nimhworks

Melancholy Rut

2010-02-17T17:43:00.000-08:00

I've been stuck in a full blown melancholic rut for the last few days now although I think there were undertones of it for the past week or so. Things that once made me giddy are making me think of sadder things. My head is unable to stay in the moment. I feel isolated and alone although I am not. I teared up while talking to a co-worker on the phone about it. She suggested I go out roller blading. She's probably right. The less I concentrate and think about things in general, the better I'll probably be.

More than a Richard Castle book signing

2009-10-19T23:55:00.000-07:00

6:30 pm Head to The Grove from work
7:00 pm Arrive at Barnes & Noble. Meet a delightful couple in line, I. and S., on the third floor where the signing is taking place. Quickly find out that you must purchase the book before hand so I. and I head down to the first floor, but the books are possibly sold out. We're told that they may have some in the back if we can wait awhile. I've brought my dvd so I at least have that and I. purchases one as well. A few minutes later -- more books! BAM! said the lady.
7:30 pm We see Nathan Fillion head towards the head as we wait in line.
~7:45 pm Nathan is back and talking to those who actually arrived early enough to sit in the seated area. We're so far back I didn't even know where the front was. We hear muffled words then laughter. :(
~8:00-8:30 pm We catch a glimpse of Seamus Dever and then Jon Huertas -- we wave to Jon Huertas and he waves back! :D
~8:30-9:30 pm Slowly make our way to the front. We're pretty much at the tale end.
~9:30 pm Shaking hands with Jon Huertas! Chatting with Seamus Dever (he was in Ireland visiting family when they recorded the commentaries hence his was separate). Taking pictures with Nathan Fillion. Thanks I!
~9:40 pm Chatting with Andrew W. Marlowe (he actually signs with the "W" in his signature) and Ruben Santiago-Hudson! Didn't even see the latter there until we got up front.
10:30 pm Arrive home in time to catch the last half of Castle
ABC, please pick up Castle!

Crap!

2009-09-27T18:26:00.000-07:00

I just discovered I am a victim of credit card fraud. One credit card was charged a little over $900 at 7 gas stations through 12 transactions over 13 days -- for some reason the thieves took a brake one day, all within the last few weeks. It was dumb luck that I decided to log in today and found these charges. Whoever devised the fraud alert system for my cc company should be knocked upside the head. How can 12 near consecutive gas purchases not seem suspicious? Anyhow account has now been locked, but god damn it what a crappy way to end/start the week.

la times video review

2009-02-27T22:10:00.000-08:00

I never knew the LA Times had these, but I found this one by Mary McNamara on "Life" and couldn't agree more:

FNL

2009-01-19T21:34:00.000-08:00

I have been bit by the Friday Night Lights bug this past weekend (damn/bless you E!), but this time around I vow not to do my usual cyber-stalkerish routine and keep myself spoiler free by faithfully watching each episode. So far E, N, and I have gone through 8 episodes in 2 nights, but it seems we must go our separate ways with work starting up again.

Veterans vs. the raising stars

2008-12-14T11:01:00.000-08:00

Despite missing 4 of its stars, including the team captain and two vice captains due to needed rest, injury, retirement or a combination thereof, the Norwegian women completed a EC hat trick winning it's third consecutive European Championships against the only team who was able to stop its 20+ winning streak early in the tournament with a tie: Spain. I didn't wake up early enough to watch most of the first half, but from the play by play it seems I saved myself much heart ache -- by the end of it, Norway was finding its stride and defending better against Spain's aggressive attacks. After the break Norway rose their game to a whole other level relying on experience and depth of talent to keep at it and completely overtake the warn out Spaniards who highest international placement was 5th at the world champions in 2003 when they defeated Norway to get there. You could tell watching the game that that defeat and the draw in their opening match this time around really drove the desire to not underestimate Spain again, but Spain is a team on the rise. No one spoke of their chances before the tournament and they surprised everyone. The only team to truly beat them at all was Denmark who had been crushed by Norway the night before. The most interesting aspect of all though is that Spain wouldn't have made it out of the main round had Norway not defeated previous medal contender Romania. And they did this while resting their number one goal keeper and basically using the match to give their younger players more tournament experience. Freaking amazing! If you watch the match you will see and hear the Spanish women cheering Norway on. There's no doubt that Spain deserved to make it into the semi-finals and this first trip there and beyond won't be their last.

One sour note during the match was host nation, Macedonia. Who unfurls a giant flag in the middle of the final match over the crowd and expects the team's fans to be happy about it? [scratch that: Ok it was in the last five minutes when it was pretty obvious that Norway would take home gold, but still aiming your anger at the team who has nothing to do with it isn't very sportsmanlike either and Norway was not among the teams complaining about the host.] When it looked like the Norwegian fans in the middle of the stadium refused to let the flag fall over them the crowd turned on Norway, booing them when they were on the attack. Some teams have been complaining about the bad conditions and lack of professionalism with the host nation: occasional blackouts, freezing practice halls, bad security during the matches, etc. I doubt Macedonia will host any handball championships anytime soon. The Denmark/Norway 2010 EC is likely to play better and with greater attendance with so many international players in the Danish league gaining local fans year after year, but first the 2009 World Championship in China! As automatic qualifiers, let's hope the Norwegian players get their much deserved rest, but that's doubtful with so many playing in clubs competing in the EHF Champions League resuming in the new year. Good luck!

Music of '08

2008-11-25T09:41:00.000-08:00

I generally follow the path of least resistance when it comes to picking up on new/new-to-me acts, but this year has been pretty good to haphazardly discovering new music I love:

Fleet Foxes - S/T
- These guys are apparently the new jewel of the Pacific-Northwest so I guess it not that big a find
Born Ruffians - Red, Yellow, Blue
- Fun, funky vocals and harmonies. It's plain infectious. Thank you KEXP Song of the Day podcast.
The Ting Tings - S/T
- Actually the ipod marketed "Shut Up and Let Me Go" is probably my least favorite track, but a good gateway into the body shaking beats this English duo pumps out. Find based off a recommendation after seeing Tegan & Sara live.
Alphabeat - This is Alphabeat
- Pure pop body-shaking goodness from Denmark. Warning: the giddy earnestness of some of their vocals is highly addictive and can lead to a serious case of stuck-in-your-head-itis. (Team) Handball got the ball rolling on this find that was later re-enforced by a random recommendation from an old classmate I facebooked.

