Pictures of Oulu, Finland.

Here are some pictures I took of Oulu, Finland.

This is a lake near my friend's (Raine's) apartment, where I stayed.












Here's Raine hard at work in the living room.


These are pictures of a concert we went to at the best bar in Oulu, 45 Special. The band is called Viikate (Scythe, in English).

















May 1st is Vappu, a national holiday in Finland. The college students have a hazing ritual for the first year students that culminates on the day before Vappu with a "baptism" in one of the rivers in downtown Oulu. After having lunch downtown, we went to the park to check out the festivities.

Here's my friend A.J. trying to look suave.


Here's Raine giving the horns of satan.


Here's Pertti doing the same.


The divers didn't show up yet, so the "baptisms" took place in a pool filled with river water instead of the river itself. The scaffolding had a collapsible platform for the students to sit on. It was then released, sending the person into the pool of frigid water.













The divers finally show up and they are now setting up the slide for the real "baptisms."















I was told this says, "the police are your friends!"


After the festivities, we met up with some of Raine and Pertti's friends and went to a bar and played cards.

From left to right are Pia, Kari's girlfriend (I forgot her name, sorry), and Kimmo.


From left to right are Kari, Raine, Pertti, and A.J.


Here's my friend Eero.







This is Raine's good friend, Jyrki (I think that's how you spell it).

Good Stuff.

Here's a funny commercial I saw on MTV in Finland.

Cat Pictures.

Here's Skunk sitting on my keyboard cover.

Here's Skunk lounging in her window hammock.



Here's Skunk lying on the grass we grow for her to eat so that she doesn't chew on the house plants.

James Herbert Martin

It took me a while to post this, but I'm glad I finally did. About a month ago James Herbert Martin passed away here in Tuscaloosa. Becky knew him better than I did. He was the Tai Chi teacher at Yoga Bliss Studio. I had only met him twice, but he was a very nice guy and I'm happy to have known him. The following are scans of the flyers handed out at his funeral.

Leprechauns and Whistle Tips.

"It looks like someone got a really good look at it and got that good drawing of it."


I love this video. Especially when Bubb Rubb peels out of the repair shop, almost hits a parked car, and blows through a stop sign.

Stephen Colbert on Captain America's Death.

Never Buy Anything From Dreamlandcomics.com

On 2/8/07 I placed an order from dreamlandcomics.com for some bags, boards, and two t-shirts. A month later I still never received my items. My order was listed as "In Process" for the entire time. I tried contacting their email address three times, but they never responded. I called them and asked for a refund and was told that I would get it. Days later, I didn't get it. Finally, I filed complaints with both the Better Business Bureau and PayPal. In both cases, emails would initially be sent to the seller requesting action. They refunded my money the day I filed the complaints.

I suppose they do check their email, but just chose to ignore me. If you are interested in seeing dreamlandcomics.com's business record, here's a link to their Better Business Bureau page. Notice that they have an "unsatisfactory record."

Also, their reviews on eBay are bad too. They are no longer a registered user, but their amount of positive feedback when they cancelled their account was 98.2% (actually pretty bad for eBay). Here's a list of all their negative and neutral reviews. Notice how rude the seller is to the customers in the comments.

My favorite negative/neutral feedback was from eBay user plan.9. This person was obviously a loyal customer until they screwed him/her over. Here's plan.9's negative comments and dreamlandcomics.com's responses.

Negative feedback rating
Paid 9/5, nothing by 10/30. Claims item shipped; USPS tracking # says otherwise.

Buyer plan.9( 1318Feedback score is 1000 to 4,999)
Oct-30-05 13:26 6558348061

Reply by dreamlandcomics.com: order was lost in mail how is this OUR fault????
Oct-30-05 13:49

Follow-up by plan.9: USPS tracking # shows they NEVER GOT the order from you. YOU blew it, not USPS.
Oct-30-05 14:10

Negative feedback rating
Please take my testimonial off your website. Terrible customer experience.

