Dear LiveJournal,

[JaoSming]

This was in Springfield, MA
http://www.weather.com/outlook/videos/r ... d-ma-20822
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video ... o.cnn.html

Same town as the Basketball Hall of Fame for those that didn't know that, and a short drive away from my parents house, everyone I know is OK though.

Do we have any members here who live there?

[rise]

I was born near there 18 years ago. Before that my parents were living really close to there for like ten years. They'd never seen/heard of a tornado in that area. Pretty crazy, but the whole US is having strange weather this year. It's been 100+ degrees F (about 38C) for three straight days here. 100's not unheard of here in May and June, but the whole forecast shows nothing but 95+ and NO RAIN.
Also, I saw the northwest is getting snow. In June. That's where I want to be.

[Axel The Great]

Damn, that's crazy. Weird weather patterns going on this year, too bad everything remains the same here in Houston (see: my location).

Dear LiveJournal,

I got a 1570 (out of 2400 possible) on the SAT I was bitching about a few weeks ago. That's just a tad above average, not willing to settle for that. I'm planning on taking it again this fall to better prepare myself and aim for at least a 1700.

[George7]

Well in greece as well the weather has gone a little nuts. Ok, not those tornadoes or the predicted snow like in the usa but we're having something like 39 C and with the sky as clear as possible and in one hour there are storms and heavy rain for half and hour! Became a daily pattern last week ruining many plans I had.

[JaoSming]

Big Problem

TFB will be shutting down in 12 minutes. Good run

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wdpSFQTulo#t=1m14s

[Patr1ck]

Didn't see that coming. Is it the whole entity or whatever shutting down?

[JaoSming]

no idea, i havent found any other information other than their twitter
https://twitter.com/#!/teamflightbros

hopefully they got hacked....but it wouldnt be the end of the world if they disappeared. Their YouTube videos have gone downhill in quantity and quality IMO.

[[Q]]

just a random question for you aussies out there... what are the norms in Australia for tipping people, particularly at hotels?

we've had a lot of Australians come through in the past couple of weeks and although they were all pretty nice, none of them tipped me. i'm the valet, and maybe they tipped the bellmen that bring their luggage to their room, but i have no idea.

[Andrew]

Tipping isn't customary in Australia, it exists but it's not expected and not really part of the culture here at all. I'd give them the benefit of the doubt and say they weren't trying to stiff you, they're just not used to tipping.

That's still not right though, you've got to be aware of the different customs when you travel; when in Rome, as they say. I made sure I read up on the etiquette and tipped as expected when I've been in Canada and the US for past NBA Live community events.

[Patr1ck]

Andrew, remember how much more US dollars were than Australian dollars back then? Did you break your bank?

I'm not surprised they didn't tip, Q. You need to hold your hands behind your back like your waiting for something. Or blatantly clear your throat really loud.

[JaoSming]

I've spent more time at my parents house in the past 2 weeks than at my house.....seriously, I just want to go home.

Last week(end?) we were here to help our friend with planning her wedding and this weekend we did the photography for it. 4,392 photos taken and over 2 hours of video. Fuckin' exhausted and sore from running around, crouching for extended periods of time, and I got a huge blister from my dress shoes.

Ah well, nice and beautiful, time to go home today and edit photos from her and our wedding until my eyes bleed.

[[Q]]

yeah andrew i do know what you mean by aussies not "being used to" tipping. i grew up in a hardcore asian household so i was never exposed to tipping until i started going out on my own when i was older.

next time, i'll probably leave the aussies to my coworkers

[Andrew]

Andrew, remember how much more US dollars were than Australian dollars back then? Did you break your bank?

Not that I can recall. I did get screwed both ways though, when I made the exchange before I went over the Aussie dollar was lower so I was paying more for less, including the exchange fee. Then when I got back and exchanged what I had left over for Aussie dollars, the Aussie dollar was higher so it was more for less again, plus another exchange fee. I wasn't out of pocket or anything but luck wasn't really smiling on me on those transactions.

yeah andrew i do know what you mean by aussies not "being used to" tipping. i grew up in a hardcore asian household so i was never exposed to tipping until i started going out on my own when i was older.

next time, i'll probably leave the aussies to my coworkers

Might be the way to go. Hopefully we're not all like that though, as I said I made sure to read up on customs and etiquette like that before my brief trips to Canada and the US, I'm sure most Aussies do the same when they travel. If nothing else, we should be aware of it through pop culture anyway.