Mom and Me

2008-11-08T12:28:00.000-08:00

My mom and I are a lot a like in our quirks. She saves the colored string that hold rice bags together and I save the crumpled up recycled paper that often comes as packing material with online orders. Today I've used both to help "wrap" two gifts -- yeah...

Learnt.

2008-11-04T14:36:00.000-08:00

Today my officemate remarked that her computer was so slow it took half a minute for the "three-finger salute" to register. I replied, what the hell was a "three-finger salute"? Is that like reading between the lines? -- for shame! Is it a generational thing!? I recognize and even mourn a bit that kids these days probably don't know what the "blue screen of death" is, but I've never heard of Ctrl-Alt-Del being called the "three-finger salute." It takes about as long to say either, but I guess there is more anger behind the latter.

California Propositions

2008-10-18T12:18:00.000-07:00

I've been going over The Los Angeles Time's complete editorial board endorsements this morning to print them for my mom and I just wanted to share this line from their No on Prop. 8 position:

Fundamental rights are exactly that. They should neither wait for popular acceptance, nor be revoked because it is lacking.

I'm am dumbfounded by the recent polls showing Prop. 8 is gaining support within the last month or so when same-sex couples have already been marrying since June. Those mean-spirited homophobic Yes on Prop. 8 ads really annoy me -- I want to punch that Pepperdine lawyer in the face. Surprisingly the comments in this post have been rather civil, but I still find the Yes on 8 arguments dumb when none of their fears like gay parents or gay adoptions are actually affected if Prop. 8 passes. Plus the battle call to protect "traditional" marriage ignores the fact that real traditional marriage and not just modern conventions of "marriage" were less about love and family and more about politics, property, and cheap labor.

Debate 3: Schieffer

2008-10-15T18:26:00.000-07:00

This debate is building up pretty well -- wish I had more than audio to go by, but Schieffer's been asking very direct questions! I'm beginning to hear some of the McCain I admired, but then I remember that he picked Sarah Palin and approved ridiculously mean-spirited attack ads and I'm less swayed.

My three Sarahs

2008-10-09T15:45:00.000-07:00

Lately the people I've hearted of most all share the same first name (sort of): Sarah. There's Tina Fey's Sarah Palin impression (hence the 'sort of'), Sarah Haskins of infoMania/Target Women segments on currentTV (I can't watch another Yo-Plus commercial without busting up), and the first Sarah: Sarah Vowell -- satirical author of American history extraordinaire. This week saw the release of Ms. Vowell's fifth book, The Wordy Shipmates, which explores American Puritans. Hmmm I can't wait! (Seriously).

Debate II: McCain Rising

2008-10-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

McCain is doing very well, but I'm getting tired of some of his glib remarks. Obama needs to get more specific, but that's nothing new.

Live blogging Barack Obama and John McCain's second presidential debate [ Los Angeles Times ]

Heh -- Brokaw is trying to lay down the law. Ifill on last week's VP Debate chaos:

VP Debate: factcheck.org follow-up

2008-10-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

FactChecking Biden-Palin Debate

I am still not a fan of Sarah Palin's folksy small town values pathos. Her, well I don't understand you Washington-types remark gets on my nerves. Biden was Biden and handled himself well without relying heavily on "normal folk" cliches -- His mention of his past family tragedy and hardship was a well directed response to Palin's repeated kitchen table/family values narrative.

In general, I don't think it is unreasonable to expect something more of the person who will hold the second highest office of the land.

VP Debate: Palin quote

2008-10-02T18:54:00.000-07:00

I’m so encouraged to know we both love Israel.

VP Debate: Biden vs. Palin

2008-10-02T18:32:00.000-07:00

Gosh! Answer the damn question! Biden had done a pretty good job addressing the question before strolling around it, but every time Palin is up to bat, she blatantly changes the topic "I'd rather talk about (taxes, Alaska, repeat)." It becomes all too obvious when she doesn't know how to respond, but she is finding her stride although filled with hackneyed sound bites.

Live blog: The V.P. debate minute by minute [ Los Angeles Times ]

wait -- are they...?!

2008-09-25T23:06:00.000-07:00

Yes! Finally the party that claims fiscal conservatives under its tent is acting the part. I mean I can't even imagine 700,000,000,000 of anything let alone dollars. Good for you House Republicans! Let's hope it leads to something better than what we've got.

House Republicans say no deal

2008-09-07T22:56:00.000-07:00

on Sarah Palin:

McCain's Palin surprise has journalists abuzz -- Los Angeles Times
Parsing Palin's Speech For Facts -- NPR
Tickets stake out the same territory -- Los Angeles Times
Sarah Palin's leadership style has admirers and critics -- Los Angeles Times
Sarah Palin's appeal to working-class women may be limited -- Los Angeles Times

Auntie

2008-08-31T00:40:00.000-07:00

Just got word. I'm an "aunt!"

more Target Women

2008-08-30T13:25:00.000-07:00

Discussion of Palin

2008-08-29T13:56:00.000-07:00

Palin the VP Choice (washingtonpost.com)

OMG2 (VP)

2008-08-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

Prior to this morning a lot of people speculated that McCain would pick Mitt Romney and I thought, well that's the nail in the coffin. How could his campaign boast the support of Hillary voters?, but damn has the Maverick return!? It sounds like it has been all, but confirmed to be Alaska governor Sarah Palin! The only thing I know about her is that she's often mentioned for her beauty, but she ain't no Katherine Harris.

2008 Olympics: Closing Ceremonies, part 2

2008-08-24T22:09:00.001-07:00

With the athletes semi-quartered off in order to allow the performers to go in and out of the center stage, it doesn't look like that much fun for them. They look like cattle in a human pen.

...

oh good they opened it up. and look Jackie Chan!