Buyer plan.9( 1318Feedback score is 1000 to 4,999)
Oct-30-05 13:26 6558349699

Reply by dreamlandcomics.com: uncalled for we shipped you order twice now
Oct-30-05 13:49

Follow-up by plan.9: Bulls#!t. Supply tracking numbers, b/c ones I have show you never shipped.
Oct-30-05 14:11

Negative feedback rating
Once my favorite seller; spent hundreds of $ here. Tried calls/eMails: no item.

Buyer plan.9( 1318Feedback score is 1000 to 4,999)
Oct-30-05 13:26 6558346930

Reply by dreamlandcomics.com: uncalled for feedback refunded and shipped order twice
Oct-30-05 13:50

Follow-up by plan.9: Entirely called for feedback. You guys blew it repeatedly.
Oct-30-05 14:12

Negative feedback rating
Paid 9/5. Called/eMailed, got assurances. 10/30: still no item. Never again. F-

Buyer plan.9( 1318Feedback score is 1000 to 4,999)
Oct-30-05 13:26 6558347442

Reply by dreamlandcomics.com: we refunded all your money for this order
Oct-30-05 13:49

Follow-up by plan.9: FINALLY, but only after neg feedback. Why didn't my PayPal complaint work?
Oct-30-05 14:13

Negative feedback rating
Used to be wonderful seller, now I have neither my goods nor my money.

Buyer plan.9( 1318Feedback score is 1000 to 4,999)
Oct-30-05 13:26 6558359637

Reply by dreamlandcomics.com: you have your money and your goods will be shipped once again
Oct-30-05 13:51

Follow-up by plan.9: Appreciate the refund; it's about time. You don't owe me any goods.
Oct-30-05 14:14

Negative feedback rating
No item after nearly 2 months and repeated phone calls/eMails. Fed up!

Buyer plan.9( 1318Feedback score is 1000 to 4,999)
Oct-30-05 13:26 6556676349

Reply by dreamlandcomics.com: we have been responding uncalled for and your monet was refunded in full
Oct-30-05 13:50

Follow-up by plan.9: Responding: yes; acting and fixing the problem: no. Sorry it had to come to this
Oct-30-05 14:15

Negative feedback rating
Repeated eMails/calls have yielded no results on this order. Still no item. F-

Buyer plan.9( 1318Feedback score is 1000 to 4,999)
Oct-30-05 13:26 6556678696

Reply by dreamlandcomics.com: calls and emails had us re-ship this we don't know why you did not receive twice
Oct-30-05 13:52

Follow-up by plan.9: You eMail me to call ME "unprofessional"?!?! Take some personal responsibility.
Oct-30-05 14:17

I love that plan.9 even asked to have their testimonial removed from the dreamlandcomics.com website in October 2005, but it's still on there! They are even lying about their eBay feedback score.

UPDATE!

On December 8, 2007 I received the following email from dreamlandcomics.com. Enjoy.

dreamlandcomics.com has sent you a link to a blog:

Get that shit you wrote about my company off your blog asshole.

Blog: Ninjas and Nachos
Post: Poll Results.
Link: http://ninjasandnachos.blogspot.com/2007/12/poll-results.html

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Free Coffee.

You can get free coffee at Starbucks on March 15 from 10am - 12pm. Here's the link to the promotion.

Ah Ha!

Here's some evidence to back up my previous post about how to use commas. Please keep this in mind people.

I'll Get Around To It.

Free Pancakes.

You can get free pancakes at IHOP from 7a-10a on Feb. 20 (today). Here's the news release.

Andy Dick.

I just saw Employee of the Month with one of the free rentals I got from Blockbuster. It was your run-of-the-mill Hollywood attempt at trying to make a funny movie with a cast of pop icons (like Dane Cook and Jessica Simpson). The funniest part of the movie was Andy Dick's reaction in the clip below. I laughed at this for about 3 minutes straight. You have to keep in mind that Andy Dick is visually impaired in this film.

