"The intel on this wasn't 100%."
 
Monday, June 28, 2004
European Vacation 2001: Just minor works.
Aug. 9 2001
13:20 Going the the Hermitage. Tamarra. Helen. Vladimir. No flash photography. Hermitage -- a place of solitude. Catherine II. 1764.
16:25 Done with the Hermitage. Saw French Impressionists? Winter Palace. Bye St. Petersburg.

The Hermitage was cool. My brother said it was filled with minor works. I think it had some good stuff. I remember Rembrandt's Prodigal Son, which we had seen in our 10th grade art appreciation class.

Labels: ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 9:45:00 PM
0 comments
Nice shiny metal. And Big!
Apple just introduced their new cinema displays. Sweet! Is 30" too big for the desktop?

Labels: , , ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 9:38:00 PM
0 comments
To Russia With Love
More about the first time in St. Petersburg, Russia. We had visited the Palace Catherine the Great. It was huge. We had lunch in touristy restaurant. They had vodka. I sat next to an elderly lady who challenged me to keep up with her. The vodka had a funny after taste. The old lady got me drunk. The food was strange. I had fun.

Labels: ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 9:23:00 PM
0 comments
Sunday, June 27, 2004
Jeebus Saves!
The Christian school Mean Girls, Saved is one of the better movies that I have seen this summer. It makes you think about religion and approaches the question of how do you incorporate religion into your modern life.

The only problem is the tone of the film. Was it satire? I thought it started out as such, but morphed into a straight morality tale by the end. I had laughed lots at the start, but was somewhat melancholy at the end.

Watch it. It is good.


3 of 5 stars.

Labels: ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 6:01:00 PM
0 comments
Friday, June 25, 2004
This is Jeopardy.
Remember yesterday I was talking about the unstoppable Jeopardy champion? Well on today's show, he finally received a worthy challenger. His challenger was knowledgeable and quick on the button. He also was very ballsy betting all of it for a true daily double during double jeopardy with very few answers left. He nailed it and closed the gap with the champ. Unfortunately, they gave an easy answer in the final jeopardy which everyone and his mother could answer. (My mom got it.) All throughout the game, his challenger was nervous knowing that he had the champ in a close match. Thumbs up to this challenger, he deserves to come back in the champions league.

Labels:

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 10:59:00 PM
0 comments
Thursday, June 24, 2004
What is you suck?
Have you seen the latest Jeopardy champion? As of today, he has won about half a million dollars. And it doesn't look like he will lose anytime soon. This guy is phenomenal and can't be stopped. The closest anyone has got was when he missed final jeopardy, but his competitors could not take advantage of it. I am waiting for the rule change to reinstitute a champion's reign. The only thing: he should bet big.

Labels:

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 9:33:00 PM
0 comments
European Vacation 2001: In Russia
Aug. 8, 2001
10:00 Waiting for St. Petersburg. Looks like the Russians won't let us in. Looking over the passenger list. It looks like Napolean waiting to conquer St. Petersburg. Hitler trying to conquer Stalingrad. We may not be successful.
10:15 We're cleared to have an excursion in Russia. I hope I make it back.
11:00 Anatoly and Micah as our guides.
16:00 Back in St. Petersburg from Pushkin. Drunk from vodka. Got me a bottle.
17:40 St. Isaac's cathedral. "All roads lead to vendor." Thad dude was right. There are the most beautiful girls here.
17:57 Strike by the sea pilot's union kept us in bay this morning. Welcome to Western economic difficulties.

More to say later...

Labels: ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 9:16:00 PM
0 comments
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
This is a post from email.
This is an email post. This should be a
link.

Labels:

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 10:46:00 PM
0 comments
AFI's 100 movie songs
I thought this would interest you: The American Film Institute has published its list of the top 100 movie songs. I thought that La Marseille should have been in there because of the way it was used in both Casablanca and Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion. Of course the latter is French so I think that would exclude it from American movies.

Labels: , ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 9:33:00 PM
0 comments
European Vacation 2001: Helsinki
Aug.7, 2001
08:30 Helsinki. My stomach aches from breakfast. Oh! Kaisa. Going to the fortress of Finland.
11:45 Coming back from the fortress on a ferry. Ghosts stories to tell. Dark tunnels. Granite walls. I wonder if you can ride a mountain bike through there?
13:00 Fast, fast, fast food. Stomach churning. Burgers by some brown brothers is good.
13:25 Going back into Helsinki. Tour of the city. What's her name? Tuija. Arne are our guides. 5 million people. 500,00 in the city.
15:00 Rock Church. Looks like the Planet of the Apes church. Blasted out of rock.
21:05 After dinner walk and wrote some email for outragous prices. Still feel fat.

