Imablog Perspectives of a Canadian in the Old/Deep/New/Geographic South: This is where I ramble on about nothing in particular and post a few nice pictures.

Friday Five

Ok, I'll take a stab at this week's Friday Five.

1. What's the last place you traveled to, outside your own home state/country?

Made a spur of the moment trip to Toronto, Ontario, Canada to party with friends.

2. What's the most bizarre/unusual thing that's ever happened to you while traveling?

February 2003. Sitting on a plane in Chicago just about to take off for the flight back home. The flight attendant announces the flight destination just before the door are about to close. Suddenly, the Arab American sitting behind me jumps up realizing he's on the wrong flight and rushes off the plane.

The flight is of course delayed while things are investigated. The seat where he was sitting is checked over several times by the flight attendant and then the pilot. Several passengers around me are talking about having the plane evacuated so that a thorough search can be done. About an hour later, we take off without incident.

3. If you could take off to anywhere, money and time being no object, where would you go?

I'd spend several months touring Europe.

4. Do you prefer traveling by plane, train or car?

Train. I like to see the scenery going by, but I hate having to drive to see it.

5. What's the next place on your list to visit?

Home, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Another Friday Five

1. How much time do you spend online each day?

My computer at work is always online. I'd say anywhere from 4-6 hours, split between home and work.

2. What is your browser homepage set to?

http://stats.distributed.net/participant/psummary.php?project_id=25&id=87925

3. Do you use any instant messaging programs? If so, which one(s)?

ICQ

4. Where was your first webpage located?

http://raddi.uah.ualberta.ca/~eugene/

5. How long have you had your current website?

Current website is http://home.netcom.com/. I've had it for about 7 years now I think.

Friday Five

Time for another Friday Five.

1. When was the last time you laughed?
This morning

2. Who was the last person you had an argument with?
It was probably my wife.

3. Who was the last person you emailed?
My brother, earlier this morning.

4. When was the last time you bathed?
Had a shower yesterday. Bath? I think it's been a while.

5. What was the last thing you ate?
A slice of raspberry chocolate cake. It was the top of my wedding cake from a couple of years ago.

Friday Five

Time for another Friday Five

1. Are you going to school this year?
No

2. If yes, where are you going (high school, college, etc.)? If no, when did you graduate?
Graduated in 1996 with my Master's

3. What are/were your favorite school subjects?
Math and Physics

4. What are/were your least favorite school subjects?
English

5. Have you ever had a favorite teacher? Why was he/she a favorite?
Mr. Gosman, high school social studies teacher. He was funny, and made current events interesting.

Friday Five

1. What housekeeping chore(s) do you hate doing the most?
Cleaning

2. Are there any that you like or don't mind doing?
Laundry

3. Do you have a routine throughout the week or just clean as it's needed?
I usually try to tidy up on weekends. I try to vacuum weekly, but more often than not, it ends up being every 3 or 4 weeks. The wife usually makes us go on a cleaning binge whenever someone's coming over.

4. Do you have any odd cleaning/housekeeping quirks or rules?
Not really

5. What was the last thing you cleaned?
The mess that got made when I accidentally dropped a jar of applesauce on the kitchen floor.

Friday Five

Time for another Friday Five to distract me from continually monitoring Hurricane Isabel...

1. Is the name you have now the same name that's on your birth certificate? If not, what's changed?
Yes

2. If you could change your name (first, middle and/or last), what would it be?
Why would I want to change it?

3. Why were you named what you were? (Is there a story behind it? Who specifically was responsible for naming you?)
No story that I'm aware of, aside from possibly my parents wanting to give me a Western kind of name so I would fit in better.

4. Are there any names you really hate or love? What are they and why?
Not particularly.

5. Is the analysis of your name at kabalarians.com accurate? How or how isn't it?

Brief Analysis

Your name of Eugene gives you a very happy-go-lucky, spontaneous nature. You see the humorous side of many situations and can laugh at yourself as well as at others. This name gives you a musical, artistic nature and you would do well in any occupation in the entertainment field. You have many friends because of your generous, happy nature, but if crossed you have a quick temper, although your annoyance does not last too long. You do enjoy an argument and will at times say things just to get others going and then you sit back and enjoy the debate. You lack system and order and find it very difficult to budget and save money. This name creates a nature that can be the life of the party, but many times you can become involved in emotional situations against your better judgment. Your compassionate nature causes you to be too generous and you often give more than you can afford to.

Hmm, I'd have to say about 1/3 to 1/2 accurate. Gets a some things right. I'm a little musical only because of having played the viola for 10 years (I don't play anymore), definitely not artistic, hate arguments, have never been the life of any party and don't have a quick temper at all. The rest of it I suppose could more or less describe me.

Friday Five

This week's Friday Five.

