I can't stop laughing. For those few of you who know who Rammstein is... I happen to really like them. They are a German hard rock band with a singer who has a very deep voice. They are a bit creepy... but I like their music.

Well, there is a band called Hayseed Dixie that I sort of find hilarious, as they are a bluegrass band that covers all sorts of popular music ranging from the Beatles to Green Day. Well, on their latest CD... which I found on Yahoo... they have a cover of "Mein Teil" by Rammstein that is about the funniest thing I've ever heard. Imagine a southern voice doing a deep German voice singing to a rock inspired blue grass piece.

I swear sometimes you can just find the greatest stuff if you are just willing to do a little exploring. :)

Thanks for everyone's advice.

I've decided to wait it out a bit. I think I'm going to shoot for winter/spring 2008 time-frame. It allows me more time to raise my credit score, build a down payment (probably 5%), and keep an eye on what the market is doing.

I talked to another lender today, and he was a LOT better than the lender I talked to previously. On his own, he warned me against Interest Only loans, ARM loans, tax myths, told me the reality of the market right now, etc. So I was much more impressed with his honesty. Once it comes to buying a house, I will probably work with him. He was referred to by someone from work.

One thing he did mention that would help credit is this OptOutPreScreen site. Basically, it allows you to opt out of all those annoying credit card and insurance offers. It can raise your credit score 10-20 points according to what he said. Plus, a lot less junk mail. I've been getting an overdrive of these things ever since I opened up a credit card in August of last year. If you are interested, it's very simple to opt out:

https://www.optoutprescreen.com.

In any case, I'll keep doing lots of research. I know it isn't your best investment tool (especially with the unknowns of where the housing market is going)... but it's more than just an investment for me. Plus, there's risk in every direction I could possibly go. I do think owning a house is a good thing overall. Getting a smaller house now will help me to get a better house later on.

Plus, in all honesty, if my plan works, I won't be paying much more than I do now on rent (as I will have roommates to help pay my mortgage). So it just seems silly for me to keep paying rent and utilities when I could own a house for roughly the same amount. The one thing I need to do before I make any big decisions is go see a personal finance adviser. They can hopefully help me not just with my house portion, but my overall investment picture. And supposedly Intel has advisers for either free or at a discount or something... which I need to look into.

So much to think about.

Long boring post ahead... just a stream of thought...

Well, I have been working slowly to see about buying a house this August. My lease for my apartment is up then, and I had seriously contemplated whether I would buy now or wait til I have a good down-payment.

Let me tell you, buying a house is complicated. :) My credit isn't stellar (a couple things from 2000 are still hurting me) but it is fairly decent. There are a few things right now I can do to improve my credit score by up to 30 points before June (when I would need to have my loan ready if I want to get into a house by August).

The thing is, I've debated and still currently am debating about whether it would be bad to put little to no down payment or wait another 6 months to a year and put a bigger down payment down. Since I won't be putting a full 20% down on a house, my rates won't change that much between 0% down and 5%/10% down. Obviously, if I put something down I have more initial principal equity and if I look at the full 30 year mortgage, I pay a lot more on the interest for every percent I don't put down. But at the same time, I can pay towards principal over the next year with any extra money I have, and I'm pretty much in the same situation as well as any benefits of owning the house (taxes, appreciation, etc).

I did see a lender and she sat down and talked about all my options. The only thing that annoyed me about her though is she was trying to push a interest-only loan (which I know in certain cases can be ok if you are very disciplined). She already pre-approved me for a loan, but I want to get my credit up a bit if I can to see if I can break the next threshold for better interest rates and such. I'm looking at a 80/20 fixed rate loan. I have contemplated some of the 5:1 ARM loan because I do want to sell my house in 4-5 years. I don't know quite yet.

The hardest thing about this all is there is no clear cut answer. I have people telling me that I should wait a year and get a big down-payment ready. I have people telling me that I should buy as soon as possible because of the tax breaks I get and the equity I'd probably get from house appreciation (as well as now is supposedly a good time to buy in Portland). I even have some people telling me that the housing market will crash and now is a bad time to buy. Blah!

My own research hasn't made it much easier either. I'm trying to be honest with myself in the sense I want to make sure I don't do something stupid with my money. Buy now (meaning August) versus buy later. Both have advantages and disadvantages. And without know the house appreciation values... what the market will be like... there is no clear cut answer I can get from my numbers. Both have risk. If I waited and got a good 5%-10% down-payment down, the houses could appreciate pretty strongly between August and the time it takes... and I could have ended up with something better as well as saved money. But it could go the other way.