[deihatein]

My mom seems to have a tantrum and keeps going on my room whenever:

I have my speakers on.
I don't sleep early
I am always on my laptop

She always keep on saying on how I don't study when my grades are usually high. I think I have a reason to be always on a computer/laptop since most of the lectures/assignment are posted on an online site. I just don't get my mom at all.

[rise]

Welcome to my world.

[[Q]]

My mom seems to have a tantrum and keeps going on my room whenever:

I have my speakers on.
I don't sleep early
I am always on my laptop

She always keep on saying on how I don't study when my grades are usually high. I think I have a reason to be always on a computer/laptop since most of the lectures/assignment are posted on an online site. I just don't get my mom at all.

just make sure your "alone time" is 1) with your headphones on and 2) during the day so she doesn't walk in on you. but then again, with your headphones on, you can't really hear if someone is coming, so you might be out of luck in that department.

[benji]

I just don't get my mom at all.

I did last night.

Three times.

[Andrew]

My mom seems to have a tantrum and keeps going on my room whenever:

I have my speakers on.
I don't sleep early
I am always on my laptop

She always keep on saying on how I don't study when my grades are usually high. I think I have a reason to be always on a computer/laptop since most of the lectures/assignment are posted on an online site. I just don't get my mom at all.

Parents can be difficult like that, especially during that awkward phase where you're legally an adult but you're still living under their roof so they're not quite used to the idea that you're not in high school anymore and want to assert your independence and need a little space. I'm guessing you're at that stage right now; talk to your mother about it if you can to try and smooth things over and come to an understanding. Worst case scenario, hopefully in time she'll come to grips with the fact that you're not a little kid she can order around and that you own your time so it's up to you on how you spend it, manage your affairs and when to go to bed of an evening. Hope it works out for you.

[Patr1ck]

Bitch slap her control freak ass.

[JaoSming]

So I first heard about Minecraft from this post and I've loved the damn game since. The video in that post was one of the most popular Minecraft videos on YouTube with this British fellow (jx23) playing it for the first time. Eventually he got good at it, created some cool stuff in his Lets Play videos and I guess made a name for himself. He even had merchandise you could buy with his name and for better or worse his catch phrase "Whadda Beast" caught on in my group of friends.

He started using cheats which garnered a lot of backlash from his viewers so he ceremoniously blew up his world with TNT and promised to start a new world. He never met the same success as he started world after world, blaming corrupt saves, unhappy with the terrain, excuse after excuse for not continuing a game. For some reason the guy was still fun to watch. Continuing with this mess he started playing on servers with other people, still failing to make something last for more than a few episodes.

One of these times he decided to get a bit righteous and talk about how simple and fun Minecraft is, how consistency is key, and how the music is wonderful, or some shit. Sure enough, 5 episodes later he started another new project. This time I decided to finally post a comment on his video saying "....aaaan unsubbed. Sorry man, but until you can stick with an idea for more than a few videos, I'm done with you." Nothing too drastic, but evidently I wasn't the only one thinking it, because that comment got over 70 thumb ups.

Over the past few months I randomly checked in on his channel, saw that he had a series running 12 episodes or whatnot and decided to subscribe again....but it wouldn't let me, turns out the guy blocked me for the above comment. So fuck him, no sub for you, there are plenty of other people doing interesting Lets Play's for Minecraft, like this straight from radio voiced Kurt travelling legitimately to the Farlands.

Today I wanted to watched that old Minecraft #1 video JX23 had on his channel, the one linked to above. Turns out, he has deleted his channel, his twitter, and his facebook. He got caught showing his dick to 16 year old girls online and now a "cucumber" picture (like the SFW porn images) is all over twitter. Kinda interesting since a month or so ago he was bragging about how some webcam porn girls were wearing JX23 panties....I guess even if you get webcam sluts to wear your name on their panties, you can't change what someone likes.

[Andrew]

Received this private message from a returning banned member:

Andrew ,i create anew account for you on anothe computer ,i luv you! email me, my email is xxxandrewbeg@yahoo.com. i think you penis is . mmm

Flattering of course, but I think I'll decline.

[shadowgrin]

He said your penis is the size of a thumb...and Jao feeling guilty for ruining a man's life...

[benji]

You don't even know it's male, it might be a 16 year old aspiring singer who just got married.

Or based on every e-mail interaction with university age females, one of those.

[shadowgrin]

A FEMALE IN THE FORUMS AND ANDREW BANNED HER? So what if it makes Axel uncomfortable, let the females in!

[Andrew]

Jon actually beat me to it. In any case, she wouldn't be the first female member we've banned.