1. Who is your favorite singer/musician? Why?
Hmm, there are several. Stevie Nicks, Gloria Estefan, Amy Grant, Sting...hard to choose between them. I love Stevie Nicks' voice, Gloria Estefan's music, Sting because he's just cool, and Amy Grant because I find her music very inspiring.

2. What one singer/musician can you not stand? Why?
Marilyn Manson...He just strikes me as such an act and poseur. I dunno why.

3. If your favorite singer wasn't in the music business, do you think you would still like him/her as a person?
If they weren't in the music business, it's likely I would never have heard of them. But if their non-music star personality would have been anything like their music star personality (at least what personality comes filtered through the media), then I probably would still like them.

4. Have you been to any concerts? If yes, who put on the best show?
I've only been to one concert, an Amy Grant concert sometime back in the mid 80s. It was a good show.

5. What are your thoughts on downloading free music online vs. purchasing albums? Do you feel the RIAA is right in its pursuit to stop people from dowloading free music?
I'm generally against downloading pirated music online. All of my music has been purchased, either new or used. Lately most of it has been used, because new CDs are so horribly overpriced. I'm definitely against RIAA's strong arm tactics against music downloaders. I don't think it does anything except polarize people against the RIAA and the music companies they represent.

Friday Five

1. What vehicle do you drive?
1991 Honda Accord LX

2. How long have you had it?
It'll be 5 years in April

3. What is the coolest feature on your vehicle?
That it still runs.

4. What is the most annoying thing about your vehicle?
Driver's side window doesn't roll down, driver's side auto-retracting seatbelt doesn't.

5. If money were no object, what vehicle would you be driving right now?
A Bentley. But I'd settle for a Rolls Royce.

Friday Five

1. Do you watch sports? If so, which ones?
I usually don't watch sports. I prefer participating rather than watching. And I find watching sports to be pretty boring.

2. What/who are your favorite sports teams and/or favorite athletes?
The Edmonton Eskimos and the Edmonton Oilers naturally.

3. Are there any sports you hate?
Well, I've never really be terribly fond of pro wrestling. Baseball comes to mind as well. I find golf to be pretty dull too.

4. Have you ever been to a sports event?
I've been to a few Oiler's and Eskimos' games. Almost went to a Red Wings a few years ago. I also saw the South Carolina Stingrays play a couple of years ago.

5. Do/did you play any sports (in school or other)? How long did you play?
Can't really grow up in Alberta without strapping on a pair of skates. I spent most of my childhood winters on the ice rink playing pickup games. Played a lot of soccer in elementary, and some volleyball in high school. Did track and field in high school and university and played intramural hockey in university.

Friday Five

1. Name five things in your refrigerator.
Well, after Thanksgiving dinner, there's only turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes left. There are also a couple cartons of orange juice, and water.

2. Name five things in your freezer.
A good portion of the turkey, some Jamaican beef patties, frozen shrimp shells (for making stock), lots of smoked chicken legs, and ground turkey.

3. Name five things under your kitchen sink.
Dishwasher detergent, bottle of Mr Clean, Windex, bug spray, fire extinguisher among other things.

4. Name five things around your computer.
Piles of paper, cups filled with pens (most of which don't work anymore), one of the bookshelves, the printer and some CDs.

5. Name five things in your medicine cabinet.
A large bottle of Advil, Theraflu, cold medicine, BandAids, and my razor blades.

Friday Five

It's been a couple of weeks since I did one. Here we go again...

1. What food do you like that most people hate?
Hmm, I'm not sure there are any. I love a really nicely roasted spaghetti squash with butter and salt. Do people hate spaghetti squash?

2. What food do you hate that most people love?
Onions. Do they count as a food?

3. What famous person, whom many people may find attractive, is most unappealing to you?
I think Janeane Garofalo is pretty good looking. Don't know how many others do.

4. What famous person, whom many people may find unappealing, do you find attractive?
Well, Pam Anderson does absolutely nothing for me.

5. What popular trend baffles you?
Reality TV. Why are these pseudo-reality shows so popular? Survivor, Bachelor ad nauseum, Real World, etc. Ugh, just give me some good escapist TV or sitcoms. That's why I watch TV anyway. When I want reality, I just watch the news.

Friday Five

It's been a while since I've done one, and since I was away on the 28th, I'll just do this one retroactively.

1. Do you like to shop? Why or why not?
I sort of enjoy shopping. Most of my shopping is very targeted. I usually know what I want/need, go in, buy it and get out.. Occasionally I'll just walk around and window shop. Mostly depends on how the crowds are.

2. What was the last thing you purchased?
Bought 3 DVDs (Matrix Reloaded, Bend it like Beckham, Drumline). It was a Blockbusters special: buy 2 previewed movies, get one free.