And while I have a chunk of change and will be saving as much as I can between now and August, I need money for an emergency fund as well as initial move-in costs, etc. If my house doesn't have a dryer, washer, refrigerator, etc... I need those things. I might need a couch set depending on the setup of my place. All sorts of closing costs to be worried about. So that is why I don't know if I can put anything down or not yet. Obviously, I will do whatever I can though.

I just bought a book to really make sure I understand all the little gotcha's with mortgages, what to look for, any financing tips, and then the actual house buying. The other thing is whatever place I get, I'll probably end up getting roommates to help pay off my mortgage. Ideally I want a 3 bedroom townhouse somewhere in the Hillsboro/Beaverton area.

I think the whole process is kind of fun and exciting, but also scary at the same time. I know what I can very comfortably afford and I'm not worried about getting into financial difficulties. What I'm more worried about is whether I will be making the best decision with my money. I'm not a very disciplined investor. A house forces me to make a commitment. And I definitely make enough that I should be investing more.

I haven't even started looking at the houses yet, because I don't want to get my mind set on anything until I've figured out the financial part. My mind is constantly on the subject right now. I can't help but keep looking at websites about it. I want to talk about it all the time with people to get everyone's point of view. I'm completely obsessed.

Whatever I end up doing though, I'm sure it will work out for the best. In any case, there's my long ass stream of thought. :)

I've always been strangely attracted to Alanis Morissette... and I've always liked her music... so I was laughing when I found this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W91sqAs-_-g

It's a spoof of this god-awful tragedy of a song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj9swNR5-lY

Anyway... enjoy. :)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9075932

Looks like Edwards was almost out of the race (at least that was the rumors going around this morning). His wife's cancer has resurged and it would make a lot of sense if he did drop out. But apparently they made the decision to stick with the race. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out for him and his family. I know some early criticism is that he is putting his career ahead of his wife... but my gut feeling tells me that he was ready to quit and his wife pushed him to continue on. No matter what... we'll see how it goes.

In any case, I'm still rooting for Obama... but ultimately Edwards would probably be my second choice out of the current Democrats running.

For some reason, March has been a great month for me. Lots of stuff has happened:

• My birthday I got a great night at the Merrakesh with friends and some good loot (like an iPod and some really cool bar stuff).
• I finished God of War 2 this week, which was an incredibly awesome action adventure game.
• 300 was everything I expected it to be and quite entertaining.
• This past weekend was fun (St. Patricks day got a good group together to go out).
• I got very high marks for my job review, a promotion, and a great pay upgrade.
• I found out I'm going to San Fransisco next week for a training program (albeit only for Monday and Tuesday). At least I'll get some time to check out San Fran!
• I figured out what I'm doing for school... as it was obvious I was getting nowhere with my CS degree (time of classes, interest level, etc). I've decided the best thing for me to get to my MBA would be to get a Business Administration degree in Information Systems. My interest level and the timing of classes is much better with this than CS. I'm going backwards a little... but overall I can complete it much quicker as it's easier. Signed up for spring term.
• I've gone on one date (although it didn't work out)... which is nice since I haven't really dated since things ended with Melissa.
• Oregon has been unusually sunny this month. :) (although only downside is that snow on the mountains hasn't allowed for snowboarding really).

Overall, a great month so far!

By the way... here are a few of videos I think are great:

• Troops - A Star Wars Spoof of COPS
• Stand Up about Ironic - Why Alanis's song shouldn't be called Ironic
• The Oval Office - A good spoof of NBC's the Office.
• Malajube "Montreal -40°C" - A cool French-Canadian music video
• Royksopp - Remind Me - A very cool Norweigian music video

Hope everyone has a good week!

I love when people do something inventive. This guy created a game for the couple that he unveiled at their wedding:

Check out the video

Makes me really want to meet a geeky girl. :)

I know some of us here are fans of the show Mythbusters. For those that don't watch it, the premise of the show is to take some kind of myth people have and run an experiment to debunk or prove the myth. Not always are their "proofs" very encompassing, but they are usually entertaining.

In the spirit of Mythbusters, I want to point out some common misconceptions as well (although I won't be doing any cool experiments to disprove it).

Water
Water is over-hyped. :) Apparently, the drink "8 8-ounce glasses of water everyday" that you hear many nutritionists and even doctors say is not necessarily based in scientific fact. It doesn't HURT to drink that much water... but generally rule of thumb is to drink when you are thirsty. Someone who works out is going to need a lot more than someone who is inactive. Also, it appears that pops, coffee and teas with caffeine don't dehydrate but alcohol can. The amount of caffeine in those products don't really outweigh the liquid contained in them.

