Arion's blog

No, this picture was not doctored. This is a real exit off of I-75 in Detroit, Michigan.

<beavis-and-butthead-mode>
  "Uhhh.. heh heh. BIG BEAVER. heh heh heh."
  "Yeah yeah, EXIT 69.. yeah..."
  "That was cool..."
</beavis-and-butthead-mode>

I spent the last couple of days in Detroit. What a lovely place. Here's a picture that sums up my experience in Motor City:

Snow, Cars, Traffic; repeat.

I'm always amazed that I still come across new geek license plates, even though I've lived in the Northern Virginia area for a few years now. You'd think I'd have seen them all by now.

MLN FCLN
NET SPLT
TPS RPTS

Check out the list for all of 'em.

My friend Dave sent me a link to a web site titled the Insanity Test. Check it out for a laugh. Oh, I guess you won't get that pun until after you visit the site.

In any case, I admit it, I did laugh within about 2 seconds of visiting the site so I guess I'm insane. Oh well.

Yes. This is the governor of California. Anyone else scared? Not me, I don't live there. However, California's GDP rivals that of many countries, so I hope he doesn't screw up.

Oh, for more hilarious Japanese commercials staring American celebrities, make sure to check out Japander.

I was actually in Times Square in New York City on New Years Eve. Honest! Here's a picture for proof!

If you want to know how I ended up there, well my company got a frantic call from one of our clients and I had to be there to help them in the morning.

"Why didn't you stay for the ball-drop?!" my friend Brian asked after I spoke with him later in the day. Well, when I was in the city I thought about it for a few seconds, but I really didn't feel like it. First, I wasn't prepared -- it gets damn cold when you are just standing around and I wasn't dressed for it. Second, being stuck in the city at 3:00am or so didn't sound very pleasant. Finally, I was staying with my friend John at his house in NJ and he was already planning a party. I'll take a nice quiet party with good friends any day over standing around a bunch of rowdy strangers freezing my ass off.

On Christmas day, my Mom gave me a card with a very touching poem by E.E. Cummings. I thought I'd share it...

As if you didn't know by looking at my music collection, I'm a big 80's rock fan. Today I solved one of the great mysteries of the hair-metal era! Ok, there's this Def Leppard song called "Rocket." In the chorus the band says something that sounds completely unintelligible.

"Rocket... yeah.. Saeellliieetttooollooooooaaaa."

What the !@#$ are they saying?! When the song came up in my random playlist today, I just had to find out what the hell they were talking about. So, the power of the Internet to the rescue. A few lyrics-searching sites later I had the answer!

"Rocket... yeah... Satellite of love."

w00t! I can rest easy tonight.

Here's another one of my favorite pictures from my recent trip to Japan. It was taken in Akihabara, the electronics district in Tokyo. So, my question is, how the hell does this guy get into and out of his little tiny shop?!?

I've added a couple of new Geek Plates to the list:

NJINEER
WARP COR
PRL HCKR

Check out the list for all of 'em.