3. Do you prefer shopping online or at an actual store? Why?
I prefer to do most of my shopping online. No crowds to deal with. But some things I'll buy at the store, particularly if the price after shipping comes out about the same as the in-store price. Then it's just easier to go out the store and buy it.

4. Did you get an allowance as a child? How much was it?
Nope. Had a paper route though.

5. What was the last thing you regret purchasing?
Nothing in recent memory.

Friday Five

1. Do you enjoy the cold weather and snow for the holidays?
Love it. It's just not the holiday season without it.

2. What is your ideal holiday celebration? How, where, with whom would you celebrate to make things perfect?
A holiday back home with friends and family.

3. Do you do have any holiday traditions?
Nothing out of the ordinary.

4. Do you do anything to help the needy?
No.

5. What one gift would you like for yourself?
I have most everything I need, so there really isn't anything in particular that iI want at the moment. Although a Trek 1500 might be nice.

Friday Five, late but what the heck

Yeah, it's not Friday. Hey, I was on vacation on Friday.

Don't know if I can come up with 5 for all of these. I'll just list what I think of.

1. List your five favorite beverages.
Coke, Dad's Root Beer, orange juice, Big Rock Traditional Ale, Newcastle Brown Ale

2. List your five favorite websites.
In no particular order,
Slashdot.org
User Friendly
Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD)
Calvin and Hobbes
Science Daily

3. List your five favorite snack foods.
Corn nuts
M&Ms
Coffee Crisp
Old Dutch Ketchup potato chips
Chips Ahoy

4. List your five favorite board and/or card games.
Hmm, don't really play too many board or card games anymore...
Risk
Magic: The Gathering

5. List your five favorite computer and/or game system games.
Unreal Tournament 2003
AD&D
Palladium
GURPS
Nethack

Another late Friday Five

1. What was your biggest accomplishment this year?
Making sure everything was in tip top shape for my part in DHEC and JCAHO inspections this year. May not seem like it, but it can be a lot of work making sure all the documentation is in order.

2. What was your biggest disappointment?
No really big disappointments. Maybe not taking that job at Duke University, but neither choice was a bad one for me to make.

3. What do you hope the new year brings?
More progress on the path to enlightenment, wherever that takes me.

4. Will you be making any New Year's resolutions? If yes, what will they be?
I usually try to avoid making resolutions.

5. What are your plans for New Year's Eve?
No plans yet. Maybe find a event or party to go to.

Friday Five, late again

This is only late because there wasn't a new one up when I checked on Friday, and never got around to checking again later on.

What one thing are you most looking forward to . . .

1. ...today?
Lunch with my wife.

2. ...over the next week?
Lunches with my wife before she heads back to school.

3. ...this year?
Getting more papers written

4. ...over the next five years?
Enjoying my work even more.

5. ...for the rest of your life?
Spending it with my wife.

Friday Five

Hey, it's on time this time!

1. What does it say in the signature line of your emails?

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Eugene Mah, M.Sc., DABR               eugenem@ix.netcom.com
Medical Physicist/Misplaced Canuck    maheug@musc.edu
Department of Radiology               "For I am a Bear of Very Little
Medical University of South Carolina   Brain, and long words Bother
Charleston, South Carolina             me."   Winnie the Pooh
http://www.netcom.com/
http://blog.imabug.net/
PGP KeyID = 0x1F9779FD, 0x319393F4
PGP keys available on request         ICQ 3113529                 O-
---------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Did you have a senior quote in your high school yearbook? What was it? If you haven't graduated yet, what would you like your quote to be?
Nope, I don't think I did, or else I don't remember what it was.

3. If you had vanity plates on your car, what would they read? If you already have them, what do they say?
I want IMABUG.

4. Have you received any gifts with messages engraved upon them? What did the inscription say?
Nope

5. What would you like your epitaph to be?
Just my name, birthdate and date I died.

Friday Five

At this moment, what is your favorite...

1. ...song?
Man in Motion by John Parr

2. ...food?
Cold smoked salmon

3. ...tv show?
Stargate SG1

4. ...scent?
Chocolate

5. ...quote?
The one in my email sig,
"For I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and long words Bother me." Winnie the Pooh

Friday Five

You have just won one million dollars:

1. Who do you call first?
Probably my wife, unless she was there with me when I win. Then I might call my sister or brother.

2. What is the first thing you buy for yourself?
The complete Babylon 5 series, Stargate SG1 series, and the Star Trek film series, all on DVD. And maybe a Trek 2300 with all the accessories.

3. What is the first thing you buy for someone else?
Probably the horse and Nissan Titan my wife wants.

4. Do you give any away? If yes, to whom?
Set up some scholarships for physics students at University of Alberta and donations to the Canadian Diabetes Association and American Diabetes Association.

5. Do you invest any? If so, how?
I think I'd sock away about half of it in various investments. I'd have to find a financial advisor to consult with, someone who came highly recommended by someone I trust.