2008 Olympics: Closing ceremony

2008-08-24T21:11:00.000-07:00

Grraah! NBC's coverage of the closing ceremony is so maddening! They keep intercutting the coverage with "Performances of the Games" clips that they've already replayed 10 times over. Just let me watch the closing ceremonies in peace!

2008 Olympics, Day 15: Heia Norge

2008-08-23T05:46:00.000-07:00

This is turning out to be an amazing day for Norway. First their woman's handball team wins gold for the first time in the most spectacular and indisputable way, then Norwegian Nina Solheim makes it into her Taekwondo finals, and just now javelin thrower Andreas Thorkildsen, a taller version of Jensen Ackles, has just defended his surprise gold from Athens (he's cut his hair since that bio pic). It's all quite cool.

2008 Olympics, Day 15: NOR-RUS (Handball)

2008-08-23T02:09:00.000-07:00

Hell yay! HEIA NORGE! 34-27 NOR

2008 Olympics, Day 15: NOR-RUS

2008-08-23T01:37:00.000-07:00

The live (text) commentary is slightly ahead of the video stream it's an interesting look into the future...

23 - 17 NOR
10:39 into the second

2008 Olympics, Day 15: NOR-RUS

2008-08-23T01:07:00.000-07:00

15 - 8 Norway, 21:40 in the 1st

HEIA NORGE!

2008 Olympics, Day 15: KOR-HUN (Handball)

2008-08-22T23:52:00.001-07:00

Although I felt bad for Korea, I felt worst for Hungary and wanted them to win. (Sorry Tammie) The Hungarians were matching the Koreans one to one right until the last 5 or 7 minutes when two of their players received two minute penalties and it all fell apart.

Bronze: Korea
4th: Hungary
5th: France
6th: China
7th: Romania
8th: Sweden

Biden!?

2008-08-22T22:09:00.000-07:00

He picks Biden!! I heard the speculation, but I'm still shocked.

2008 Olympics, Day 15: Handball

2008-08-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

Yay handball day! Geez I'm glad I stuck to just following the women's matches or else I'd get no sleep at all with this alternating women's-men's schedule. There have been a lot of drama on the men's side as both the current World Champion (Germany) and defending Olympic Gold Medalist (Croatia) have both been knocked out of the finals. I'm still anxious over France's double overtime win over Romania and Norway's last second win over Korean and the latter team's formal protest proceedings (they've since withdrawn their appeal after being denied.)

So first up the battle for 7th place between Sweden and Romania at 5pm (local), 5th place match between China and France at 7:15pm, Bronze metal match between Hungary and Korea at 10:30pm, and finally the Gold metal match between current World Champion Russia and World Champion Silver medalist Norway at 12:45am -- neither country has won gold before.

Yes when I'm interested in a sport, I really leech latch on! Never saw a match before these Olympics and now there are two sports I really want to see live: Rugby and Handball. Darn I wish we had a league...

Pleeease let Kristine Lunde's shoulder and Nyberg's knee be okay for the finals match!

2008 Olympics, Day 13: NOR-KOR (Handball), last second goal

2008-08-21T11:30:00.000-07:00

2008 Olympics, Day 13: NOR-KOR (handball), follow up

2008-08-21T05:01:00.000-07:00

Thirty minutes after the game has ended and it's official: Norway has won all 7 matches and will play for gold!! Tammie there has to be some Korean media coverage now! Awesome play and by Norway's team captain no less!!

2008 Olympics, Day 13: NOR-KOR (handball)

2008-08-21T04:33:00.000-07:00

OMG again! Norway scores at the very last second to prevent a tie, but Korea isn't having any of it and is refusing to leave the court -- unfortunately NBC is being a dunce again and didn't provided a live feed so I have no idea what the Danish commentators are saying (not that the NBC feed provided anything more than text commentary away...) But god damn! What a good decision I made to telework tomorrow!! 29-28 (Unofficial).

2008 Olympics, Day 13: ROU-FRA (Handball), and finally

2008-08-21T01:26:00.000-07:00

Awesome France. Truly awesome. 34-36.

2008 Olympics, Day 13: ROU-FRA (Handball), OT2

2008-08-21T01:05:00.001-07:00

F**k! Double overtime! AGAIN!! Damn the French women don't give up!

2008 Olympics, Day 13: ROU-FRA (Handball), OT

2008-08-21T00:43:00.000-07:00

OMG! they're going into over time! 27-27 What's up with France and overtimes!?

2008 Olympics, Day 13: Romania (Handball) cont'd

2008-08-21T00:20:00.000-07:00

Ooh looks like Romania is finally waking up. The French look tired.

I still don't understand how some of those penalties are called or rewarded...

2008 Olympics, Day 13: Romania (Handball)

2008-08-20T23:24:00.000-07:00

Damn after their defeat at the hands of Norway's unbeaten women's team, Romania plays like they've given up. It's a bit sad really. They were 4-0 going into their match against the Norwegians and soon after their path to the semi-finals was convincingly denied by Hungary (the Hungarians wiped the floor with them!) and they have yet to take the lead in their placement match against France 22 minutes into the first half. Of course France almost spoiled fellow medal favorite Russia in double over-time so the French seem determined to vie for 5th place against China.
...
Finally Romania has tied the match! But their coach is a big screamer. Don't know what he's saying, but it can't be fun.
...
Hmm a French player has been injured and will be carried out by the medical team. A different kind of 'damn'...

2008 Olympics, Day 13: "Real-Time"

2008-08-17T00:37:00.000-07:00

Dear NBC, In this day in age, "Real-Time" results aren't well served by uploading results after each half. And don't get me started by the whole west coast delayed broadcast and replays of Phelps' races in Athens when they could have been airing other events...

2008 Olympics, Day 9: Handball

2008-08-16T23:01:00.000-07:00

I've been mainly following Norway as they are the favorites to win women's gold, but for their last game against France and the one going on right now against Romania there is no feed to watch it live. What gives NBC!? Norway and Romania are currently undefeated in their pool and this match will determine that pool winner. (Schedule)

2008 Olympics: Handball

2008-08-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

I've been tracking the awesome game that is Olympic (Team) Handball online and it's very amusing to see all the awkward hugs and adorable high fives the little Chinese children give the Olympiads they escort onto the court. Seriously, some of those children try to scale those handballers like a fence!

slow adopter

2008-08-10T13:17:00.000-07:00

I was raised on hand-me-downs and that translated to a practice of slowly adopting new things like technology well past the point they become mainstream. That said, I think what will finally pull me into the HD era of entertainment is Futurama, Bender's Game

2008 Olympics, Day 0: 8/8/08

2008-08-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

OMG that count down was awesome!!

