The thing about..

..Kobe Bryant (Lakers guard) is that he never passes

..Kevin Durant (Thunder forward) is that he has flailing noodle arms

..D'Antoni (Lakers coach) is that he doesn't coach defense

..Blake Griffin (Clippers forward) is that he dunks too much

..Dwight Howard (Lakers center) is that he can't make free throws

..David Stern (NBA commissioner) is that he hates the Spurs

..the Raptors is that they always lose at the buzzer

..Lebron James (Heat forward) is that his hairline keeps receding

..Carmelo Anthony (Knicks forward) is that his wife tastes like Honey Nut Cheerios

..Jeremy Lin (Rockets guard) is that all the Asians love him

It's easy to tell who can sing in the group

(They're the ones with proper mikes: TaeTiSeo + Sica)

These girls will sing unsupported depending on the intensity of the performance (e.g. if there's a lot of dancing involved or if they have to do several acts in a row). Everyone else performs either partially or fully supported.

For anyone who's never worked with audio equipment before, here are some things about microphones: if it's not right in a performer's face, it's not being used properly; if the top isn't directed at the mouth, it's not being used properly.

If you hear the premix mike tracks from live performances, Taeyeon is fucking loud; she's got real pipes.

(Well okay, all of them can sing "above average", but most of them aren't there on account of their singing abilities)

Their new album dropped on New Year's, performances at that time were fully synced, presumably to get them familiar with the live choreo first.

They haven't gotten all the live vocals nailed for I've Got a Boy yet. Probably because the dance for it is more physically intensive than normal.

(The choreo is from Nappytabs, if anyone cares)

Someone posted their planking time

It really wasn't very impressive.

But in the process of proving it, I did figure out a 3-step program for improving plank times.

Step 1: Set laptop in front and put on a Korean music video

Step 2: Start the plank

Step 3 (this is the important one): Fill your soul with envy for Taecyeon's abs

Happy planking.

New Years Medley

Someone told me yesterday that Carly Rae was going to perform at Celebration Square. Good thing I had Twitter and can immediately clear up any misunderstandings.

I read an article about how New Years Eve is bound to end in anti-climax and disappointment.

It's true, all night interviewees were asked whose performance they were anticipating the most, and the answer was always Taylor Swift. Then the ball dropped and there was still no T-Swizzle.

We had to put on Youtube videos of her to scratch that itch.

By 2am we're watching old Chinese dramas. That's perfect, I need to get this stuff out of my system at least once a year.

"You know that image that's like, yes, I know some of those words? That's how I feel when seeing Chinese subtitles"
"我..什么..什么..什么..是..什么..什么..什么.."
"在..什么..什么..什么.."

I ended up in some super Asian photos yesterday. I'm not sure if I'm anticipating or dreading when they surface on Facebook one day.

So I found out that this cover was made today and that means my year is off to a great start. Good thing I have Twitter so I can immediately know if something like this happens.

Happy New Years.

What bothers me..

..is that their costumes are woodland, but their heels are baby blue.

Well, they sure proved me wrong..

Nike's trying a new campaign:

In other news, here's KD helping seniors stay in shape.

Realism

Toronto Raptors.

They're not even in a situation where it's like, "oh, we can win sometimes when the other team plays like crap".

Because other teams play like crap, and still win.

And when I talk about other teams playing like crap, I don't mean good teams playing "sloppy".

It's bad teams like Portland, legitimately playing like garbage, and then winning.

By 20 points.

It's gotten so bad that the Raptors are getting booed at, in Toronto.

Have you ever seen glasses so fly?

She wore them during SMTown Tokyo and SMTown Seoul performances.

But not at the performances in SMTown LA and SMTown Taiwan.

Swoon

Somebody took a picture of their newly arrived photobooks.

Obviously I had to go track down the picture in picture.

Then I went and found the performance video too. <_<

CLASSIC WESTBROOK

What a clown; Kobe couldn't believe his eyes

This continues for another good screen and a half

I never really know what's going on in my Twitter feed.

NBA 2K13 should have a Hustle Meter

Once it runs out for a character, you can no longer make them run; instead they'll just saunter around at a leisurely pace.

