Off Topic

So, as planned, last time I went to Vegas I actually went to see one of those Vegas shows. I was actually thinking about seeing two: Blue Man Group and Mystère. I only made it to Blue Man Group but that's cool, because I was really intrigued by that one ;)

From France all I knew about BMG was their appearance in the Intel commercials some time ago. I had never really found out what they were really about. Then I've seen some ads for their show every time I went to Vegas and I think in Chicago too...

So I just had to check them out... :P

I did expect something crazy. And it actually exceeded my expectations!

I enjoyed the visual effects they performed live on stage and the loud stomping and music that comes with it. But after a while, the show extends to the whole theater and the audience is part of the show. That's pretty wild and I'd definitely recommend that blue rave over any green carpet blackjack experience! ;)

Now rest assured: as long as you don't sit in the first 2 front rows, you won't get wet or stained or anything.

Yesterday I saw Michael Moore's Sicko movie.

First off, let me say that it's absolutely terrifying when you see the stories of all those people literally ripped off by their health insurance company! Boy I was worried about that stuff before (when considering to move to the US), now I consider it as the #1 pitfall if I ever actually want to relocate over there.

Anyway, as always with Michael Moore, the reality is twisted to make it more... tasty? For example when he comes to France and shows how a "middle class family" lives... he doesn't actually show a middle class family.

He asks them how much they make and they say 8000 € a month. Well... the average salary in France is around $1500 a month. Now a family where both parent work will make an average on 3000 €/month. More than 2.5 times less than what Moore depicts as a "middle class" home.

On the other hand, the rest of the story about how the government takes care of our health is basically accurate... with a lot of details overly simplified...

Again, he states we pay a lot of taxes (I won't deny :P) but doesn't mention that those taxes aren't actually enough to cover for the costs. The healthcare system here is growing a humongous debt year after year. For some reason, it doesn't seem to implode though...

So how much can you actually trust the guy on accuracy?

Now I wish someone from the US would deny it all and tell me that if you cut your fingers off, you'll get them fixed, no matter what. And that if you get cancer, you'll get treatment without having to put a mortgage on your house... if you have one. That kind of crap would never happen in France. (I mean, it hasn't happened yet...)

The good thing: it helps me see the good side of France :> ('coz I could bitch about France for hours...)

"Epitaph: Foolish humans, never escaped Earth."

– Vernor Vinge

Note: I like it even better without a coma after "humans" :>

Seth Stevenson tells you more than you ever wanted to know about the word "suck" in Slate (via Anil Dash).

"We could argue all day about whether sucks is an obscenity or not. [...] What's far more interesting to me is the word's utility.

Sucks is the most concise, emphatic way we have to say something is no good. As a one-syllable intransitive verb, it offers superb economy."

Read it though and you'll admit that it would suck not to have the word suck available in daily conversations. ;)

Now, I can't help but remember Adam Curry citing his daughter pushing it to the next level:

"It sucks so bad (that) it swallows!"

Ouch! :>

Due to Jack Bauer, no one looks forward to the weekend anymore, they look forward to the weekend being over, and watching 24 on Monday.

If everyone on "24" followed Jack Bauer's instructions, it would be called "12".

When someone asks him how his day is going, Jack replies, "Previously, on 24..."

Jack Bauer is the leading cause of death in Middle Eastern men.

Don't beg Jack Bauer to shoot you. He will simply shoot your wife. No man tells Jack Bauer what to do.

Jack Bauer could strangle you with a cordless phone.

Killing Jack Bauer doesn't make him dead. It just makes him angry.

Jack Bauer sleeps with a pillow under his gun.

Jack Bauer was never addicted to heroin. Heroin was addicted to Jack Bauer.

Jack Bauer played Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun and won.

Jack Bauer once won a game of Connect 4 in 3 moves.

During the commercials, Jack Bauer calls the CSI detectives and solves their crimes.

When Jack Bauer was a child, he made his mother finish his vegetables.

Jack Bauer can get McDonald's breakfast after 10:30.

The Black Eyed Peas were just The Peas until Jack Bauer heard their music.

Jack Bauer doesn't speak any foreign languages, but he can make any foreigner speak English in a matter of minutes.

On a high school math test, Jack Bauer put down "Violence" as every one of the answers. He got an A+ on the test because Jack Bauer solves all his problems with Violence.

Simon Says should be renamed to Jack Bauer Says because if Jack Bauer says something then you better fucking do it.

Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas.

When Google can't find something, it asks Jack Bauer for help.

Jack Bauer teaches a course at Harvard entitled: "Time Management: Making the Most Out Of Each Day."

Sun Tzu once wrote, "If your enemy is weaker, conquer him. If he is stronger, join him. If he is Jack Bauer, you're fucking dead."

Jack would never have given up the wet list... no one takes potential kills away from Jack Bauer.

Jack Bauer once killed so many terrorists that at one point, the #5 CIA Most Wanted fugitive was an 18-year-old teenager in Malaysia who downloaded the movie Dodgeball.

Quentin Tarantino was asked to direct a biography about Jack Bauer. He passed. It was too violent.

Tony was once shot in the neck, rushed to the hospital, underwent emergency surgery and was back on the job in just a few hours. Jack Bauer still can't believe that pussy went to the hospital first.

If Jack Bauer was gay, his name would be Chuck Norris.

You can lead a horse to water. Jack Bauer can make him drink.

All men are created equal. They are all vastly inferior to Jack Bauer.

Finding Nemo would have been vastly more exciting had Jack Bauer been looking for him.

Jack Bauer was conceived by torturing the other sperm until they gave up the location of the egg.

Jack Bauer has been to Mars. Thats why theres no life on Mars.