Target Women: Birth Control

2008-08-07T00:31:00.001-07:00

Just watch:

Crablicious

2008-06-15T21:00:00.001-07:00

So my family and I finally went to Crablicious and while the flavoring was good, we left feeling swindled.

~1 lb. shrimp, mix (basil lime, original, garlic butter) seasoning ($8.99/lb.)
~1 lb. crawfish, mix seasoning ($8.99/lb.)
1 dungeness crab, mix seasoning ($10.99/lb.)
1 side order of udon ($1.95)

Each pound of shrimp and crawfish was barely that and the crab, which came pre-cut, was at most 1.5 lbs. (all leg, no body), and when I got the check the latter was a surprising 2.49 lbs. My parents and I bulked and like only a Cantonese mother could in a Cantonese owned/managed restaurant (however fusion it was), she questioned the order with the full weight of a skeptic native speaker who knows what 2.5 lbs looks like. One of the owners soon came by and explained that they may have taken down our order as 2.5 lbs., but cooked something else (duh.) then she quickly, and suspiciously so, whipped out a coupon for a free pound of basil lime shrimp -- that can only be used during our next visit -- that expires in 15 days -- that requires a minimum $20 purchase. They owe me $11, but instead they expect me to spend $20 to get $2 less of what I'm due. So the walk to the car was nothing but grumblings of "tipping the scale" and declarations by my mom that The Boiling Crab is more honest.

The other day at the food court of a Chinese supermarket, my dad overheard a lunching worker explain to a curious Caucasian customer that, "the food may be cheap, but if it's no good then it doesn't matter" after the latter commented on how inexpensive the meal was ($2.99 for soup noodles, etc.) So I'd like to be corny and add that the food may be tasty, but if you're not getting what you paid for it doesn't matter.

Mom, the cheerleader

2008-06-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

Kobe just stole the ball and made a dunk. She cheered, "MVP, MVP"

kiwi + opium

2008-06-07T12:57:00.000-07:00

heh heh my mom and I were eating kiwis and she wondered out loud if kiwis came from poppy seeds because they are so alike. When I told her that opium comes from poppy seeds she quickly responded, "you mean we are eating drugs right now!?"

Why I always mispronounce "fragrant"

2008-06-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

As my mom described the aroma of green onions as being very fra-QUE-nt, it finally dawned on me where I get my slight impediment regarding that word. A teacher in high school once assumed I spoke a second language at home -- oh how wrong she was, but I guess I see why given that as one of possibly many examples. See mom, I listen -- unconsciously apparently. The one thing I didn't unknowingly pick up though was the mispronunciation of my own name which I never noticed until my neighborhood friend pointed out when we were little.

Learning new things about myself

2008-05-10T22:06:00.000-07:00

I rarely drink, but I think tonight gave me some insight that I might be a giddy drunk. My equilibrium was threatened after half a margarita (should have waited for the tacos), but a few sips of really smooth agave suddenly brightened me up. I think if I had actually finished my shot, as small as it was, I'd need help forming a coherent thought.

Hooray for Ferguson

2008-04-30T01:02:00.000-07:00

I thought he did rather well at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner:

And the first day back from it was also hilarious:

I heart pbs / don't heart howser

2008-04-28T00:17:00.000-07:00

After glimpsing the raise of a gorilla king and feeling the angst of dying and declining antarctic penguins -- although King penguins are apparently thriving, I got on board the U.S.S. Nimitz, or as one seaman put it, "Never imagined me in this zoo" and sailed west with the Navy. I heart PBS and the documentaries they air, especially multi-part ones like the 10 hour Carrier series that kicked off tonight -- even if it sometimes feels like a music video and the local station operator or someone messed up the airing of the second hour.

A convoluted story

2008-04-15T12:17:00.000-07:00

I recently bought a fat 300-page A5 sized notebook for fun and debated which color to get it in: black or red. A large red notebook seemed odd to me so I went for black even though I had read someone's comment that people mistook it for a bible. Then this weekend I borrowed Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow from the library and it's a shockingly red bare book written entirely in free verse about a dogcatcher, a girl he loves, and lycanthropes. When I pulled it out of my backpack I thought, this is what it would have been like to pull out my notebook if I went with red. It's bright, but people wouldn't mistake it for something else -- eh wrong. This morning a man on the train asked if I was reading the bible.

Peabody

2008-04-09T00:06:00.000-07:00

Oh! 30 Rock has earned a Peabody Award!

30 Rock, Universal Media Studios in association with Broadway Video Television and Little Stranger: "Tina Fey’s creation is not only a great workplace comedy in the tradition of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, complete with fresh, indelible secondary characters, but also a sly, gleeful satire of corporate media, especially the network that airs it."

Also honored are Dexter and The Colbert Report, Planet Earth, and Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me, and many more [List of winners]

It's not that interesting, but coincidentally I just got a co-worker into Battlestar Galactica (another Peabody recipient) and had just loaned her both my BSG and 30 Rock dvds. -- Hmmm. Took the effort to type that boring tidbit so I'm keeping it in and adding this favored picture for balance:

2008-04-05T18:42:00.000-07:00

Now my mom is scolding North Carolina's clumsiness in Chinese.

Amusing

2008-04-05T18:05:00.001-07:00

Haha when they announced a North Carolina starter from Torrance, California my mom clapped and exclaimed, "oh wow, local boy!" Damn Kansas is on fire!

:(

2008-04-05T18:02:00.000-07:00

It's always "our year" until it's not.

How I won't go insane from the wait.

2008-04-05T13:34:00.001-07:00

While I love watching television on television. I am forever thankful that we live in a time when everything is officially available online. Miss the season premiere of the greatest drama on television today? -- or don't have basic cable? No problem! Just hop on over to SciFi's website or studio-backed Hulu.com and watch away!

