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One of the things you do when you work for InitTech, or for any large conglomerate, is that you participate in stupid little events that are supposed to make you appreciate your job. Bah! And a humbug! Every year we celebrate diversity: the many different people coming together and creating the great InitTech. I always feel like having to say, "Is this good for the company?" That's rhetorical.

Anyway, this post isn't about mocking those events. That would be too easy. I'm wanting to mock the little tchotckes they give to us with InitTech logos. They're all pretty lame. One time we got these calculators that sucked because the battery compartment was so weak that touching it would disconnect power. This year was a "perpetual calendar"/picture frame. "Perpetual" means that it is good forever achieved through the use of several versions of a 31 day month. So tomorrow, instead of it being December 1, it's actually November 31. How's that ditty now?

31 days in September, April, June, November
All the rest have 31
Except February with 31 days...

I am planning on having my own NaBloPoMo in December if you would care to join me.

Labels: ha ha

That Get Smart is on DVD. I should update my wish list.

More info found here. Apparently it only being offered through TimeLife, and won't be in stores until next year. It looks very well done, too, with commentary from Mel Brooks, Buck Henry, Agent 99, and Ziegfried.

I remember spending the $100 bucks for season 1 of the X-Files, the first TV show on DVD. I think I might swing the $200 for all 5 seasons!

Labels: boobtube

Since it is the Holiday Season, and friends and relatives don't know how to shop for me, here's my wish list. These items would be nice to have. If you did take my advice for shopping, you'll notice that these things are related to activities like doing.

Oakley Half Jacket Lenses. For riding, I've been looking to get a pair of the yellow or persimmon for the low light levels of the winter.

Carbon Water Bottle Cages. I'm bulking out this winter so my bike needs to be lighter.

TV on DVD. I'm currently have almost the full collection of these television series. I'm short by a few seasons as listed. Futurama (3,4,5). The X-Files (7,8,9). Northern Exposure (4,5), The Simpsons (7,8,9).

I don't like to play video games anymore, but I do like Chess Master 10000 or whatever it's called nowadays.

Books. I'm collecting the Peanuts which I've gotten the first two books.

Peace On Earth. Goodwill to men. Amazon probably doesn't have this.

Clothes for cycling? I'm a 42 regular which is large for US, but may not be for other countries. A new team jersey would be cool.

Labels: commerce, lists, tis the season

Happy Thanksgiving to those in the US.

I am thankful for:

Mom and Dad. An older and younger brother. Cousins as close as friends. The next generation nieces and nephews. La Familia de Rad. My faithful blog readers. Objective-C and C++. The GCC. Grep. A great text editor. The Apple Macintosh. Powerbooks, the new Mac Books, Pro and other wise. Beautiful girls. Blondes. Brunettes. Redheads. A pretty girl's smile. Laughing with girls. Girls in glasses. Memories of a girl in glasses. The female body. Legs and a little t'n'a. Ghost stories. Being creeped out by ghost stories. Goosebumps. My bike. The wind in my face while on my bike. 15 mph. Uphills. Downhills. Snow in the winter. Cool autumn mornings. Hot summer days. Long winter nights. The Holidays. Charlie Brown and Snoopy. Calvin and Hobbes. Dub. Downtempo. Ska. Movies. Television. DVDs. Earth. Scandinavia. Iceland. The Blue Lagoon. Paris, France. Barcelona, Spain. Apples and oranges. Mangoes. Ice cream. Coffee. Pizza. Hot dogs. Days off from work. Vacation. The weekend.

Thanksgiving only comes along once a year, and it's the time to spend with friends and family. I hope you have an enjoyable one. Eat turkey until you're full, sleep it off, eat the left overs, and watch television.

And remember to be thankful for the things in your life.

Labels: thankful

It's Capitol Swell's birthday. Wish him a happy one by stopping by his blog and posting some comment on any of his posts.

