Category: Uncategorized

SETTLING DOWN

So I think I’ve got this business of my courses settled. There’s no way I can take Animation Physics for credit. I’m going to audit the class. I was told by the prof to get a formal audit standing, I’d have to attend the lectures and read the papers but he won’t quiz me on them. Seems simple enough but I’d like to skip the odd lecture or two. Today I went and I was dead tired by the first hour. I was ready to fall asleep at 10:30am. It was exhausting. My other option is to do an informal audit. I’d just sit-in and listen, there’d be no formal requirements on my part. Of course, it wouldn’t show up on my transcript, but it wouldn’t matter if I got a lot out of it. I’ll have to decide what I’m going to do soon. The final drop date is on the 19th.

The other class I’m taking for credit seems to be going well. The first assignment came out yesterday and it seems completely reasonable. It’s a mix of theory and some programming. I’ll know how geometric modellers and CAD systems work after this class. Maybe I can work in Tools and Libraries after I graduate? Hopefully? Maybe?

Alright, I have to go, I have to be up at 8am to be at a lab meeting by 8:45am. We’re discussing a paper I don’t even understand. It’s too bad since I read the whole thing in preparation. Good night!

ALIENS : THEN AND NOW

One of my favourite films of all time is Aliens. It featured a great story, a wonderful script, good actors, and believable visual effects. Combined, it left a memorable mark in my early teenage years.

Even my younger sister liked the movie and at the time, you wouldn’t think a little girl would. We were both impressed with the performance of Carrie Henn, the then child actor who played the character Newt. My sister and I would go around reciting her lines to each other, “They mostly come out at night… mostly….” and “Ripley, she doesn’t have bad dreams because she’s just a piece of plastic.”

With the release of the Alien Quadrology set and individual DVDs, the whole Alien series has been revisited. On Friday, I bought the Aliens : Collector’s Edition DVD set. It contains one of the most entertaining DVD commentaries I’ve had the pleasure of hearing.

It’s a busy commentary, featuring several cast members (including Henn), the producer Gale Anne Hurd, effects guru Stan Winston, the man himself James Cameron, and many more. The most interesting commentary from Henn, the other cast members, and Cameron.

Actors Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, and Jenette Goldstein were recorded together. They seemed to have a blast doing the commentary. Paxton noted right after his death scene, “the movie just goes downhill after this”.

Cameron goes into many of the technical details of making the movie, as well as how he quelled a near-rebellion on set. He seems almost jovial at times and none of the infamous Cameron on-set angst shows through. Did you know that Cameron would have shot Aliens in an aspect ratio 2.35:1 now if he had the chance?

Henn’s commentary was truly interesting. She related the experiences of being the only child actor on the set of Aliens, giving us neat anecdotes along the way. In one particular scene, Paxton is called upon to swear up a storm. After the scene, he would repeatedly come up to Henn and apologize, “I am so sorry…”

Henn never made another movie after that and that was her decision. I wondered for years what happened to her. I read a few years back she became a schoolteacher. The DVD was the first time I have ever seen the adult Carrie Henn.

So, if you’re even just a casual fan of Aliens, I’d recommend it as a rental at the very least!

OPERATION : COIN FREEDOM

Several weeks ago, I was at the vending machines here at SJC when I noticed something. There was a shiny coin stuck in the gap between the pop and food machines. It was way in the back, far too deep for any arm or leg to reach.

I made note of this and vowed to get this coin in the near future. I’d forget about it, but when I returned to the machines, I’d see it lying there, time and again. I thought someone would surely beat me to it. None did however.

Tonight, I liberated the coin. A photojournalist (me) embedded in this operation, documented the actions. I took a hockey stick and put some masking tape on the end. With the far reach of the stick, the coin was extracted on the first try. I am now $0.10 richer. The photos are below:

THE ORACLE

After a long day of TAing, talking to a prof, and getting my haircut, I came home around 5:30pm. I was kinda tired and dehydrated. Patrick knocked on my door almost immediately after I got back.

He asked me what I was going to tonight. I told him I was going to work and try to make some headway on my assignment. Patrick said this in reply, “There’s no way you’re going to work. It’s Friday. I know you. I’ve known you for almost a year now. You’ll have dinner soon, chill out, cool down, find some other crap to do, pretty soon it’ll be time for Letterman, then you’ll want to get some food, and the next thing you know it’ll be 1am.”

The man was dead on. Patrick left to go to White Spot with Jeff. I thought I was going to just order in and do work. Kate came by and asked me if I wanted to go for sushi for dinner. I said yes. By the time we got back it was 8:30pm. I do some cleaning of my room, watch some TV, put some laundry in, and it’s nearly 10pm.

Rhonda came by for a cup of tea and some conversation. By the time she left, it’s 11pm. I do some news watching, Letterman, and some more dicking around… bam, it’s 1am. Am I that predictable?

If I could salvage one thing from the day is that I might have a solution to my problem with choosing classes. Both Kate and Rhonda helped me figure out an option where I’d audit Animation Physics (prof willing) and then take the CAD course for credit. We’ll see what the prof says.

I’m going to go waste some more time now.

BAH

I do not like the beginning of each semester of school. I’m not really sure what classes to take, so I’m showing up for a handful of them right now. Since I’m not sure which one to take I’m doing all the work in each of those classes until I am sure which one is the right one.

This Animation Physics class I’m in has been a handful so far. The math in it is quite a challenge. We already have an assignment due on Thursday. I’m not sure if I have the necessary background in it to do the course sucessfully. This is weighing heavily in my mind. I’m sure this course would be helpful when I re-apply to EA again, but then again I don’t want to wind up doing poorly in it.

