2002-01-11 - 8:46 p.m.
i can't be a judge on iron chef. you know why i can't be a judge on iron chef? because some of the foods are so elaborte that i a) wouldn't want to eat it because it just look so god damned nice, or 2) i wouldn't know how to eat them. i mean, you look at some of the foods and it's like, "what the hell? i'm supposed to shove the WHOLE thing in my mouth?" or i'd be like leaning over to the guy next to me "hey? how do you eat this? am i supposed to eat this part? oh, i guess not..." i dont know, but i'd be really bad at it. and i also can't judge because i wouldn't know what to say. i'd be all like "oh my god... i think i could just sit here in bliss... i dont need any more food," when all the other guys would be saying things like "your elegant use of spices have brought out the best of this dish in that i can taste each individual flavor without it being over bearing." me: "yeah! that's what i meant! no... it's not. excuse me while i orgasm from eating this now." so yeah. i'll never be a judge on iron chef.
and today, as i was walking home, i was thinking about what makes a good diary. i've come to the conclussion that a good diary pretty much tells more than just what happened that day. y'know? when all you do is tell things about your day, it just gets kinda droll. there's no life in it. there isn't as much room for humor and funny annecdotes which is just like humor, only, in annecdote form. y'know what i'm trying to get at? it's like, you have to provide insight into your mind, and tell stuff that you think would make your audience laugh, and then you also have to realize what wouldn't make your audience laugh. or, you could go for the suspenseful type of story telling, but i'm not really into that because it's not as funny. and then you could go for the drama stories. but i dont like those either because they're kinda... like saddish. and i dont like sad, because it's not funny either.
can you tell i like my things funny?
speaking of funny, today in news writing (didn't i just say not to do this?) we had a sub, and i guess she didn't understand the instructions too well, because she let our news writing class watch "whose line is it anyway?" when i think that was only for the oral interp clases. well, anyhow, they were doing a "mission: improbable" skit, and by the end of the skit, i was laughing so hard i was crying. like i literally had to wipe the tears from my eyes. it was just that funny. yeah... i love ryan styles and colin mocherie (sp?) oh, and gregg proops is funny too. a lot funnier than drew carey is. i mean, he's good and all, but, not at the same caliber as those guys.
y'know, i'm a really bad driver. i dont know how to get to places. tonight, i had to drive to tower videos and ala moana, i had planned on going to tower first, but i missed my turn, so i ended up having to go to ala moana first. but, i took the wrong entrance, so i inteded to go around the parking lot, come out, and go up the side ramp... but, when i got there, it said "no left turn" and to make it to the side ramp, i'd have had to make that left turn, so... man, i was stuck. so instead of going to Longs on the 2nd level (spell that backwards) as i had intended, i ended up having to go to sears. damn. and then, as we were going to tower, i had to find street parking, which meant paralell parking, which i hadn't really practiced since i left drivers ed. and that was a long ass time ago. so i had problems paralell parking. luckily i had the civic (spell that backwards too) which turns REALLY well. so yeah. other than that, i'm an okay driver when it comes to long open straight roads. yup.
hmm... oh, and jevon picked me up while i was walking to school memorizing my lines for our test on our monologue. thanks jevon, that was really kick ass of you.
and randi lost a box of girl scout cookies that i bought for her.
but i did pass my two english tests. and teruya wasn't there to listen to my lesson on sleep for leadership. that was good because i wasn't at all prepared. not one bit at all. so unprepared that i left out the test i printed up.
and now i'm doing what i said makes a bad diary so i will stop now.
so i leave you all with my editorial for the paper that hopefully will make it in this month without being chopped up into itty-bitty pieces.
Opinion of the Entry:
It�s 10 P.M. and the H1 is nearly empty. I�m driving eastbound in a 2000 Honda Accord V6 with 200 BHP at my right foot�s command. How fast do you think I�m going? 70 mph? 80 mph? 90 mph?
Try 35 miles per hour.
I was forced to go under the posted minimum speed limit because two cars in front of me, a taxi driver who probably didn�t want to be caught speeding decided to slow down.
Why�d he slow down? Probably because of the states new use of cameras mounted in unmarked vans catching drivers speeding above the posted speed limit.
This is good right? Let�s slow down Hawaii�s roadways and make them a safer place. After all more than 260 people have been killed and 12,500 have been injured in speed related crashes since 1991.
But before we just leave it at that, let�s look at why the state is really doing this.
Spokeswoman of the state Department of Transportation (DOT) Marilyn Kali says: �The objective of this program is not to see how many tickets we can issue. The object is to make our highways safer for everyone.�
Really? I don�t think so. According to State of Hawaii statistics, most fatal accidents occurred on two-lane roadways and in 35 mph zones. Fatal accidents in 55 mph zones ranked fourth by a whopping 15% difference! I don�t see too many two-lane roadways with a 35 mph speed limit on the H1.
What this proves to me is that ACS (Affiliated Computer Services) and the state would rather make money. And a lot of money they would make by monitoring the higher-density roadways such as the states freeways and highways.
The fine of $27 plus $5 for each mph over the speed limit breaks down this way: $27 goes to the state judiciary, $29.25 goes to ACS, and any left over money goes to the DOT. $29.25 goes to ACS. Hmm�
But the wonders don�t end there. The state doesn�t care whether or not someone else was driving your car. The fine becomes the owners fine and goes on their insurance abstract as a moving violation rather than the actual driver of the car. But, worst of all, the owner can do nothing other than: a) rat out the driver of the car, or b) contest their case in court, which is almost more hassle than it is worth. The owner of the vehicle would have to go to court to argue their case in front of a judge. While the citation may be revoked, the defendant would have to pay court dues, possibly pay a $25 subpoena request, as well as use a day of vacation or miss a lunch break to appear in court. It�s a lose-lose situation for the owner of the vehicle.
My last point would be that this violates the Sixth Amendment. The accused has no ability to confront an actual witness other than a still photograph nor are they being granted a speedy trial. With the amount of time it takes for notification by mail (�the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy trial�) as well as being granted only a photo as a witness (�to be confronted with the witnesses against him�), the accused is being denied these two �inalienable rights.�
There is hope. The city of San Diego, California repealed a similar law. A local judge repealed the law after reviewing the facts that the company running the program stood to profit too well. If everyone who gets a citation chooses to contest their ticket, we can clog the system and put political pressure to remove these �scameras.�
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