BSG on my mind (+ speculation)

2008-04-01T00:02:00.000-07:00

I can't stop thinking about Battlestar Galactica and what the final season could mean for all the mysteries left to uncover, but I realized that if you generalize the over-arching plot points into an epic battle between two "species" and a race to find safe-haven/a new homeworld/Earth, it reassembles the first arc of the 80's anime series of movies: Gall Force -- or more appropriately Gall Force resembles it.

In Gall Force 1-3 two species fight to the total destruction of the other and ultimately themselves, but as the intergalactic war rages on there is a secret plan executed by the higher ups to unify both species (one happens to be all-female, the other androgynous) -- human-cylon hybrid anyone? Additionally you're often left wondering whether all this is taking place in the distance past or future, or as Leoben often quotes, “Everything has happened before and will happen again” -- hmmm so will species unification be the only way for life to continue at the fall of both the human and cylon race?

Able Squad returns!

2008-03-21T21:03:00.000-07:00

OMG Hulu.com has the first season of Exosquad!

BSG is back!

2008-03-21T19:34:00.000-07:00

On April 4th, 2008 the 4th and final season of Battlestar Galactica will air and I can't wait, but since I don't have cable there will probably be some waiting involved.

Anyone catch the cast reading the Top Ten list on David Letterman the other night? In attendance and in character was Chief Tyrol, D'Anna Biers, Gaius Baltar, Sharon, Six, Colonel Tigh, Apollo, Starbuck, President Roslin, and Admiral Adama. (YouTube) True to the Top Ten, some of it was funny, most awkward. I thought the best delivered lines came from Sharon and Starbuck.

For something that is truly funny though check out the speed cap: What the Frak is Going On?

Someone stole my gas! Part 2

2008-03-18T20:30:00.000-07:00

It's official. I left my car with my dad since he wanted to investigate and there is nothing wrong with my fuel gage, my gas was siphoned and now I have a new cap with a lock and key.
3/8 Saturday

pumped: 9.95 gals
cost: $3.459/gal
trip: 213 miles

3/18 Tuesday

pumped: 10.15 gals
cost: $3.599/gal
trip: 75.3 miles

My face feels giddy.

2008-03-15T17:08:00.000-07:00

I can't quite find a better word to describe it, but my face feels giddy -- in a bad way. There is this constant tension in the muscles surrounding my cheek bone and lower eye sockets. It's a funny feeling like needing to sneeze but not. I've being applying pressure and pinching various parts of my face to relax the muscles, but it's not complying.

Someone stole my gas!

2008-03-14T22:55:00.000-07:00

Gah! I just filled my tank last Saturday, but tonight I noticed that there was only a quarter of it left and just 67 miles on the trip meter! Either I was a victim of thieves prowling the train station parking lot today or yesterday when I had to park in the neighborhood, but I'm pissed -- I managed to snatch $3.459/gallon gas right before it jumped 15 cents. I suppose it's better than a missing catalytic converter.

Waiting

2008-02-23T22:48:00.000-08:00

Finally my 30 Rock/Tina Fey withdrawal will be sated (somewhat) by the latter hosting SNL tonight. (Yay! >.<) PLUS Ellen Page will be hosting next week so while it'll still be a few weeks before the show returns there's still that.

I don't know why.

2008-02-22T02:17:00.000-08:00

I'm at that point where my eyes are burning and closing them provides such sweet relief I can't imagine why I'd ever open them again, but because tomorrow/today is my off-Friday, I feel compelled to stay awake -- mustn't waste this precious opportunity to go to bed in the morning and wake up in the afternoon! [typing from my new Asus Eee PC 4G (black) -- pretty sweet]

I'm not a big follower

2008-02-03T19:08:00.000-08:00

I'm not a big follower of football, but oh man those last 4 minutes of the superbowl made me so anxious, my stomach is upset. Manning was really amazing during that last drive. I didn't watch the whole game, heck I only really saw the last 4, but I wanted to the Patriots to win.

Is that chocolate or poop?

2008-01-18T22:06:00.000-08:00

hehe.

Dangerous Situation

2008-01-17T09:35:00.000-08:00

This morning the Metro announced that it would passed through a station without stopping due to a "dangerous situation." In my mind I was thinking gun violence? Police search? A car accident wasn't likely since the train ran along the freeway. When we did roll through the aforementioned station, there were flashing lights, firefighters, and police everywhere, but most prominent of all was a giant inflated cushion and we realized there was a jumper on the overpass. No worries though officials were able to get him down (105 Fwy open again, jumper held -- The Daily Breeze), but the weirdest thing of all was witnessing the backup on the freeway. People were standing outside their cars, many on cellphones and a few conversing with each other. Unheard of in LA! Also I notice one on-ramp turned into an off-ramp although I don't know how they managed that -- didn't notice any traffic personnel, but then again it was right by a CalTrans building so maybe they were there after all.

ticketmaster?

2008-01-12T11:38:00.000-08:00

Well I haven't had the need to purchase tickets lately, but has anyone been able to even reach the ticketmaster.com site? I keep getting "The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading." or something like and it's been like that for the last few months.

3rd time's a charm

2007-12-26T21:47:00.000-08:00

The third attempt of seeing Juno with friends proved to be fruitful -- and it was oh so worth it. I feel a smile building up in me already and I want to see it again as well as purchase the soundtrack.

The scene with Cat Power's "Sea of Love" was especially lovely...

Robots in Disguise - "Turn It Up"

2007-12-22T11:53:00.000-08:00

A number of songs made my obsessions list this year and sneaking in right before the end of '07 is Robots in Disguise's "Turn It Up" from their 2005 album Get RID! (get it?), but "La Nuit" is also creeping onto that list. RID is a electro punk duo from the UK. They're weird and fun and you can hear both tracks on their MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/robotsindisguise

T&S: Trailer Talk

2007-12-21T21:52:00.000-08:00

I loved Forest Fone from The Con, but I think I like Trailer Talk even better especially now that the stress of touring seems to be effecting them:

Trailer Talk: episode 6

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Music of Life

2007-12-21T17:04:00.000-08:00

http://www.have-dog.com/life/ has a compiled list of practically every commercial songs used in Life in one place and the list includes both the aired and online songs where they differ -- awesome.

