You know...

This sounds almost exactly like the UPS experience I had with our incoming wedding invitations... Fancy that!


Click to embiggen...

To be fair, our regional delivery office did resolve the issue after I kvetched on Twitter...

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year... (NSFW-Language)

When I found these in a book around this time last year, I couldn't help but laugh. Unlike last year, I don't have to take my own exams on top of helping others through exams/papers. I certainly commiserate though; it's final exam season, after all, which means lots of stress to go around.



Should you want any of your own, these tabs can be found (in alternate forms nowadays) at ThinkGeek.

...and those of you still taking exams*? Hang in there...Winter break will be coming soon!
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* This also goes to those of you who have to grade final assignments/exams, as well as those of us/you who support all of them.

It's October...

You know what that means! Leaves are changing color, the weather is getting cooler, and football season in full swing.

Also the (earlier and earlier every year) Christmas sales creep. *sigh*

The guys at Straight no Chaser captured my feelings for this phenomenon exactly...



Any sightings of Christmas decorations/sale displays yet, fellow readers?

Bring the Ark...

My FB buddies will have double-vision, but I think it's a very apropos shot for today.

Thanks to the remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole, we're getting lots of rain (much-needed, granted). Just had a friend of mine report her street's flooded (eugh). I wonder how Pepco's gonna handle this one (not well, likely).



Maybe I can find one in this garage near work?

Belly Ache (from laughing). Lose 2 Days.

"Nobody wants to be the carpenter!"

What's this you ask? A (fake) trailer for Oregon Trail... the Movie! Granted the spoofers took a few liberties... (you can only take up to 100 lbs back from a large hunt, not just only 10), but not nearly as many as Hollywood would've taken were they to take the game to the big screen.

Oh, the many bison and bears I've hunted. Oh, the rivers I've forded... Oh, to stumble upon the grave of Andy and his love for " peperony and cheese". Oh the broken bones, and the cholera... (Oy...there goes one of my party members!).

Oh, the grade school memories...

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Wow... only 786 views as of this post? Watch this one get a lot more views really quickly (not exactly by my keys, though...)

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HT: Mashable.

Nice Shark...Good Shark...

In honor of Discovery Channel's Shark Week (Starting Sunday, August 1), the Discovery Communications Headquarters in Silver Spring brought out their giant inflatable shark. It's been out since mid-July, but last week was the first  time I got to get a look at it this year.





Apparently, a lot of cold air has to get pumped into the shark to keep it "afloat", and it took close to 7 miles of fabric in order to create him (Source: DTSS). He's very much a sight to see, though I wonder how well those working in offices where the shark is "swimming" work with him...

(They're) gonna need a bigger building... ;)

Fear Factor...Beer

Pictured: another one of BrewDog's brews,"BrewDog Tactical Nuclear Penguin"
Picture by Bernt Rostad. used under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) license.
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Much as I like craft beer (in moderation, of course), this news is too weird to pass up...

The News: Scottish Brewer Brewdog has produced it's strongest beer yet: the 55% ABV* (110 proof) "The End of History".

However, the brews are encased in an animal koozie. I mean a real animal...taxidermied animals. Also: Not only do they cost an arm and a leg figuratively, a bottle costs ~ $800-1100 (They already sold out of the brew).

As Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler have said many a Saturday Night: Really?!?

I give props to a brewery that names one of their brews "Tactical Nuclear Penguin" (as we all know I'm a sucker for penguins). I also give some props to this brewery for both their creativity and desire to push the envelope (Tactical... has 32% ABV. Another of their brews, an IPA called "Sink the Bismarck!" has 41% ABV).

I probably understate this (as usual), but the "Really?!?" bits are a bit off-putting. I just have a huge "eeeeeeeeew" factor seeing beer poured out of a bottle stuffed into an animal. Very few got to taste this as well, due to the price...

Also, in the drive to make high ABV beers (in general), what happens to taste? As Geekosystem correctly states, "End of History" has more ABV than vodka does. When does beer stop being beer? How far is too far (a discussion that will soon be started over on the other blog)?

*whispered* Go farther... Too far... *whispered*
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P.S. ABV- Alcohol by volume
Geekosystem's article also gives a brief description of the science behind the ice distillation process used to produce beer with such high ABV's.

Hey La, Hey La, the Hapa's Back...

Photo by flickr user Rakka. Used under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license.

Since I last blogged here regularly (no particular order):

Ted Kennedy lost his battle with a brain tumor.
Both the US and the Philippines have new presidents.
Straight No Chaser put out a few records (good ones, I might add).
The PATRIOT ACT was extended without any of the anticipated changes.
Spain won the World Cup.
The ALA Annual Conference made its way back to DC (alas, I had to miss it this year).
The new Cooper River Bridge has been built.
I graduated with a Master's Degree in Library Science.
I'm still no fan of Valentine's Day.

You may think that's random... but these were all references to previous blog entries (just goes to show you how random this blog was/is). ;)

Now that I'm out of graduate school, I've found that I do have a little more time on my hands. I also tend to share a lot of cool things on many topics/subjects via twitter and facebook, but have found some things might need a little more than a few lines of commentary. This is why I've come back to this blog. You might run into to personal vignettes, librariana, information policy, sports, law, pop culture, current events, geeky things, news of the weird (as well as other news), and of course various other things here on the Random Hapa Online...

Don't worry... I'm not abandoning Librarian...Shot the Food by any means. This blog's going on concurrently. If it's a food/drink related topic, you'll generally find me commenting on it there (if it crosses categories, you may see simulcasts, though...or at least "themes and variations" between the two blogs).

It's good to be back, though...