I went to another class yesterday, it’s called CAD Methods and Applications. That seems completely unrelated to software engineering, but suprisingly it’s not. All the assignments and the final project involves programming and writing code. The course isn’t about using a CAD system but looking at how it works and writing code to extend it. From the first class, I get the feeling I’d handle this class much better than Animation Physics, though it is less useful (though not entirely useless) in my career later on.

I’m not sure what to do, I only have room for one more class and I need to choose fairly quickly which class to take. I’m going to take this weekend and work really hard on my Animation Physics assignment. I’ll see how it goes and then I’ll have a better idea about my suitability in that class.

HE’S NO JEDI

Well, I’m about 4/5 my way through this paper that was written in 1983. It describes how they made the cool Genesis effect in the movie Star Trek II : The Wrath of Khan.

It’s an interesting read and I’m glad that after all those years, I know how they did it. Unfortunately, I’m not ready to re-create the same effect on my computer tonight. As far as academic papers go, this one was pretty light.

Also, as interesting as it is, I still got the urge to nap and eat something. Having bought bread today, I decided to make some toast. As I went to get the bread out of the plastic sleeve, I noticed the bread was made by Venice Bakery. I thought to myself, someone had to deliver this bread to the store. It was probably someone driving a bread truck.

Maybe it was because I was tired, but I began thinking, “What if I had become a driver delivering Venice Bakery products around the Lower Mainland?” Like I started doing it right after undergrad. I’d have about seven years of delivery experience underneath my belt, probably a few raises, some seniority, and a two or three week vacation every year. I’d get all my bread, bagels, and other baked goods for free. I’d probably have a one bedroom apartment either in Burnaby or Surrey. Maybe my car would be a Camaro or a Mustang or something. Maybe I’d be dating a Safeway checkout girl and we’d go hot-tubbing on the weekends. I’d get her to tattoo my name on her lower back and she’d get me to put in beads in the doorway to my bedroom. Maybe…

I’ll have that nap now…

SNOW DAY

I’ve never been at UBC when there has been so much snow. When I woke up this morning, I was hoping that classes would be cancelled. At 8:30am, things were still normal on campus. That meant I had to go to my Animation Physics class. Boy, will that class be a doozy. The prof talked about particle systems today. He showed a few clips from the second Harry Potter movie that featured Dobby the House Elf. In one scene, Dobby snaps his fingers and disappears in cloud of dust. The prof told us we’d be able to do that by next week… well, not disappear in a cloud of dust, but be able to make a cloud of dust in computer graphics. He then went on to discuss the mathematics behind such a cloud. The concepts came fast and furious. If I had taken this class after my second-year I’d be just dandy, as it stands, it’s been almost ten years. I’ll have to work my ass off for this class.

After class, I went back home and had some lunch. My next class was at 12:30pm, so I decided to take a nap. When I woke up, I received several e-mails that classes had been cancelled for the rest of the day. The word had come down around 11:45am. Not trusting good fortune, I decided to show up at my 12:30pm class. As predicted, the prof did show up and we did have class. Damn it!

When it ended, I made my way to the Village to deposit some cheques. On the way there, I passed by the bus loop. I have never seen so many people wait for the buses as I did today. The lines were so long, that people were standing on the roadway. I didn’t see a single bus in the loop and that is a rare occurrence during a weekday afternoon. I sure felt glad that I lived on campus.

On the way back from the Village I saw three buses leaving the loop. Each bus was packed beyond total capacity. People were standing in the stairwell where you get on the bus. Normally, the drivers don’t even let you stand in front of that yellow line let alone in the stairwell. With all the coats, snow, slush, and moisture, it must have been gross in those buses.

Well, I think there might be a snowball-fight related event at the courtyard later, so I’m going to prepare for that.

LITTLE BOY TRAPPED WITH TOYS

I saw this on another site. Too funny.

The best comment I’ve read about this story so far:

” I saw Michael Jackson putting quarters in that machine all day”

NEW YEAR’S EVE PHOTOS

The work here at erwintang.com continues without stoppage. I have my New Year’s Eve photos up now. Click here for them. I did it quick and dirty, so they have no comments.

If you’re hankering for more, you can visit my friend Sarah’s site. She has exclusive pics of me being whipped on the ass.

Well, on that note, good night.

A NEW YEAR, A NEW TERM

So it’s a new year and with that brings a new term. For grad students like me who are taking classes, it’s a whole new schedule with a whole new set of classes. Change is good I suspect, but I sure had my last schedule down pat.

My biggest concern at this time is whether or not to add another class to my schedule. If I did, it would sure make my next year easier. Then again, I’ve been told if I take one more class my life would be very busy and not so enjoyable. I’m weighing my options right now. I won’t know for sure until next week when I go to a few classes.

I’m also a TA again this term. I’ll being TAing the same course as last term. I’m happy about that since I’ll be much better at it. I was just thinking about how nervous and clueless I was the first day I walked into my tutorial. On Wednesday, I know I’ll much more confident and ready to go.

As it stands now, I have Mondays off. Well, to be more correct, I don’t have any classes on Monday. I’m pretty sure I’ll be doing work on Monday, but it’s still nice not to have to be anywhere.

The biggest challenge that I can see so far will come this class I’m taking, CPSC 533B Animation Physics. First, it starts at 9:30am in the morning which is pretty early for me. Last term the earliest I had to get up for was 10am. Second, it seems like it’s a course that uses a lot of differential equations. I haven’t done that since second year. Though you can’t argue with the results of using DEs, just look at some of the videos on the course site, they look pretty amazing.

Well, I have to go take down my Christmas lights now. I want to keep them up, but I’m not sure if that’s socially acceptable past the beginning of January.