Reggie Evans will basically never run out of Hustle.

On the other hand, Melo's Hustle Meter will be perpetually empty.

This will accurately simulate his total laziness on defense in real life.

For a true experience, the player should consider walking him in a circle and then maybe faking an injury.

A forthright exchange of ideas

"..so we knew we had an operating constraint of 400kW to work with"

"Wait, isn't 400kW really small for a cogeneration unit? How big is the main plant? Like 2MW?"

"I don't understand what you mean"

"How big is the main power plant?"

"We're not working with a power plant, we're working with a food production plant"

"Ohhh! That makes total sense then; I just assumed.."

"Nitta Gelatin! They make gelatin"

"I always thought that was a strange name for a utilities company"

"Dammit, I knew they should've let me do the introduction"

Can't these liberal art guys consult an engineer before publishing this stuff?

From the Economist:

"Morris Technologies has invested heavily in 3D printing equipment and will be printing bits for a new range of jet engines. Morris Technologies uses a number of 3D printing machines, all of which work by using a digital description of an object to build it in physical form, layer by layer. Among the 3D printing technologies used by Morris Technologies is laser sintering. This involves spreading a thin layer of metallic powder onto a build platform and then fusing the material with a laser beam. The process is repeated until an object emerges."

"One of the attractions of printing parts is that it saves material. Instead of machining components from solid billets of metal, in which much of it may be cut away, only the material that is needed to shape the part is used. Printed parts can also be made lighter than forged parts, which promises fuel savings. 

Many manufacturers already use 3D printing to make prototypes of parts, because it is cheaper and more flexible than tooling up to produce just one or two items. But the technology is now good enough for it to be used to make production items too."

No, dammit!

That's not why the aviation industry uses sintering!

Think about the conditions in a jet engine: extreme heat, extreme stress. Any material that can withstand those types of conditions is going to be prohibitively expensive to machine. Sintered alloys are actually much weaker than cast alloys, which means the recipe is going to need to be all the more complex to get that strength back.

Aside from needing to melt substances that are explicitly designed to have an extremely high melting point, the problem with casting is that as the material cools, it shrinks from the mold, so it becomes impossible to cast parts with precision. That means the only alternative to sintering would be taking a big block of superhard alloy, and then trying to grind it down to a blisk or whatever you're making.

Forging produces even stronger materials (through stress hardening), but the logistical impossibility of forging a turbine blade should be obvious to anyone.

Sintering is used in mass production when there's no other choice.

If you're trying to make tank armour on the other hand, where precision is not so important, but strength and cost are..yeah, good luck selling the industry on your 3-D printers.

All aboard!

I've always found character shipping kind of strange and crazy, and doing it with real people just adds another dimension of creepiness to everything. But since I'm knee deep in this world of weirdness already, here is my appraisal of selected watercrafts:

TaeNy (Taeyeon + Tiffany): Clearly the most popular ferry by far. Also there are way too many ridiculous videos made on this that I don't want to click on.

SunYeon (Sunny + Taeyeon): Minor, TaeNy is strictly dominant.

JeTi (Jessica + Tiffany): This is just silly.

YulSic (Yuri + Jessica): I woke up and had an epiphany; there is subtle brilliance at play here.

StrawNy (Straw + Tiffany): The only acceptable ship in my mind.

"Kevin Durant is not a nice guy"

Said nobody ever.

Anyways, from the Times:

"At the Thunder’s training center, after a practice in early October, Kevin Durant and I sat on folding chairs at the edge of the gym. He was wearing a black tank top, black shorts and ridiculously colorful shoes. (Loud footwear is one of his few obvious vices.)" 

Really? I never would've guessed.

Dear Houston..

..don't know whether it is the coaching or the players,

But when it comes down to crunch time,

Can you have a play that isn't just Harden playing Hero Ball into all the defenders?

Or you know, going iso into Lebron fucking James?

Three times in a row?

Thanks.

You would twinkle even if wrapped in a veil..

Postscript.

I spent 50 minutes listening to Heart Station

And I ended up with this.

So who thought pairing an idol contestant with Taeny was a good idea?

Because they came on and stole the damn show.



Also, Tiffany as Lil' Kim made me smile.