Helsinki, Finland. Very neet place. Land of Linux. In fact the tour guide pointed out Linus Torvalds house or the house he had lived in as a child. They are really proud of him there. The city is small. The island fortress was cool. The Finns call there homeland Suomi. I want to go back.

Labels: ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 8:47:00 PM
0 comments
The Birds
I have a bird problem.

My condo has a rather large deck off the family room. It's nice to take in the summer evening air out on it after work, especially when it is not hot or muggy. Except, there is a pair of birds (swallows or finches I think) that have perched out back and made my deck their own territory. They like to use one of the sprinkler heads as a perch. Every time I go out back these two fly off and return with reinforcements. These birds dive bomb me while I am out on my deck. It freaks me out.

Does anyone know how to discourage them from using my deck as their love nest? Can a wind chime help? I really want to crush them. String up their dead bodies as a warning to the other birds.

Labels:

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 8:40:00 PM
0 comments
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
European Vacation 2001: Sweden land of ABBA
Aug. 6, 2001
01:00 We are losers!! Hot chicks. We are losers. At the Disco. Old man at the disco.
07:50 Woke up early for tour of Stockholm. Breakfast. Wait for tour to start.
08:00 Viking greet us on shore. Note next time Walter take axe. Nynashamn w/Avia our tour guide. Uva is our bus driver and he's a viking.
15:10 Gerry is late. Gustav built this town of Stockholm. Visited Valhalla.
16:00 Goodbye, Sweden.

Stockholm, Sweden was cool and grey. The port of Nynashamn on the Baltic was very pretty. Situated in a calm bay, it looked like a dock on a lake.

Labels: ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 9:17:00 PM
0 comments
Monday, June 21, 2004
Stepford Wives
Saw Stepford Wives tonight so that you don't have to. Let me warn you now. It is humorless and lifeless as the robots of the original. Did I ruin it for you? Good. Don't see this movie.

1 of 5 stars.

Labels: ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 10:35:00 PM
0 comments
Sunday, June 20, 2004
European Vacation 2001: @Sea
Aug. 5, 2001
15:20 Woke up @ 11:00. Breakfast. Now wandering the ship looking for things to do.
17:45 Getting dressed. Lots of wrinkles. Am I wearing something good for formal?

This must be the day we spent on board at sea. Also, the formal Captain's Dinner occured that evening. On a cruise, there is usually nothing to do but eat, since the food is free. It's the drinks that cost something, even the drinks at the casino.

Labels: ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 6:29:00 PM
0 comments
Stardust
Music Sounds Better With You. I saw this video only once, but can't forget it. When will it be on iTunes.

Labels:

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 9:52:00 AM
0 comments
Saturday, June 19, 2004
European Vacation 2001: Great Danes
Aug. 4, 2001
07:30 Free porn in the morning. Got to get up.
08:25 Breakfast. Check in.
09:00 Copenhagen City Tour. Winnie is our guide. Christian is our driver.
10:30 Palace of the Queen. Beautiful wood floors. I wonder if Pergo makes them. Sleepy.

Saw the famous little mermaid on this tour. My brother started his hot dogs of the world tour with a red pulsa in the park.

Labels: ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 9:59:00 PM
0 comments
Dodgeball
Caught a matinee of Dodgeball. Funny, funny, funny. First, the great Stephen Root is in it, as is the hilarious Vince Vaughn, and that guy in all those commercials, Joel Moore. Christine Taylor/Marcia Brady looking cute. Lots of dodgeballs to the groin. Good popcorn movie for a Saturday afternoon.

3 of 5 stars.

Labels: ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 7:59:00 PM
0 comments
Racheal Harris
Yes. That girl on VH1's Best Week Ever. I love her in glasses.

Labels:

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 7:48:00 PM
1 comments
Late Night
This segment of Late Night with Conan O'Brien is always hysterical. Don't watch it while drinking a beverage.

Labels:

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 1:23:00 AM
0 comments
Entering Guyville
Liz Phair does Stuff Magazine. I find her attractive, but this smells like a cry for attention. Why, Liz, why?

Labels: , ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 1:14:00 AM
0 comments
Friday, June 18, 2004
European Vacation 2001: "Here we are in Copenhagen. Very nice."
8/3/2001
07:10 Iceland!! 48°F in summer. Cool. What time is it?
12:50 Danish time!! Jumping and dancing in the sky. Not to much sleep so far. Land this sucker. Icy stewardess.
14:15 Denmark time. Danish Kronar. Simon is our guide. Mom's hand carry is on the other bus. Bye. Bye. 4 billion bridge!!
14:50 Radisson Hotel. Confused because too much to do. It's a beautiful hotel. Getting registered for the cruise.
15:50 We're going out to town. Mistaken as a porter by some guests. Porn on TV. "Log Jammin'"
19:00 Tivoli Gardens is nothing more than Busch Gardens in Denmark. Can't wait until Duff Gardens opens. Feet sore. Tired. Dinner at Shanghai Garden. Farther from home, the more we eat Chinese. Gerry is sleeping.