Of course, like everything, you must be wary and not take it as gospel. It doesn't hurt to drink water... so really whatever habits you have, as long as you feel healthy and hydrated... you are probably fine. Here is another article about the subject.

Hair Myths
It's interesting how many hair myths there are out there. This site and this site very simply state some of these myths... but if you are so inclined... there are literally hundreds of articles out there with a lot more detail about the myths. I thought some of them were interesting. One is if you cut hair, it grows back faster. Another one is if you shampoo your hair with the same shampoo over and over, your hair gets use to it. Also the fact that you inherit baldness from your mother's side of the family (to which my younger brother disproves that myth). All are very interesting.

We Use 10-Percent of our Brain
I've always had an issue with this one and a year after high school I read an article in Scientific American that completely disproved this common myth. This Snopes article gives a little bit of background and information on why the myth exists and why it's wrong. Yay for not being 90% brain-dead!

Anyway, what are some myths you know a lot of people believe yet you know to be false?

I should say that this Saturday turned out to be quite a fun day. I slept in until 10 and took a shower, got dressed, ate some breakfast, talked to my cats (much like a crazy old lady would), danced around in my living room (much like a crazy person would), and finally Peter arrived from Corvallis. We loaded all the gear into my car and headed over to pick up my friend Jonathan. Together, we embarked on our journey to the magical land of Mt. Hood Meadows (ruled by the benevolent ruler, King CheapNightSkiing).

The journey was fraught with dangers and the three of us barely escaped with our lives. Apparently there was an evil curse upon the
mountain that caused people to forget common sense and driving skills once they hit a little bit of snow. The trail of corpse-like cars littered the treacherous path to our destination. In my trusty Subaru though, we braved the demonic forces that were afoot and managed to persevere through the tragedies that gripped so many others. At one point, my Subaru faced the gigantic beast known only as the "Meadows Tour Bus" which had lost control and slid towards us. The look of horror and fear in our eyes would have frightened Stephen King himself. Fortunately, we were spared through some benevolent master of "chained bus wheels".

It had been a difficult journey, but we made it all the same. Our destination had been reached and the task before us awaited. Hour after hour, we rode the slopes down the mountain. We did not know our ultimate goal, but we knew that if we continued our task, something grand would emerge. And emerge it did, as the realization of my fears of being a new snowboarder disappeared and the magical comprehension of my turns came freely. My confidence and enjoyment increased exponentially and I felt like a King up on those snowy peaks. Eventually though, the night had come to a close and we left satisfied and happy.

Our next goal was to put chains on my tires (as we had seen the destruction that lead up to the hill). This should have been a simple task, but alas the chains were not properly sized for my tires. Through some magic that would have made Harry Potter jealous, we managed to fit the chains. Before we left, I had tried opening my now frozen shut trunk and somehow managed to rip off part of my spoiler (the plastic around the back two bolts broke) from my brand new car. Long story short, I stood in silence and misery as I realized I had wounded my car.

Forgetting my misery, my next focus was making it out alive. While it was dark, snowy, and harsh, we braved the perils set before us and managed to escape the icy grip of the snow demons. The rest of our trip was quite uneventful. Once we reached the great city of
Portland, we realized that the dangers we had faced and the subsequent enjoyment we felt on the mountain left us with a hunger that could only be appeased through some late-night Sushi. Remembering the new discovery of a Sushi place I had made the previous week in the downtown area, we agreed that is where we could vanquish the anguished noises our empty stomachs made. After dinner, our stomachs full, our snow lust satisfied, and our numerous bruises, aches, sore muscles as reminders of our journey, we headed home. As I finally rested, I smiled knowing that many days like this one were ahead.

Some of you may have heard that former NBA star Tim Hardaway made a incredibly stupid comment that he "hated gay people." As a result, it got a lot of backlash from the NBA community and other folks everywhere. He's been barred from any future NBA events and he's taking a lot of public backlash.

George Takei (who came out publicly a couple years ago) decided to give a response to Tim's comments. Watch it here. For those not aware of the name, George Takei is Sulu from the original Star Trek series... and he's just an overall good-humored guy.

Enjoy.

Seems like dear John McCain continues his downfall. Ever since he lost the primaries in 2000 against a much better organized Bush campaign... he is retreating and regressing on many fronts.