The enemy's gate is down

2007-12-15T18:54:00.000-08:00

I re-read Ender's Game today and like the all the other times I've read it I feel a bit depressed now, but I'm also motivated to pick up where I last left off on the many sequels, prequels and parallel novels that Card has written. While I devoured this book the first time I read it, it took the next 4 years to eventually finish Speaker for the Dead and I think that was only after reading Ender's Shadow. Maybe I'll finally get beyond the first few chapters of Xenocide or pick up Shadow Puppets, but it bugs me that Ender is so old and Bean is so tall.

Also I had my teeth cleaned today. My jaw is a bit sore, but I can't help myself from running my tongue over my polished ivories.

Reuters: "w00t" crowned word of year by U.S. dictionary

2007-12-14T09:35:00.000-08:00

Reuters: "w00t" crowned word of year by U.S. dictionary

The Good

2007-12-09T22:25:00.000-08:00

I've been watching season three of Titus all day. Forgot how much I loved that show -- it should have lasted longer than three seasons. Curse you FOX! First Titus, then Futurama, Firefly, Wonderfalls, Arrested Development...

Bumpy Week

2007-12-09T01:23:00.000-08:00

This week had a number of highs and lows both in my professional and personal life -- none of which were serious events, but the frequency of the ups and downs made me wonder.

At work some minor "issue" seemed to explode into a flurry of emails where third party persons brought up the specter of whether or not I take any of these application "issues" seriously -- that I'm not giving them high enough priority. Part of the blame lies in the expectation that emails are read as soon as they're sent, but if you infer a high priority with an hour deadline most people follow up with a phone call. Turns out the email and its follow ups were sent while I was eating lunch at my desk with my computer locked and monitor off. A phone call would have helped.

The "issue" took a minute to solve -- a few seconds if I had more RAM, and I keep quoting "issue" because it turns out the "issue" was actually user error: Persons A & B where looking for something they thought was categorized under the label X, but was accidentally labeled Y. Rather than changing the search criteria to all or selecting a more general filter to search on, they figured there was something wrong with the application and voiced that concern to Person C who included D in the email along with other potential "issues" C & D experienced which turned out to be more a policy thing and not critical to their ability to access any data.

Where C & D were concerned, I did a quick patch to whatever ailed them while taking the likely change up to the people who own the application, but it all somehow took a turn for the worst four hours after the first email went out because I had made the mistake of going to each individual for details rather than the group as a whole and somehow a pattern of neglect emerged in C & D's mind and seemed to call into question my professionalism. What riled me was that they were really stuck on A and B's "issue" as evidence that the application and I were liabilities, but -- and I have no problem with A after talking to him, here's no amount of code in the world that would help the guy find what he was looking for when he was looking in the wrong place and failed to widen this search.

Okay. While everything pretty much cleared up the next day, I obviously have some residual frustrations so what will seem like light speed in comparison and lots of minutia...

Monday

Good: First episode of a Life two parter

Tuesday

Bad: SMTP server stopped working
Good: So many of our contacts left, we really didn't know who to turn to, but thankfully we knew of another server.
Good: Battlestar Galactica: Razor came out on dvd.
Bad: Had to stand in line for half an hour.

Wednesday

Bad: Email craziness described above.
Good: Crab for dinner.
Bad: Was told my rent is going up next year by 10%.
Good: Initially it was 20%; somehow managed it down.
Good: Life on NBC -- awesome mid-season finale.

Thursday

Good: Ate at the Boiling Crab for the first time and met new people.
Bad: Seeing that the leftovers were too spicy for my mom, even though I could really tell she wanted to try it.
Bad: Missed the new 30 Rock episode -- forgot to set the vcr.

Friday

Good: Bonus checks came in.
Good: I got to go out for lunch. Mmmm salmon teriyaki...
Bad: Worked more hours than I could charge because the email issue threw me off schedule.

Saturday

Bad: Was let down this weekend. Nothing serious and I didn't try calling myself, but I'm disappointed nevertheless.

Sunday

Bad: It's 3 am in the morning and I'm still up typing this.

I heart T&S

2007-12-02T22:00:00.000-08:00

Ok while I did like 2004's So Jealous after hearing Tegan & Sara's KEXP interview, I wasn't keen on the high range that they sang in, but with this year's The Con, they've have reached the tier that only Sleater-Kinney and to a certain extent The Decemberist (though not so much any more) have reached for me were I'm obsessing over songs throughout their entire discography and kicking myself not buying concert tickets soon enough.

One song I've being drowning in lately: Living Room from their 2002 album, If It Was You. Apparently Tegan was inspired by how freakishly close the neighboring building was:
and here's them covering the boss:

Right? I know!

December 1, 2007

2007-12-02T16:19:00.000-08:00

Well after UCLA lost to USC yesterday, my friends and I tried to put it behind us by going out and seeing Enchanted -- and we were very well rewarded. It's a lot of fun to see and we were all pretty much laughing throughout the film. Other highlights of that day... coaxing a bee off my windshield since it was breaking my heart to see it hang on for dear life when I got on the freeway; the best touchdown of the afternoon; 100% fresh "pear" chips that were really fuji apple chips.

Can't believe it's already December...

Bender's Big Score!

2007-11-30T17:49:00.000-08:00

Hooray! I just finished watching the first of what will be four direct-to-dvd Futurama feature-length films and there is this one scene with the Nibblonians that make me squeal with girlish delight each time I see it. It's only a second long, but it is so adorable! If anyone is interested you should get it now from Best Buy while it's still on sale (sale $17.99, reg. $24.99, msrp $29.99) since they also include a "Best Buy exclusive" bonus dvd inside with two animatics and a sneak peek at the next release, "The Beast with a Billion Backs."

I got my copy this past Tuesday when it was released. I thought I was being smart when I bought it online and selected to pick it up in-store at the Best Buy I believed was nearest to the train station. While I did arrive at that Best Buy after work, it was of course not the one I picked online because I had mixed up the street that store was on versus the city of the store I actually selected which shared the same name. So instead of saving time on my commute since the Best Buy that was closest to where I live was further east than where I was coming from, I ended up spending an extra half hour trying to find the correct place.

