Totally swiped from Linkinn, where it was swiped from somewhere else. Too good to pass up, though.

Top 5 most dangerous roads of the world

#1: “Road of Death” - Bolivia

North Yungas Road is hands-down the most dangerous in the world for motorists. This one clearly endangers your life. It runs in the Bolivian Andes, 70 km from La Paz to Coroico, and plunges down almost 3,600 meters in an orgy of extremely narrow hairpin curves and 800-meter abyss near-misses. A fatal accident happens there every couple of weeks, 100-200 people perish there every year. In 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank named the La Paz-to-Coroico route “the world’s most dangerous road.”

here.

#2: Guoliang Tunnel in Taihang mountains (China)

The wall of the tunnel is uneven and there are more than 30 “windows” of
different sizes and shapes. Some windows are round and some are square, and they range from dozens of metres long to standard-window-size. It is frightening to look down from the windows, where strange rocks hanging form the sheer cliff above and a seemingly bottomless pit lying below. A village, opposite the tunnel, appears to hang on the precipice.

#3: Most Dangerous Tourist Hiking Trail (China)

(already reported here)

This is a heavy-tourist traffic area in Xian (Mt.Huashan). See details

#4: Russian Siberian Road to Yakutsk

The official federal-government highway to Yakutsk, and it is also the only one to get there. This can turn into a major humanitarian disaster during rainy spells, when the usual clay covering of the road turns into impassable mud blanket, swallowing trucks and tractors alike.

Here is an aerial shot of this road in winter:


There are also rumors of a quite normal 30 km stretch of Russian country road, which gets an unexplained amount of car accidents; the locals suspect underground gas seepage which causes motorists to fall asleep... This creepy tale is supported by the evidence of car crash statistics and the tales of survivors, who do not remember anything prior to the crash and act strangely "drugged" afterwards. Hopefully this will be properly investigated before the road claims more victims.

#5:  Nepal, Tibet & Bangladesh Roads

A road in Nepal, leading from From Katmandu to Everest Base Camp.



A typical India-Nepal Road. There is also a "death road" in Bangladesh, but we don't have enough information.

This is going to be another one of those posts where I simultaneously gush effusively over something/one that I really adore while attempting to objectively describe it. I also need to get Toshiro Mifune out of my system. And Kurosawa. More of that later.

I think I've described before how very much I detest the bulk of American made films. They're visual masturbation, with no real emotional tie to the audience beyond a laugh here or screech there. They do not involve using your brain to decipher the probable next series of events or to appreciate the rich colors or symbology used in concurrent scenes. Five minutes after you've watched it you forget it, and if a friend happens to ask, "Was such-and-such good? I'm thinking about renting it," you can only give lackluster answers. Bleh. Pretty faces are chosen over real talent ( a major failing in American cinema), with the end result being that many times the better actor is looked over in favor of someone with more dollars-worth of plastic surgery. 

I digress.

I watched a couple of movies lately that were worth mentioning. Here's a brief overview:

Pi: Faith in Chaos- Another Darren Aronofsky film. Not quite up to the standard set by Requiem for a Dream, but then I doubt he'll ever reach that level of greatness again. The black and white filming helped to better connect the viewer with the black and white world of math. It also dated a very recent movie. A good study of obsession, but nothing I'd watch again.

Hot Fuzz- As far as comedies go, this one was pretty good. I won't buy it, it wasn't that good, but I did enjoy the continuous poking at American cop movies. The throwaway lines like "By the power of Gray Skull" had me rolling, too. 

Alien- Mostly hype. I was not terribly impressed. The effects were well done for the time, but I had a hard time ever fully engaging myself emotionally with the two-dimensional characters. The suspense build-up was also lacking. And I knew that damn alien was in the escape pod. 

Run Lola Run- German-made movie. I watched this when I was in high school and it stuck out enough in my mind for me to rent it again to figure out why. I enjoyed the fact that the protagonists of the movie were- gasp- normal looking people. I also enjoyed the three different takes on events. Nothing I'll see again, though.

Ran- Another Akira Kurosawa movie and a remake of the classic King Lear by Shakespeare. I haven't seen one by Kurosawa yet that I didn't love. The opening scenes of this movie were so lush with beautiful visuals of Mount Fuji that you could almost frame them. Throughout the movie the acting was so intense that you could feel the pain, the fear, the anger... It was beautiful. I highly recommend this movie. 