Now what does he need as a present. No matter I've already figured out that out.

Happy Birthday, dude!

The new James Bond film is fantastic. But it's too long and there are some slow spots in the film. Especially with James Bond in love. That's right. James Bond falls in love in this one. And like "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" that doesn't work out too well. It makes him into the Bond that he is today. Except for the misstep in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service."

4 of 5 stars.

Labels: movies, review

Once every so often in grade school we would have a field trip out to Gettysburg. The battlefield being relatively close, we would spend an afternoon looking across the Wheat Field, looking down into Devil's Den, peering through the Peach Orchard or surveying the Union's advantage from the top of Little Round Top. All very majesterial and very much a part of this Nation's collective historical unconscious. Our field trips there were a highlight in the school year. We learned something about our country and we got to spend some time out of doors.

Today's an anniversary of the Gettysburg address. It's probably the most famous of Lincoln's speeches. Very powerful and moving. Here's a way to invert the speech's succinct narrative. It could've been better using Apple's Keynote.

Labels: presidential, school

I keep a meticulous log of mileage in my car. I know what each of the ticks on the gas gauge means. How much gas left in the tank. How much further I can go before stopping and fueling up. It's a metrics I like.

This last tank of gas has been less than average. I was at 150 trip miles on the 3/8 tick mark (the third from the right/full). I was at 198 at the half way mark. By my calculations, I am lagging about 6 miles from my average, and I know why.

Traffic.

I've been stuck in traffic the last couple of days. On Tuesday, it took an hour and 20 minutes to get to work. The normal commute is half that. Tonight, it took another hour to get to my mom's. The normal commute is half that. All this traffic is impacting my gas mileage. And I notice it.

I'm getting tired of driving. When I'm sitting in traffic, wending my way to work, I'm thinking about public transportation. I want a better commute. *sigh*

Labels: automotive

Another week of 60 degree weather. Normally, I like the idea, but it's November. Shouldn't it be nothing but 30 degree nights with 50 degree days? I mean, c'mon.

Labels: hmm

The holiday season is quickly approaching. Next week is Thanksgiving and pretty soon, before you know it, Christmas is here. I don't mind shopping for presents. I usually try to match the present with the person. It may not be something they need or want, but it ends up being something somewhat useful. Plus, I like to think that the thought does count so I feel that the recipient of the gift appreciates the thinking behind the gift.

Yet, some people have a hard time shopping for presents. My advice for them that do is to look at the person's interests and shop for that. I usually start with a list and build upon that. Once in the stores I work with what is available and what seems right.

Another thing is that people don't know what to shop for me. I'm planning to post a "wish list" with a range of gifts that I could use. Once again these are things from something that interests me.

My buddy, Wyman Lee, has moved his blog to WordPress. He thought about Blogger but found that people usually move off of blogger to something better. Even though he doesn't post very often, check him out especially if you have some interest in asian films.

http://jadedwings.wordpress.com/

Labels: F.O.B., well read

The new Bond film opens this weekend. There's a lot of chatter on the net about it. Lots of people are excited and I hear that it is getting some decent reviews.

Here's a link to a page with many of the theme songs from past bond films. I never new how cool they sounded. While certainly there are a few clunkers, putting all these onto your iPod would be cool. Someone rip these for me.

Anyway, there are a few that are cool. Check out the "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" theme song and you'll find the precedent for "The Incredibles" theme. Garbage, a favorite band, did "The World is Not Enough" and it sounds like them. "You Only Live Twice" was sampled by Robbie Williams for "Millennium," but it still is a cool tune. I am going to have to see if the iTunes Music Store has all these.

And of course Bond's Theme song is rather cool as well.

Wow! Next week is the week of Thanksgiving. Boy time is flying by!
I'm going have to post my wish list soon to help those unfortunate
enough not to know what to get me.