We went through European customs in Iceland, and then in two hours, we caught our transfer to Copenhagen, Denmark. This was the proper start of the cruise. We would stay in the city for a day before boarding the ship.

Now Copenhagen is a fine city from what I have seen of it. Tivoli Gardens is there amusement park featured in the center of the city. Some Filipino maids told us how to get there by walking. Almost all maids or hotels workers we ran into were Filipinos. The main attraction is a shopping promenade which we walked and found a Chinese restaurant. The waiter was from Canada and complained about the taxes. Across the street was the a large Tuborg Beer sign. The suite we had in the hotel must have been the business man special, because we got porn movies. We did not watch much because I thought we would have to pay for it. The porn was not on the hotel bill I paid.

Labels: ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 11:59:00 PM
0 comments
Riddick... You murderer!
Like Van Helsing, before him, the hero of this movie needs only one name. Riddick. He makes his return from the darkness of Pitch Black in this sequel. I must confess I have not seen the first movie. It would help you if you did, because some of the characters and all the emotional weight seem to be embodied in the relationships and interactions of those that survived the blackened hell of the first movie. But since I didn't see the first movie, I could care less about that. The Chronicles of Riddick is not bad. I was confused as the action scenes are a jumble of bodies and spaceships in motion. You can hardly tell what is going on, especially when the movie in the second reel turns into a jail house flick. Why'd they switch up the plot on us? Sci-fi I like. Riddick is cool. The movie so-so.

3 of 5 stars.

Labels: ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 12:17:00 AM
0 comments
Thursday, June 17, 2004
European Vacation 2001: The flight continued...
Aug. 3, 2001
0:30? -> I don't know the time. Walked around the plane. Drunks in the back. When do we land? listening to the oldies channel. Better than really bad Euro film, "Russian Doll." Naked Mariah Carey on the screen?
??? 2 hours to go. The kids in the front ringing the stewardess button. Hot stewardesses. Blonde!
??? Greenland on the left and the sun's coming up. That's so cool. The kids up front finally losing their energy and going to sleep. Waiting for "start me up."

It was a six hour flight to Iceland where we had a lay over before continuing onto Copenhagen, Denmark. We left around 8:30 pm, which would have put us in Iceland around 2:30 am EDT or about 6:30 in the morning. Smokers and drinkers were in the back. The movie was atrocious and must have catered to the Europeans on the flight, so I didn't bother to watch it. Greenland was a darker shade in the dark shadows of night. I think there was no moon during the flight. Greenland loomed rather large in the plane's window or was it just the Artic Ocean? The onboard radio station had only one good channel of music and also, I believe, a comedy channel. I remember listening to Neil Young's "The needle and the damage done" at least 10 times during the trip if not more. Made me want to learn the song on my guitar. Can't wait to see Iceland's airport. I want to see land soon.

Labels: ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 8:58:00 PM
0 comments
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
European Vacation 2001: The flight.
Aug. 2, 2001
Iceland Air
20:00 -> plane to Reykjavik is late will board @ 20:20
22:45 -> served dinner. stuffed shells & spinach, salad, bread, choc. cake. bland but good to fill stomach

I was raring to get this vacation going. Nervous, because of flying. Anxious to see Scandinavia. Was dying to see Iceland. Interesting that I noted the airline food. Iceland Air was not a major airline. I think that it is somewhat a budget way to travel to Europe. The best thing is that they have direct flights from BWI. No need to stop at Newark or JFK for an international flight; it's just one airport to Europe.

Labels: ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 9:07:00 PM
0 comments
European Vacation 2001: A Sea Tour!
In August 2001, my mom, younger brother, aunt, cousin and I took a cruise through the Baltic Sea during which I kept a short journal of the daily events. I am gonna blog a post for each entry in the log which usually was a short account of where we were and what we did. Hopefully, I won't put any weird commentaries from me like I would do if I kept a diary. Here's the itinery:

  1. Copenhagen, Denmark
  2. Stockholm, Sweden
  3. Helsinki, Finland
  4. St. Petersburg, Russia
  5. Tallinn, Estonia
  6. Gdansk, Poland
  7. Oslo, Norway

This was one of my favorite trips even though cruising is not my cup of tea. If I can figure out how to post pictures you may see some of what we saw. Hopefully, though this will give you, the reader, motivation to see Europe.

Labels:

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 8:40:00 PM
0 comments
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Get Your War On!
This comic strip makes me laugh and cry at the same time. Sums up my feelings about the War on Terror.