I find myself becoming addicted to movies by Kurosawa, especially those that have Toshiro Mifune in them. That's a dynamic duo that is fairly unbeatable. I'll stop gushing now. 

Toshiro Mifune (1920-1997)


Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998)

I was pleased too,  with the choice of the actors and actresses who made up the cast, though I did have a few small gripes. Rickman's character spent too much time carrying on and Hoffman's accent was atrocious. They both played their respective parts to the hilt, though. I give them props for that. The women chosen were beautiful in undefinable ways, unlike the Vogue-type American actresses who wear too much make-up, dress in tastelessly revealing clothing, and rely more on their physical attributes than any real acting ability. I digress. Lastly, the performance of Jean-Baptiste himself was well done, making it hard indeed for the viewer to feel very comfortable with the character.

As for my gripes: I can't recall a single note of the movie score. A good movie score should never overpower the visuals itself, but rather add to them and evoke the appropriate emotional response from the viewer. It's a testament to the directing of the movie that the visuals managed to do this mostly on their own in this case. 

Another gripe: I realize that the use of darkness in the scenes with Jean-Baptiste was very much on purpose and for a variety of excellent reasons. I just don't care for poorly-lit movies, I suppose. My poor vision is never really helped when I have to strain to see what's going on. 

Lastly, I would have liked to have seen some closure for poor Rickman. Or some kind of tie-in between the scene where Jean-Baptiste finally manages to kill his daughter. A scene that tied in the line acknowledging the fact that Jean-Baptiste would never know love- perhaps a fantasy scene between Laura and Jean-Baptiste after she opens her eyes in the bedroom and sees him looming over her would have been nice. A few well-spoken, well-thought out lines would be nice. I don't know. To each their own. 

Other than that, I would probably recommend this movie four stars out of five. You should definately watch it if you're looking for something out of the ordinary. People with milder tastes would be revolted and people with a goldfish mentality would be bored.  Everyone else- head to Blockbuster.

I've decided that when I'm rich and famous and own some multi-million dollar property that I'm going to indulge my bibliophilic (Is that a word? It should be) tendencies to the max. In fact, I've already discovered several really interesting ways in which to do so, like this soak tub that caters to those who are more literally-minded. 

I'd probably have something a little less angular, but it's a start. 

I also adore the cliched doors-behind-bookshelves thing. I'm going to take a leaf from Mrs. Winchester's book and hide random crap all over the place with no logical rhyme or meaning to it. Bookshelf doors will be the status quo. How can you not like them?

And just for the hell of it, maybe these couches for the game room. They don't go with the book theme, but... Well, what the hell.

I had a ton of fun. I really did. There was a little drama, but it was mostly due to sickness among the familial peoples.

Day 1 (Saturday): We left right after I got off work Saturday morning. We spent most of the morning driving and stopped at this little Greek place in Baker, California. They served a really mean Greek salad complete with feta cheese, crisp red onions, and other green goodness. It was delicious. I also scored some baklava that was not quite as good as Mama's but still pretty awesome.

We arrived at the Excaliber, where we proceeded to get well and truly separated from each other. We unpacked, freshened up, and then (I) blew about $60 on one-armed bandits (which really no longer technically have arms). We cleaned up again and headed to the showroom, where we watched knights jousting. I was pretty impressed by both the horses and the tumblers. The horses were just about bombproof and responded really well to their riders. They even seemed to be having a lot of fun. The tumblers were amazing. They flipped and jumped and pyramid-built all over the splintery ring. The food was tolerable.

Day 2 (Sunday): After an almost decandent brunch at the Excaliber's buffet, we walked over to the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, where we got to go through Shark Reef. That was interesting. There's this little tunnel that goes through an aquarium at one point and a mock-up of a sunken ship that looks out onto some really big barracuda, white-tipped shark, and some relatively large stingrays. There was also a tank full of aggressive eels and a tank full of baby jellyfish (not a cool as the one in Monteray).

We switched our luggage over to the Luxor (a rather time-consuming venture considering the huge line of people there) and got our two new rooms. They were pretty luxurious. The Internet service I bought sucked. I only got a connection about twenty minutes out of the day.

