morning.  But as someone determined to lead his community into Roach Global Domination, Lil’ R had no fear.  Once with his mind set, he started climbing… but while the black rubbery surface was easy, the while dry wall starting at a few inches from the floor was extremely difficult to grip onto.  He went up and down, up and down, up and down…

Stumbling left and right by the 35lb barbells and 90lb dumbells, he was at risk of instantly turning into roach flakes if any of those shifted or fell.  He climbed over the heavy-bag stand and trekked underneath the yoga ball, too busy fighting the tough terrain to realize another giant monster in the vicinity.  White Haired White Guy turned his head while doing leg shuffles on a gym mat, and blew as hard as his powerful lung would allow.  Lil’ R held on tight… his mom didn’t give him six legs for no reason.  When the time was right, he fled from White Haired White Guy.

The second ascending attempt was onto the leg curl machine.  Unlike the average rusty pipes in the city, this metal rod with a glossy finish was impossible to climb.  He fell - much worse than before - onto his back.  Big time screw up!  Like a turtle being flipped over, Lil’ R waved for help with all six legs in the air.  He kicked, twisted hip, and attempted to flap those wings.  Eventually, he flipped back over on his feet, but it sure was the struggle of a lifetime.  Exhausted and mentally defeated, Lil’ R laid down under the weight plates at the shoulder press machine.  He was no longer thinking about the restaurant hop or the Roach Global Domination.  He just wanted to go home and have a good night of sleep.  Well, maybe this place will do…

Just as he was about to put down those antennas and close his eyes, Negro Dude sat down at the shoulder press…

What the hell, I’ve written more stories about roaches than about any other animal in this past year.

Somebody in my neighborhood is really against large sheets of glass:

After work today, I went with a bunch of coworkers to see Yankees play the Blue Jays.  This was the first baseball game, also the first sporting event since graduating from Tech, that I have been to.  Well, I figured that as I start my fifth year being a New Yorker, this was sort of a necessary experience.

Prior to this, all my knowledge surrounding baseball came from the Mitsuru Adachi comic books, and all I knew about the Yankees was that the entire island of Taiwan raves about Chien-Ming Wang.  As a result, I didn’t know any of the terms in English and couldn’t name any of the top stars.  Then I learned some tonight.

The new Yankees Stadium:

The game:

The remaining gang after 10pm:

So the Yankees got their ass kicked 10-4, so I declared myself a Blue Jays fan and celebrated the victory.

It’s a well known fact that actuaries are dull people, so the term “actuarial drama” is nearly as much an oxymoron as “business ethics”.  Well, guess what?  We’ve got one.

Bruce Schobel, arguably one of the most well-known and respected senior actuaries in the circle, had recently been removed as the president-elect from the American Academy of Actuaries, as a result of a felony he commited 30 years ago.

Bruce was a past president of the Society of Actuaries, and had highly engaged himself in public policy, professional promotion, and education reform for this profession.  At the same time, he’s constantly on online forums to provide information to actuaries and to help students study for exams.  To the junior exam takers and those without powerful top connections, he was somebody who really cared.  As the president of the SOA, he had signed and delivered over 1,000 FSA certificates, including mine: 

Now, it’s a shocker to hear about his ugly history, and it’s reasonable for a profession to expect high integrity in its members and leaders… but for a mistake taken place 30 years ago, are we really gonna lose one of the best individuals out there?  How much should a wrongdoing haunt down its doer long after the laws might have expunged it?

All I know is that somebody with a criminal record can still become the president or congressman of the United States.

I wanna see this!

Trailer on YouTube