But oooh that quick Nibblonian scene makes it all worth it -- and the rest of the feature was equality entertaining and rewarding. Can't wait for more!

Asus Eee PC

2007-11-24T20:23:00.000-08:00

I think I really want one of these: Asus Eee PC. I've been holding out forever for Cowon's Q5 (now Q5W) as a portable device for internet browsing, electronic book reading and video watching -- but that pretty much sounds more like a subnotebook or UMPC. Now with the exception of the small storage space (8GB SSD in the yet-to-be-released Eee PC 8G model) which dampens the video watching, this 2 lb. 7-incher with MMC/SD card reader for expandable memory sounds like fun. Heck, closed it's only a tad larger than an open Nintendo DS light! How crazy is that?

Promising season

2007-11-21T23:45:00.001-08:00

With the affects of the writer's strikes about to hit television in the coming weeks, I'm glad to say there are a number of films I'm looking forward to seeing and I might actually see them while they're still in theaters!

Dec. 7th - The Golden Compass
Never read the books, but I really should since I'm a believer in doing that first...
Dec. 14th - Juno
Liked the trailer, like the actors and is it just me or does Ellen Page look a lot like Linda Cardellini?
Feb. 15th - Jumper
I have mixed feelings about this one because it's nothing like the books which I enjoyed -- although there is a third book I haven't read which apparently is the backstory of one of the film's characters so maybe there are more ties than just the jumping, but I don't know...

Yeah okay so three and one opens next year, but honestly that's a major list for a person whose last film was Transformers.

msnbc redesign

2007-11-15T15:33:00.001-08:00

I'm not a regular msnbc visitor, but a co-worker pointed out their new redesign that's geared more towards wide screen monitors. It's quite nice and here's an article about do-gooders potentially being the worst cheats: Do-gooders can become the worst cheats

Feist tommorrow!

2007-11-11T18:26:00.000-08:00

Hmm, I haven't been to a concert I wanted to/could see in ages -- it's been over a year, but yay Feist and Spoon in 24 hours! I've never seen either in concert and wasn't going to go originally because I couldn't find anyone to go with, but screw it I'm going anyway single ticket for a bad seat and everything.

The always interesting veto go-to note

2007-11-03T22:29:00.000-07:00

This isn't funny, but it made me laugh out loud when I read it:

[The water bill] is the fifth bill that Bush has vetoed -- the fewest by any president since James A. Garfield, who was shot in 1881 after four months in office and died weeks later.

Bush vetoes $23-billion water bill
By Richard Simon

"Land of the free is the land of jail..."

2007-11-03T00:40:00.000-07:00

My new musical obsession is Gram Rabbit. I was pulled in by Bloody Bunnies ("Bloody bunnies in the road really rips my heart to pieces") and Land of Jail ("...land of the free is the land of jail"), but I'm loving the rest of their songs as well and they are having their third album release party this month! The new album sounds mighty fine (four tracks available on their myspace page).

Good Volvo Models

2007-11-02T17:55:00.000-07:00

The following is something my dad picked up from the mechanic that specializes in Volvos: Good Volvo Models: A mechanic's quick guide to the various Volvo models for used car shoppers.

The parts I love best:

240, through 93. One of the best Volvos ever

Thank you. Thank you very much, and:

All [the] above [models (pre-Ford)] potentially last over 1/2 million miles!!!! Even if you have a "blown" engine, it can be replaced with an excellent used unit for under $2500 in most cases. These are the cars that Volvo built its reputation for longevity upon. If a young couple with a baby bought a 1994 with 200,000 miles and a brand new '04 for example, the kid will drive the '94 to college and the '04 will be long gone!

Roll that scenario back a decade or so and I am living proof of that claim. The car I drive was built the year I was born. The transmission has seen better days, but it still runs rather well. Volvo for life! Too bad the current Ford-era models suck:

New V50- mazda clone- the beginning of the end for Volvo.

Bummer

2007-10-30T22:26:00.000-07:00

I love the music on NBC's Life, but I just found out that all the music I love in the aired episodes aren't in the episodes available for free on-line (NBC.com's site -- not sure about paid downloads). It's most likely a licensing issue, but the episodes are completely different with the alternate tracks which have mostly been less upbeat, less quirky, and more hardcore -- typical fare for the genre. I might just try purchasing an episode on amazon.com to see if the same is true, but I fear that when this series goes to DVD, they won't spend the money to properly license the aired tracks and the tone of every episode would be off.

But to help get a sense of what I mean, the video widget from NBC has some of the scenes I love (lucky!) -- specifically: "The Fallen Women" (police looking for Roman, song is "Land of Jail" by Gram Rabbit), "Let Her Go" (police raid on house), and "Tear Asunder" (fight by the pool)

2007-10-25T00:17:00.000-07:00

Have I said how much I like the NBC show Life lately? I like the writing, the acting, the setting... It balances the day-to-day cases with the underlining "who framed Crews?" conspiracy plot very well, but the one pleasant surprise that has really won me over is the excellent use of music. I love the music in Life! While it does have the common mood setting pieces during the serious or emotional parts, the real winners for me are the less usual musical pairings which have often appeared when our protagonists are doing police business like visiting potential contacts or executing a warrant. Other procedural shows would cue the ominous drone, but in keeping with the spirit of intentionally lighting scenes brighter than the genre calls for or filming them outdoors in the sun, Life throws in Spanish rock, electro-pop, and other up-tempo tracks during some of those moments creating a pleasant mix much like yogurt covered pretzels or ketchup flavored potato chips. I don't usually notice commercial music in shows unless it's overtly so or its artist is recognizable (twice I've heard Rilo Kiley's "Silver Lining" -- first in the premiere of Women's Murder Club, and recently in tonight's Bionic Women), but I noticed them here and obviously can't shut up about it. I hope when the DVD set is released, they have enough funds to keep those pieces, but music is usually the first to go.

By the way, Samantha Who? -- also great.