We ate at the Luxor Steakhouse. I had filet mignon for the first, a delicious grass-fed New Zealand eight ounce that positively melted in the mouth. I think I'll dream about that steak until I die. I also had cheesecake with caramelized pears. Mmmmm. There was a Mondavi old vine wine that was excellent, as well.

Day 3 (Monday): We ate at the Luxor Cafe, which was bland and seemed packed with gamblers and old show girls. Then we headed for the 3D Imax and watched a program on the Deep Sea, which was voiced by Johnny Depp (yay!) and Kate Winslet. It was pretty interesting and the 3D effect really added to it. Then we turned around right after that and watched a program on Dinosaurs, which would have also been great if we'd been in our original seats. As it was, we got cricks in our necks and ended up a little dizzy.

Next we went through a mock-up of King Tut's tomb. It was mostly interesting, though it suffered from delusions of grandeur and could have done without so much dust on the displays (really, there's a time and place for authenticity). We tried out one of those rides where you sit in a chair that is synchronized to move in time with what's happening on the screen. That was disappointing. It was ten minutes of waiting through corny instructional videos and two minutes of actual ride that suffered from poorly written scripting and cheap graphics.

The highlight of the night was Thunder From Down Under, the male strip show we saw at the Excaliber. It was an hour and a half of pure carnal bliss. I sat next to a gay couple that endured a lot of joking at their expense. I also had the pleasure of watching my grandmother grin guiltily from ear to ear. I took a picture with the guys after the show but I was so nervous that I ended up with a weird facial tick. Annoying. The blonde younger one was the best- he had a nice smile.

After that we walked the strip. It was loud and bright and the wind sandblasted my poor contacts. It was fun watching all the people, though. I also took my first taxi ride. 

Day 4 (Tuesday): We checked out, dodged taxis and Brinks trucks to load our luggage, and took off for home. We stopped in Primm, Nevada for lunch at the food court of an outlet mall. There were some really expensive stores there, like Burberry, D&G, Versacci, and Gucci. I bought a pair of K-Swiss finally. I also tried a juice smoothie called a Powerzone from this juice stand called Jugo Juice. It had shots of energizers in it. It was pretty good. 

All in all, a very fun trip. I'm glad I got to go.

Lot of random stuff to report. I spent two whole days sans sleep because I had to work, then get taxes filed in the middle of my sleep time, work some more, then hit a couple of appointments. The tax filing was worth the $75 I paid to get it done because I'm getting a whopping four digit number in return.

I paid twenty bucks to go get a pre-lim for a physical with my usual doctor's assistant practitioner. She had about as much personality as a bowl of oatmeal. I think that had she smiled her face would have split in two, Hell would have frozen over, and the Dems and the Republicans would declare a lasting friendship and invite each other over for a sleepover complete with cookies and milk. She offered to do all those female physical things for me, too. I declined. I suspect she's one of those people who would enjoy causing agony. I can picture her torturing Jews and gypsies at Auschwitz.

After the doctor's I went and got my hair done for the first time in months. Despite the fact that I now look like a red-headed Rogue, I'm pretty pleased. I have bangs for the first time in about ten years. It's...different. I'll get used to it. 

Then I went shopping. I discovered that working nights + subsisting entirely on Rockstars and orange juice is the best method for losing weight. Apparently I've dropped two sizes without realizing it. Bully for me.

The ex called. He hasn't figured out he's the ex yet. He left me a message about being in a car accident and losing my number, which is why he couldn't contact me for almost a month. Bully for him. He knows where I live. And lest I sound completely heartless, I really do care about him as a person and I hope that both he and his car are okay. And that the new location works out for him.

Oh, and the paper I procrastinated on got a B+, even though it was two days late. He he.

A few rules to shop by, in order that you don't drive store clerks crazy:

1. Know what you're shopping for when you go shopping. Wal-Mart is not a mall. Have more than a general idea of what you're looking for when you ask where it is. Simply asking, "Where's that new thing that was on T.V. two nights ago for five bucks that you use to trim... you know...ah....I think, shrubs, they're called..." is not going to get you a speedy answer. Some of us do have lives outside of Wal-Mart and no they do not revolve around watching for Wal-Mart related ads on T.V.

2. Whistling is not a polite way of asking for help. Clerks are not dogs. Though we may be accused of being barking mad for working for you cretins.

3. Pick it up when you drop it. We're not your damn mothers, either.

4. Pushing a shopping cart is liking driving on the freeway. Don't cut out in front of someone just to go slower than they are. Especially if they're pulling a pallet. Clerks' heels should not serve as brakes for four hundred pounds of motor oil on a manual jack.