There once was a blogger who wrote a review about the movie, Stranger Than Fiction. He had seen it the previous night. Now, it wasn't the movie he went to see, but since that was sold out, it was either Stranger Than Fiction or The Return. Being tired of trite horror films since Halloween had just past and not wanting to watch a movie from behind the brim of his ball cap, Stranger Than Fiction was the only choice. He bought a ticket as did his companions, waited a half hour before getting seated, and patiently watched the film unspool before him.

While devouring a ridiculously large bucket of popcorn, he felt that the movie was trying too hard. That it was too clever by a half. It was as if the writer and director wanted to out clever Charlie Kaufman's writing and out wit Michel Gondry direction. The "meta" style and "wink-wink" that the plot represented indicated to the blogger that the story was very much about a story. The flashes of graphics thought to enhance the picture were gratuitous and show-offy. He was so aware that this was going to be another movie he would not like.

Yet, there was some doubt. How can he not like it when the main character gets the girl? He thought the writers would surely make it a dream, but no it was real. The audience cheered this development. How can you not like it when the fictional writer had ten years of writers block? He knows how that feels. He was pulling for her hoping that she would write, "Fish for sale! Fish for sale!" referencing another of filmdom's infamous writer with writer's block.

Can this movie win him over? It did! The characters live happily ever after. Imagine that! Love conquers all. Live your life as if dying tomorrow would not be bad. The cliches he had to think about. They would've made him give this film a terrible review, but in the end, he has to admit...

...3 of 5 stars. Much better than expected.

Labels: movies, review

The Prestige

Back in the day, magicians ruled entertainment. I found it hard to believe. You'll also find this movie hard to believe once you realize that it is truly fictional. The conceit of this movie turns upon the idea that science can conjure up something truly fantastical. That scientists through there work create an unreality that is macabre. This movie asks us to believe that magicians practice magic, but scientists practice a dark art. The revelation at the end wherein we learn that Tesla was a mad genius who produced a scientific body that defies science. No wonder Thomas Edison and his thugs had to discredit him; his work was not science but magic. And the magicians' illusions were not slight of hand, but pure fantasy.

Hugh Jackman I can't take seriously. For me he is always a comical character. I don't know why, perhaps it was his role in Kate & Leopold. No matter, he was a distraction.

2 of 5 stars.

Labels: movies, review

Since it seems that everybody is linking to today, I guess I have to say it, "This is going to rock."

Check the included link for democracy in action. Go vote now!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/ivoted

My brother worships at the altar of Sid Meier. He's played all of the Civilization games, and has even met the dude. (He should get a job with Firaxis).

I on the other had have complete fascination with Will Wright. On my first PowerBook, the estemable PowerBook 140, I had two of his games, SimEarth and SimAnt. Unfortunately, my brother crashed that machine by playing Civ on it all day. Anyway, SimEarth and SimAnt were fun simulations which I played most of the my senior year in college. SimEarth was my favorite. I could never get some bigger mammals to rule the world. They all ended up being little fuzzy creatures populating the planet. The best though was crashing meteors onto the place and stir up the dust to kill your planet off. I think I want to put that onto my PowerBook 190, but it'll probably run too fast.

It looks as if Will Wright is making a new game that is similar to SimEarth. It sounds cool. I hope it runs on a Mac.

Supernatural, the TV show, scares me.

Several new posts! Wow!

I'm just trying to move the long ghost story post off the front page.

Also, it's el dia de los muertos. Pay respects to your dearly, departed relatives. Or get some Mexican skull and skeleton stuff. Perhaps next year!

Labels: meta

I thought Joseph Fiennes was Kevin J. O'Connor, the dude who played Benny in The Mummy. Throughout the entire movie, I kept thinking, "Man, Benny sure has some acting chops. Who knew?" Obviously, I didn't, so imagine my surprise that it wasn't Benny.

3 of 5 stars.

Labels: movies, review

Why do I watch crap like this? Nuff said.

2 of 5 stars.

Labels: movies, review