San Diego alone:

2007-10-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

View Larger Map

Local fires on google maps

2007-10-22T12:53:00.000-07:00

latimes.com created a map of all the current wild fires in the area:
View Larger Map

FRONTLINE: Cheney's Law

2007-10-16T22:08:00.000-07:00

FRONTLINE: Cheney's Law

The series debuted with this particularly powerful piece called "Cheney's Law." It sums up a lot that has been in the headlines, but connects the dots between the major "milestones." You can watch the entire thing online. It is very engaging (and disturbing).

Starbuck to the rescue (new fall shows)

2007-10-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

I'm really loving the new fall season. So many new shows are on my watch list: Life (NBC Wednesday 10pm), Pushing Daisies (ABC Wednesday 8pm), Chuck (NBC Monday 8pm), Reaper (CW Wednesday 9pm), but I'm still on the fence regarding Bionic Woman (NBC Wednesday 9pm). While I want to like it, the first two shows were uneven at best. But according to Geek Monthly, if the show is picked up for next season, Katee Sackhoff is contracted to become a series regular (or something like that) -- and so far her reoccurring character is the only good thing about it. She made episode 3 interesting with great acting and the best line of the night ("[we] need to stick together ...maybe form a union"). Michelle Ryan is okay, but doesn't seem comfortable in her role and it's not that her character isn't comfortable with her bionics yet it's just that what her character comes to feel in one scene doesn't seem to match what she just felt in the last or the next. Uneven.

P.S. love Life -- absolutely love it. (so please don't get canceled!)

WIRED's NextFest 2007

2007-09-30T18:26:00.000-07:00

I finally posted the pictured I took from NextFest and the one video I recorded of Keepons dancing to Spoon's "Rhythm and Soul" off their new album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga:
(Sorry I realized after I begin recording that portrait probably wasn't the best orientation to use)

Canada vacation pictures - Day 7-10 (of 10)

2007-09-30T13:44:00.000-07:00

Day 7/Tour Day 3 - Banff, Jasper National Park (September 4, 2007)

Day 8/Tour Day 4 - Golden, Craigellachie, Kamloops, Vancouver (September 5, 2007)

Day 9/Victoria Tour - Victoria (September 6, 2007)

Day 10 - Departure (September 7, 2007)

Canada vacation pictures - Day 6 (of 10)

2007-09-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

Day 6/Tour Day 2 - Banff (September 3, 2007)

Canada vacation pictures - Day 5 (of 10)

2007-09-23T19:57:00.000-07:00

Day 5/Tour Day 1 - Salmon Arm (September 2, 2007)

Canada vacation pictures - Day 1-4 (of 10)

2007-09-23T19:33:00.000-07:00

Day 1 - Arrival (August 29, 2007)

Day 2 - Whistler (August 30, 2007)

Day 3 - Stanley Park, Vancouver Aquarium, Richmond Night Market (August 31, 2007)

Day 4 - Queen Elizabeth Park, Downtown Vancouver, Richmond (September 1, 2007)

Robots that I can get behind

2007-09-15T23:24:00.000-07:00

Wired NextFest (fourth annual, first time in LA) was rather interesting, but made awesome by a four of these sweet 'bots, Keepons:

Move over 80's dancing flower with your black shades and rhythm-deprived moves, Keepons kick ass. They have beat and face recognition which means while you're watching it, it's watching you!!

There were other intelligent robots at the event as well (there was a whole robotics section), but they mostly made me feel sad inside. I kept flashing back to the scene in RoboCop (1? 2?) where he removes his helmet and his partner holds up a broken piece of mirror so he can see himself for the first time (human face and brain, robot everything else).

nimhworks

Melancholy Rut

More than a Richard Castle book signing

Crap!

la times video review

FNL

Veterans vs. the raising stars

Music of '08

Mom and Me

Learnt.

California Propositions

Debate 3: Schieffer

My three Sarahs

Debate II: McCain Rising

VP Debate: factcheck.org follow-up

VP Debate: Palin quote

VP Debate: Biden vs. Palin

wait -- are they...?!

More articles

Auntie

more Target Women

Discussion of Palin

OMG2 (VP)

2008 Olympics: Closing Ceremonies, part 2

2008 Olympics: Closing ceremony

2008 Olympics, Day 15: Heia Norge

2008 Olympics, Day 15: NOR-RUS (Handball)

2008 Olympics, Day 15: NOR-RUS

2008 Olympics, Day 15: NOR-RUS

2008 Olympics, Day 15: KOR-HUN (Handball)

Biden!?

2008 Olympics, Day 15: Handball

2008 Olympics, Day 13: NOR-KOR (Handball), last second goal

2008 Olympics, Day 13: NOR-KOR (handball), follow up

2008 Olympics, Day 13: NOR-KOR (handball)

2008 Olympics, Day 13: ROU-FRA (Handball), and finally

2008 Olympics, Day 13: ROU-FRA (Handball), OT2

2008 Olympics, Day 13: ROU-FRA (Handball), OT

2008 Olympics, Day 13: Romania (Handball) cont'd

2008 Olympics, Day 13: Romania (Handball)

2008 Olympics, Day 13: "Real-Time"

2008 Olympics, Day 9: Handball

2008 Olympics: Handball

slow adopter

2008 Olympics, Day 0: 8/8/08

Target Women: Birth Control

Crablicious

Mom, the cheerleader

kiwi + opium

Why I always mispronounce "fragrant"

Learning new things about myself

Hooray for Ferguson

I heart pbs / don't heart howser

A convoluted story

Peabody

Amusing

:(

How I won't go insane from the wait.

BSG on my mind (+ speculation)

Able Squad returns!

BSG is back!

Someone stole my gas! Part 2

My face feels giddy.

Someone stole my gas!

Waiting

I don't know why.

I'm not a big follower

Is that chocolate or poop?

Dangerous Situation

ticketmaster?

3rd time's a charm

Robots in Disguise - "Turn It Up"

T&S: Trailer Talk

Music of Life

The enemy's gate is down

Reuters: "w00t" crowned word of year by U.S. dictionary

The Good

Bumpy Week

I heart T&S

December 1, 2007