5. Don't rant at the stockers. If they had the power to order the stuff that's not on the shelf when you want it to be, do you really think they'd be out on the floor dealing with you? That's what managers get paid such outrageous amounts of money for. Go bitch at them. My ten bucks an hour doesn't care that you can only use one brand of cream on your genital rash.

6. Clerks are not babysitters. In fact, we turn cannabalistic after about midnight and children are so soft and succulent. Don't tempt us.

7. Wal-Mart is not a place for socializing, unless you have the misfortune of working there. Do not go trolling for members of the opposite sex while at Wal-Mart. And really... do you really want to have anything to do with the kind of people who shop there anyway?

8. Wal-Mart is not a place for socializing. Clerks could care less about your cheating spouse or the faulty digestive tract of your aging feline. There are paid professionals for that. If you want a sympathetic ear that won't cost as much as a psychiatrist, buy a dog. See #2.

9. Clerks at Wal-Mart are not to be lumped into one mentally deficient category of humanity. College has to be paid for somehow.

10. Believe it or not, we don't know the exact price and location of every item in the store. Wow. Read the signs, dumbass. If you still have questions, refer to #1. Prices can be verified by looking for price scanners, which contrary to popular opinion, are not installed in the clerks' craniums upon being hired.

11. Exclaiming loudly, "Well, I guess I'll just have to go shopping at Target because Wal-Mart doesn't carry it anymore" is just plain stupid. Clerks really don't get paid enough to care where you shop. And your paltry contribution to our paychecks is not enough to induce us to do so when you really look at the numbers. So don't pull that I'm-the-customer-and-I-pay-your-bills crap.

Believe it or not, I am actually very nice to the majority of my customers, and I do try to help them to the best of my ability. But I am quickly becoming very cynical about humanity in general.

Please be nice when you go shopping. We're people, too.

I always love it when people send you stuff after it's too late to do anything about it. Like Dell sending me the renewal notice for the warranty on my laptop three weeks after it expired, or my school sending me my exam registration papers on the day that they are due to be turned in. 

Get your shit together, people.

I spent six months in a relationship with someone who assured me that he was all sorts of honorable, in love, and faithful. I must be really gullible for that line to have worked. He was none of those things. He was pushing for sex way too early, which should have pinged on my Freak Radar but somehow didn't. He was willing to jeopardize both of our jobs by getting involved (which resulted in both of us getting transferred against our will). He systematically lied to people about our status as a couple and wouldn't allow me to claim him as a significant other. He was always invited to my family gatherings but only introduced me to his father because he happened to come home while I was standing in his driveway- even then he only referred to me as a friend. He took special pleasure out of finding my buttons and then deliberately pushing them. 

I flew out of town to bury me grandfather. He never felt the need to call and commiserate.

One night I went to his house to visit him after work. I tried calling on the way and he never picked up. I waited outside for a while and saw his car coming down the street. He slowed, saw me, and kept going. He then called me and told me he had to take a friend home. After that incident, he always pushed me to always call him before coming over. 

I told him I loved him at one point and he told me 'thanks.'

Now that he's moving, he seems to have felt that it's no longer worth it to keep up the ruse of interest. He hasn't called or stopped by. Frankly, I'm glad. It's about time that I stopped deluding myself. I was used- I was naive and gullible and way too taken in by his glib talk and cute face. The fact that the coward can't even call me to say that he's seeing someone else doesn't surprise me. 

Hindsight vision is always 20/20, right? Well, I take responsibility for putting up with his crap for so long. My bad. But I hope someday that he falls head over heels for someone and she uses him in turn. Karma is a bith like that.

And yeah, I'm a big believer in karma. My last boyfriend treated me like a princess. I never treated him like crap, but I did have the insensitivity to break up with him over the phone after everything he did for me. Crap, I should have stayed with him. I lost something good with that. Karma bit me in the ass with this one.

I won't do anything stupid, like badmouth him to everyone I know or go spray paint BASTARD on his new car. I'm not the vengeful type. But I do sincerely hope that someone hurts that liar as much as he's hurt me. 

*sigh* Rant over. That was cathartic. Tomorrow is another day. And hey, I've already been out on a date with another guy. Life isn't all bad.