Free Blockbuster Rentals.

If you are a Netflix subscriber, you can get free rentals at Blockbuster until February 21, 2007. Check out the article.

You Know What I'm Talking About.

Think Of The Children.

This article talks about children's lives in the UK. Out of 21 countries, the UK ranked the lowest. The US was number 20. Why is the US always at the bottom of these kinds of rankings? Here's the list:

1. Netherlands
2. Sweden
3. Denmark
4. Finland
5. Spain
6. Switzerland
7. Norway
8. Italy
9. Republic of Ireland
10. Belgium
11. Germany
12. Canada
13. Greece
14. Poland
15. Czech Republic
16. France
17. Portugal
18. Austria
19. Hungary
20. United States
21. United Kingdom

Cool Picture.

This is the Astronomy Picture of the Day:

More On Global Warming.

This article says that 13% of Americans have NEVER heard of global warming. How is that possible? Are these people completely self-involved?

The news today is that the world's top climate scientists have said that mankind is to blame for global warming.

The scientists said it was "very likely" -- or more than 90 percent probable -- that human activities led by burning fossil fuels explained most of the warming in the past 50 years.

Even if human activities do NOT explain most of of the warming in the past 50 years, I'm sure it hasn't helped. Maybe this declaration will help shake things up in the U.S. and create some change. We can only hope.

Overreaction.

Read this article and look at the pictures.

Done?

Ok, who thinks a Lite Brite picture of a Mooninite is a bomb? Not only were they in Boston, but New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Ore., Austin, Texas, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. Apparently, they were also up for 3 weeks, and no one freaked out! Now 2 people are arrested and the Mayor of Boston is "prepared to take any and all legal action against Turner Broadcasting and its affiliates for any and all expenses incurred during the response to today's incidents." I can understand not getting a permit to advertise and being fined for that, but this is ridiculous. We truly live in a culture of fear.

Saturn and Cassini.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is actually a movie showing what the Cassini space probe saw as it crossed the plane of Saturn's rings. It's pretty cool. Take a look:

@$$h0le5.

This article makes me angry ...and you wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

The article says that the Bush administration pressured scientists to tailor their findings on global warming to the administration's skepticism. Here's the absolute worst part:

Rick Piltz, a former U.S. government scientist who said he resigned in 2005 after pressure to soft-pedal findings on global warming, told the committee in prepared testimony that former White House official Phil Cooney took an active role in casting doubt on the consequences of global climate change.

Cooney, who was a lobbyist for the American Petroleum Institute before becoming chief of staff at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, resigned in 2005 to work for oil giant ExxonMobil.

Documents on global climate change required Cooney's review and approval, Piltz said.

The First 100 Hours.

And so it begins...

Google Does It Again.

I was just browsing Google Maps and I just discovered a new feature dubbed "click to call." Here's a link to the information about it. The intriguing thing about it is that they say, "Google pays for all calls, both local and long-distance."

Things That Annoy Me.

The list of things that annoy me is not a short one, but here are a couple I'm currently thinking about.

Why does everyone say "unconsciously" when they mean "subconsciously?" You can't do much while you are unconscious.

unconscious - not conscious; without awareness, sensation, or cognition

subconscious - existing or operating in the mind beneath or beyond consciousness

Also, there is a difference between "red, white, and blue" and "red, white and blue." The former is a list of three items. The latter is a list of two items.

Come on people!

Stoney Creek.

Here are some pictures of Stoney Creek when my dad and I walked the entire 6 mile path on January 2, 2007.

COGs

A few days ago, Eric and I rented a game for his Xbox 360 called Gears of War. We finished it last night and it was an excellent, highly cinematic game. Unfortunately, it's only available on the 360. It seems like it's a cross between Aliens and Pitch Black. If you ever have a chance to play it, I highly recommend it.