His "maverick" status came from his willingness to defy his party every once in a while (although he's always been staunchly conservative). Lately, in the last couple years though, he has been seen pandering to the religious right. His pandering to the Jerry Falwell crowd as well as other religious rights groups is sort of sad. His view on creationism being taught in science classrooms is fairly indicative of this as well.

Not only that, this man is too old to be President. He'll be 72 years old if he takes office. 72! That means if he has an 8 year run, he'll be 80.

I understand that politics are about pandering. You can't expect to win if you don't appeal to your crowd. But he's focusing too much energy on the religious right. There are plenty of conservatives as well as liberals that would have voted for him. Ultimately though, I think many people (especially liberals who love him) are completely unaware of how conservative the guy has always been. He may have been willing to in the past fight his party on certain things but ultimately, the guy is very conservative.

I guess it's a bit sad because even though there were many things I disagreed with the guy on, ultimately, I always thought his willingness to go against the grain of his party was his biggest strength. It shows character and shows he's not a puppet. Unfortunately, he no longer has this with him.

The next year will be an interesting year with all the folks involved. While I still hope that Obama makes it, my gut feeling is that he won't because of too many things people will focus on.

This is why I wish more of you had an Xbox 360. Apparently, they now have Settlers of Catan coming to Xbox Live Arcade. It looks pretty decent too! It's the original game (no mention of the expansions in there)... but I'm excited to see how it turns out.

http://catanlive.com/catan.shtml

Maybe I can brush up on my strategies enough to win a game against Renjy in the future. :)

I'm sure most of you don't know what Aqua Teen Hunger Force is and if you do, you probably think it is stupid. I'm one of the few people that find it funny. I don't know what it is, but the randomness and weirdness of the cartoon is hilarious. On the show, they have 2-dimensional pixelated beings known as the Mooninites (who incidentally come from the moon). Well, the Mooninites crippled Boston yesterday.

Here is a CNN story regarding the incident.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/01/boston.bombscare/

For those two lazy to read, here is the story in short. The Aqua Teen Hunger Force movies is coming out in a few months. In anticipation, Turner (the company who owns Cartoon Network) has been working with fans to do a guerrilla marketing campaign have been putting up electronic billboards that display the Mooninite characters all over. These billboards though have wires and batteries attached to it, so someone in Boston reported it as a potential bomb. The media picks up on it and makes it a huge deal. They arrest two guys and currently they are undergoing legal proceedings. Now, the great thing is their press conference from today. They apparently would only answer questions about their hair. I couldn't stop laughing:

Press Conference.

There are a few things I find funny about this case. They are being treated as if they called in a bomb scare. Despite the fact that the things have been up there for a few weeks and these things have been seen around in many different cities without incident, the overreaction of someone who saw it and called it in sends a whole city into a frenzy. I just think it is completely and utterly ridiculous how big it became. I love the response from the two guys who were arrested.. they obviously think the whole thing is ridiculous.

The unfortunate and sad thing is that the guys will be punished and most likely Turner as well. Turner probably should bear the brunt of the blame because it was their marketing idea... but damn... I swear certain people in this country are so damned paranoid. If people ever wanted to know whether terrorism is succeeding in this country, look no further. It has made us so paranoid, that a goddamn Light-Brite can shutdown bridges and roads for a period of time.

Oh well, still looking forward to the movie. And hell, if nothing else, this did more for their marketing campaign than they originally intended. It's great. :)

Many of you probably have participated or still participate in fantasy sports leagues. I've done one or two soccer leagues but in all honesty I don't really ever know teams or players well enough to really have any good results. I found this Virtual Stock Exchange site that allows you to setup a game with other people. In this case, I did a private game for you folks here on Sehti! For those interested, go to:

http://vse.marketwatch.com/Game/Homepage.aspx

Create an account, and then sign up for "SehtiGaming" with the capitalization (EDIT: I HAD said "sehtigame" before and it was supposed to be "SehtiGaming"... if you couldn't find it, that's why...) and the password "superduper". You start out with $150,000 in cash and invest your money anyway you want. The timing of your orders and such are like a trading on a real stock exchange site. You can choose to order as many shares as you want, use order limits and stop orders, and etc.

I know a little about stocks as I did some research when I wanted to figure out how to setup my 401k... but I definitely don't know all the ins and outs. I think it will be interesting to try this out. The game goes from now until May 25 (exactly 120 days). Whoever has the largest dollar amount at the end of that time wins the game! :) So go ahead and join!

I thought this was a joke at first, but no, it's a real movie. When it comes out, I'm totally at the theater to watch it!

Black Sheep Trailer - Direct link to a Quicktime movie.

Enjoy.