fruityÖaty

A few readers inquired about the password-protected Pi area in my blog AND demanded user login passwords. :-D

Pi is accessible via that funny looking "n" in my top navigation menu. It doesn't look like the normal Pi symbol because I didn't use Times Roman font. Pi is a joke reference to The Net, a 1995 psychological thriller directed by Irwin Winkler.

In the movie, Sandra Bullock plays the lead role of Angela Bennett, a computer programmer whose life is threatened after being sent a disk by a friend. Her friend stumbles upon a mysterious software system and wants help in debugging it. The disk contains "Mozart's Ghost" which looks like a regular band web page except for a little Pi symbol in the lower-right hand corner. Clicking on the Pi logo with the correct keystrokes will allow access to a new computer security software system. After her discovery, Angela's life is in danger from the Praetorians, a secret gang of cyber-terrorists who delete her entire digital identity - bank accounts, credit cards, etc.

I know, I know, I know... I am such a geek.

5 years ago, I tested a CD-ROM demo application containing a tiny, almost imperceptible Pi symbol linking to Google, inserted by a developer who obviously thought he was being funny and clever. When I told him I had found it, he seemed slightly amused yet pissed because his joke had ended. Yes, the geek-o-meter is off the scale in this geek-laden entry.

Well, I am not obviously going to divulge what the Pi area in my blog contains, however, if you really must know, the password to access it is mentioned in the following 8 true fruityoaty Pi facts... :-D or maybe I am just completely bullshitting you about the password part:

1. Pi is the first two letters of my nickname given to me at birth which is in no way a variation of my middle name which also begins with "Pi". At first sight of me, my Mom said, "Oh, she looks so _____, let's call her _____." My sister's nickname is even odder, which somehow makes me feel a lot better about mine. Sometimes, my father mixes up our monikers... literally. For example, one time, he combined the first 2 letters of my sister's nickname and the last 3 letters of my nickname... and we don't know who he was referring to... It was very confusing.
2. Pi is a 1998 film co-written and directed by Darren Arofnosky, which I had mentioned in this earlier post. It is about a paranoid mathematician searching for a key number that will unlock the universal patterns found in nature. I actually saw Darren Arofnosky and his squeeze, actress Rachel Weisz in the North American première of "The Fountain" (a film co-written and directed by Arofnosky) during the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival. My sister thinks I am very odd and she would never ever pay to see a film like Pi.
3. Magnum, P.I. was an American television show that aired from 1980 to 1988 and followed the adventures of Thomas Magnum (played by Tom Selleck), a private investigator living in Hawaii. I watched this show regularly in the late 80's because my big sister, a big fan of the show, regularly held the TV set hostage. She was also much bigger than me so I was scared to change the channel.
4. Life of Pi is a novel by Canadian author Yann Martel. A young Indian boy ruminates on issues of religion and spirituality and survives on a life raft with a huge Bengal tiger for 227 days. The novel is the winner of the 2002 Man Booker Prize. For some reason I can't pinpoint (because I liked the parts I read), I am unable to finish the last 2 chapters of this tiny book. My sister, a more avid book reader than I am, shares the same predicament, however, she is able to articulate the reason - something about falling asleep. Perhaps it's because the mix of faith, nature and dangerous animals is old hat to her. Our earlier years were spent in a farm-like setting, surrounded by finger-biting ducks and chickens. We can recall near-death experiences with nature, raging floods, poisonous rattler snakes and rabid dogs that chased you for miles to tear into tender young flesh. We also survived years in a militant Roman Catholic private school staffed by dour German nuns, English-speaking Filipino teachers who threatened to beat you if you misbehaved (which apparently included not knowing the answer to 5x5 in Grade 1 or forgetting to answer in English), and a crotchety old female librarian who wouldn't let anyone read or touch the books.
5. Pi is a mathematical constant, approximately equal to 3.14159, which represents the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter in Euclidean geometry. When referring to this constant, the symbol Pi (again, that looks like a funny "n" because I am not using Times Roman font) is always pronounced like "pie" in English. Incidentally, my sister makes the most awesome pies and doesn't know Pi beyond 3.14. :-P
6. According to my Wikipedia search, Pi Day and Pi Approximation Day are two unofficial holidays held to celebrate the mathematical constant Pi. Pi Day is observed on March 14; Pi Approximation Day may be observed on any of several dates, most often July 22. One way of celebrating is to eat a pineapple... which is a heck of a lot better than eating a square radish on Square Root Day. Incidentally, I've been called pineapple by several people throughout my life, but I suppose it's better than being called "square radish". I don't think my sister has ever called me pineapple or radish, but she has called me "odd" or "square" a few times.
7. Pi is a song by Kate Bush. According to this guy and this other guy, Kate's song is mathematically flawed and that she in fact sings the digits of Pi incorrectly. Yeah I know, who cares? My sister thinks I am very odd for liking music by Kate Bush because she thinks Kate Bush is weird. Kate Bush IS weird.
8. Pi is also the name of a song and video by Hard 'N Phirm, sent to me by a friend who asked me about the Pi thing. It's a funny video spoofing a children's educational program on American public television in the 70's. Here is the video, for your listening and viewing pleasure:

Enjoy. "Did somebody say pie?" I like pie! Especially fruity plum pie.

Au revoir,
Massa P aka "fruity flakey Pi"

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