Labels: ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 9:57:00 PM
0 comments
Faster Pussycat Kill Kill
Slate has an article I think my cousin Angelie should read. Her cats, before they were put in a kennel outside, constantly peed all over my mom's basement. It still reeks of cat urine. Her cats have me really on the verge. I feel like poisoning them with some of the pool chemicals. Cats suck.

Labels:

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 9:11:00 PM
0 comments
Internet Jukebox
Around 1998, when I was toiling away at a web design firm (if they still exist), I had brought up an idea that was ahead of its time. See, one of my co-workers was all about downloading mp3. He always seemed to have a connection to the ftp/warez site with tons of mp3 for the taking, this before the advent of Napster. My idea was to combine the internet with music on demand, an Internet Jukebox. Radical at the time!

I always thought people would want to hear a tune (which could be bouncing in there head), surf to a site, select it, and stream it to his computer all for a quarter. Yet my idea always died when I thought, "Who would pay a quarter to listen to music once when you can download it free?" With the success of iTunes, it seems that my idea really was way ahead of its time.

Next time I'll run with my ideas.

Labels: , ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 8:54:00 PM
0 comments
Saturday, June 12, 2004
The Iron Sickle!!
Once again Slate has a terrific article on the legacy of Ronald Reagan. He helped usher in the era of great Russian wrestling villians. How can anyone forget the epic battles between Dusty Rhodes and Nakita Koloff. The American Dream versus the commie ruskie. This was truly Reagan's legacy.

Labels: ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 12:00:00 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
Surprise!
Check this site out. I am rooting for the suspension of elections. My parents emigrated from the Philippines here to get away from Marcos's policies which eventually turned into martial law. This may happen just yet.

Labels:

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 9:19:00 PM
0 comments
Lakers v Pistons
I am not an NBA fan, but I seem to end up watching their playoffs every year. I am a sucker for the underdog. Of course, since it is the pretty boy Lakers in the finals it makes it easier to root for the Pistons. I believe that Gary Payton and Karl Malone should be denied the chance to ever be called champions. Come on Pistons!

Labels: ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 9:10:00 PM
0 comments
House Furnishings
Since moving into my own place last year, I have been searching for furniture. I have yet to find something I really like. My style seems to be retro/mid-century modern, which is making a come back.

Designs Within Reach - not really cheap like they imply, but a sense of style that is slightly affordable.

Room And Board - if I could I would buy all my furniture from here.

Labels: ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 8:56:00 PM
0 comments
Sick
Started as a tickle in my throat. Then sniffles. Then feeling of tiredness. Headache. Somewhat nauseous. Went home early from work. Should I go in tomorrow?

Labels:

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 8:44:00 PM
0 comments
Monday, June 07, 2004
New CDs I bought
This past weekend while shopping for a gift for my cousing (30! Happy Birthday, Gerry!) I also bought a couple of albums from Best Buy. First up is The Art of Noise's "Who's Afraid of (The Art of Noise?). A classic early 80s album from the masters of found noise as music. Close to the Edit. Moments in Love. I must have been on an old school kick, because I had also picked up Bad Brain's I Against I. I swear that the intro was covered by Metallica or was in homage of Metallica. Either way you can't beat hardcore as practiced by rastafarians. The last album is a live De La Soul album recorded live. Now live rap CDs suck. This one does too. You can't hear the beats. Don't buy it. I am not gonna give you a link it is that bad. And I am a really big De La fan and saw them live and rip shit up on there De La Soul is Dead tour. 2 out of three ain't bad.

Labels: , ,

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 11:49:00 PM
0 comments
Saturday, June 05, 2004
So true, but so sad.
I never knew how prescient The Onion was, but damn, this "article" gets less funny because of how true it ended up being. Funny but a tragedy for all of us.

Labels:

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 5:44:00 PM
0 comments
Thursday, June 03, 2004
Porno! Porno! Porno!
One of the crazier statistics about the World Wide Web is that for every link we are almost "always 2 clicks away from pornography at any time." Let me get my blog to be in the thick part of that distribution curve. Here's a more refined porno site.

Labels:

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 10:36:00 PM
0 comments
Brood X
The cicadas have been in town for a few weeks, since the beginning of May. Only recently have they been swarming. I think they were waiting for nicer weather, because in the last 2 weeks they are everywhere. And loud. Louder than highway noise. I drive with my windows down and can still hear them over the wind, the radio and the other cars.

Labels:

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 10:28:00 PM
0 comments
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
Learning to Blog
I noticed that most of my posts do not contain links to something of interest. In other words, my posting habits are not driven by something I have read on the internet. I seem to be doing this blogging thing wrong. Well, let me fix that habit. At Folklore.org, you will find interesting history about the Apple Macintosh by some of the designers and developers who contributed to the project. It is very interesting reading if you love the Mac.

Labels:

Posted by: SoNSo1 | 12:14:00 AM
0 comments
Newer›  ‹Older
Ceçi n'est pas une footer.