Friday Five

1. What's the most daring thing you've ever done?
Made a spur of the moment decision to buy a plane ticket to New York as I passed a travel agency on my way to work. A very big and daring thing to do for a low paid grad student living cheque to cheque and had never gone any further from home on his own than a 3 hour car trip.

2. What one thing would you like to try that your mother/friend/significant other would never approve of?
Hmm, i don't know if I should say...

3. On a scale of 1-10, what's your risk factor? (1=never take risks, 10=it's a lifestyle)
I'd have to say I'm probably around 2 or 3.

4. What's the best thing that's ever happened to you as a result of being bold/risky?
I met the woman who ended up becoming my wife.

5. ... and what's the worst?
hmm, nothing comes to mind.

Friday Five

1. Are you superstitious?
No

2. What extremes have you heard of someone going to in the name of superstition?
Hmm, can't really think of any off the top of my head.

3. Believer or not, what's your favorite superstition?
Don't think I have one...

4. Do you believe in luck? If yes, do you have a lucky number/article of clothing/ritual?
Not really.

5. Do you believe in astrology? Why or why not?
No. I think it's silly to think that some particular arrangement of stars and planets somehow determines our personality and/or fate. I mean really, they're stars and planets that are hundreds, thousands, even millions of light years (miles for the planets) away. How could any arrangement of flaming balls of gas possibly determine the course of our existence? And if they could, why would they care?

Friday Five

When was the last time you...

1. ...went to the doctor?
About a year ago for my annual physical

2. ...went to the dentist?
Probably far too long ago. I think maybe 8 or 9 years or so.

3. ...filled your gas tank?
About 3 weeks ago.

4. ...got enough sleep?
Sleep? I always get enough sleep.

5. ...backed up your computer?
Home computer was backed up about a month ago, work computer
probably too long ago. That one's a little overdue.

Friday Five

What was...

1. ...your first grade teacher's name?
Mrs. Shamchuck. I even went to her retirement 12 or so years later.

2. ...your favorite Saturday morning cartoon?
Superfriends

3. ...the name of your very first best friend?
Derek

4. ...your favorite breakfast cereal?
Honeycomb

5. ...your favorite thing to do after school?
Go out and play.

Friday Five

1. What was the last song you heard?
One by Shania Twain...can't think of what the title of the song was.

2. What were the last two movies you saw?
In the theater? Cold Mountain and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.
On video, Spirited Away and ... oh rats, can't remember the name of it now...

3. What were the last three things you purchased?
Umm, bought groceries the other day, dinner at Sonic last night (wife's choice, not mine...she gets cravings for these kinds of things) and gas for my car.

4. What four things do you need to do this weekend?
Pick up a cake and fruit plate from the grocery store, get organized for a party, clean the apartment and call my folks.

5. Who are the last five people you talked to?
Wife, 3 people from work, and a lady walking her dog last night.

Friday Five

If you...

1. ...owned a restaurant, what kind of food would you serve?
Real authentic chinese food, with dim sum service on weekends.

2. ...owned a small store, what kind of merchandise would you sell?
The kinds of things you might stop to buy on the way home, or in the middle of the night. Snacks, TP, diapers, drinks, batteries, that kind of thing.

3. ...wrote a book, what genre would it be?
Hmm, sci-fi or fantasy I think.

4. ...ran a school, what would you teach?
Physics, of course.

5. ...recorded an album, what kind of music would be on it?
Probably instrumental stuff.

Friday Five

1. What do you do for a living?
I'm a medical physicist.

2. What do you like most about your job?
Lots of toys and expensive medical imaging equipment to play with.

3. What do you like least about your job?
Gets a little routine every now and then.

4. When you have a bad day at work it's usually because _____...
Everybody seems to need me to do stuff at the same time I've already got a hundred other things to get done.

5. What other career(s) are you interested in?
Beach chair tester.

No more Friday Fives

Sadly, there will be no more Friday Fives. The maintaner is calling it quits. I suppose when something stops being fun for you, you might as well stop doing it. I hadn't been doing them for very long, but enjoyed the ones that I did do. Thanks for the fun, FF.

From the Friday Five maintainer

May 06, 2004

This is the end of the Friday Five. I know most of you have seen this coming and I appreciate you humoring me. I haven't enjoyed it for some time now and because of that I can no longer justify the bandwidth. I'm not going to give it away or sell it or bring anyone on to help; Two-and-a-half years is a good run. Let's let it go.

Thank you to everyone who has participated over the past 2+ years, for taking this silly little idea and running with it. Thanks again to the donators for their generosity and thoughtfulness, and those of you who have emailed me notes of support and encouragement over the last few months.

The notify list will remain as-is, just in case. The archives will remain down since that's where most of the bandwidth suck has been. Globe of Blogs is not going anywhere, so get your blog listed if you haven't already.