Ok, I'm not going to go on about this, but I will say that I saw the Apple page for the iPhone today and it is, as Borat would say… "Very nice". It's a slick device (as you would come to expect from Apple), phone, mp3 player, and wifi-enabled web device. I'm not decided if I really want one, but it is pretty sexy. There are some user interface designs that I find interesting, such as "pinching" a photo to shink it's view and "stretching" to enlarge, and it's cover art 'flip' view of your music collection. I also appreciate the built-in Wi-Fi, web browser, and the simple integration with Google maps. Overall it's a very neat device. I'll be curious to see how real-world use shapes up once it's available.
Category: Movies
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iPhone… very nice!
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Videos: God, Inc., episodes 1 and 2
Found some fun videos on YouTube while eating lunch today, two episodes of God, Inc. by Francis Stokes. You can watch them on his website, francisstokes.com. The comedy reminds me of The Office, or Office Space, but with a twist, the employees in this office work in the corporate offices of God, handling public affairs, marketing, etc. A fine example of the comedy is this:
A new employee is meeting about her new role in the company…
Manager: Sarah Melody Church, you're going to be in product development, right?
Sarah: That's right.
Manager: OK… birth
Sarah: June 3rd, 1976
Manager: OK, and death?
Sarah: November 5th, 2006
Manager: How did you die?
Sarah: Leukemia
Manager: Oooh, ouch. That sucks.
Sarah: Yeah, it was pretty painful, but I had the support of my friends and family, so, that meant a lot.
Manager: Yeah… Isn't there a cure for that? (looking puzzled)
Sarah: No (also looking puzzled)
Manager: (looks at a sheet behind his desk) … Oh, yeah, that's next year. (Makes "tough luck" face)
Sarah: … (looks at floor, sadly)Apparently he's working on Epsiode 3 now. I think these along with Chad Vader are among my favorite web videos of all time. Enjoy! 🙂
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Borat, Burgers, and Beer
What a busy week, so much so that I've neglected my blog… again. This past week, the company I work for treated the team I'm working with to two special days, back-to-back. On Monday we were taken to a mid-day showing of the new film Borat (which was both hilarious and disturbing), and then on Tuesday took us out to Stanich's, a local landmark of sorts, known for their artery-clogging "World's Greatest Hamburger" … a burger stacked with fried egg, ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, relish, etc. It was absolutely delicious, though it made me feel dirty inside and out. 🙂
Tuesday night my friend Jenn and I went to the Mash Tun to catch up, and got sucked into watching the CNN coverage of the midterm election results. At about 9pm PST it seems clear the Democrats had won the House of Representatives, though I was not optimistic that they'd take the Senate as well. However as things turned out, they did. And well, let's say I'm pleasantly surprised.
On Thursday I met Snooks at the Horse Brass Pub for dinner and beers. While there I tried something new, a special beer (presumably for the place) by the New Old Lompoc Brewery, called the Horse Brass Bitter. It was quite tasty, slightly hoppy but not like an IPA, and was light in color.
Like I said, what a busy week.
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HalloBirthdayWeen 2006
Had a great birthday / Halloween party this Saturday. My lovely wife Kelly invited my friends over, and secretly invited them to dress up for Halloween without my knowledge. I had known about the party, but only learned of the costume part on my birthday when Kelly gave me a Black Knight costume (from Monty Python and the Holy Grail). The party was loads of fun, and pretty much everybody dressed up. Special costume mentions go to Ghost Dog for his Space Ghost costume, Snooks (and his gf) for the zombie ickiness, and Ean for his pimp outfit. See the photo site for more pics. Thanks everybody! (NOTE: Posted late, because well, I was none too well on Sunday, and have been busy with work since.) -
Birth day
On October 25, 1974, at approximately 6:50 AM, the skies darkened and the Earth shook. This is the day I was brought into this world, and it was forever changed. Well, ok, maybe not, but still I can dream, can't I? 🙂
Turning 32 isn't that big a deal, much like turning 27, 28, 29, or 31. At least 30 was a 'decade birthday'. Turning 32 is sort of like "yup, you're older than 21, but not 40". Not that special. However, it could be worse, I could be 12 (all the energy, none of the money) or 62 (all the money [I hope] and none of the energy). The only birthday I'm looking forward to is my 37th, related to a Monty Python and the Holy Grail quote:
King Arthur: Old woman.
Dennis: Man.
King Arthur: Man, sorry. What knight lives in that castle over there?
Dennis: I'm 37.
King Arthur: What?
Dennis: I'm 37. I'm not old.
King Arthur: Well I can't just call you "man".
Dennis: Well you could say "Dennis".
King Arthur: I didn't know you were called Dennis.
Dennis: Well you didn't bother to find out did you?
King Arthur: I did say sorry about the "old woman", but from behind you looked…
Dennis: What I object to is you automatically treat me like an inferior.
King Arthur: Well I am king.
Dennis: Oh, king eh? Very nice. And how'd you get that, eh? By exploiting the workers. By hanging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society. -
Well darn it anyway
Yeah, I know, two posts in one night. Well, there's a good reason. Just after I finished writing the last post, I get a call from K. As part of her job at CompuHyperGlobalMegaNet (as GhostDog would say, and yeah, same place) she was invited to a VIP event tonight to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. The reason being, her employer is a sponsor of a very cool exhibit, Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination… where they have all sorts of Star Wars things on display, fun games, etc, all related to the real-life science in science-fiction.
She had called me at my work at about 4:30pm as she was on her way, saying how she'd just learned that spouses / significant others were invited to this private event (food and drink supplied). Since I'd learned this so late in the day (and had my heart set on getting some of the previously mentioned painting done) I declined and told her to have fun. Also, we'd already planned to go about a month from now, when the event would be open to the public, so I thought "eh, sounds kind of boring".
Well, I just got a call from her, she said she was having a blast, that there were all sorts of people in costume, and to check my email. I got the photo to the left from a coworker's camera-phone. Dammit! And here I was, painting the stupid fence. Argh! -
Bruce Campbell Book Signing
Boy, what a day! A few days back, Ghost Dog's better half discovered that on Saturday, September 30th, actor, writer, and all-around wise guy Bruce Campbell would be in town, at the McMenamin's Bagdad Theater doing a book signing for Make Love! (The Bruce Campbell Way). Naturally, Ghost Dog and I were eager to attend.
The three of us arrived just after the doors opened at 4pm, narrowly missing a very long line (and seeing Miranda on the way, who works just across the street). Once inside, we waited patiently for the 5pm arrival of the man. I'd never been in the theater before, but I'd love to go back to see a movie, have some beers, and eat some pizza.
When Mr. Campbell arrived, there was thunderous applause from the full theater. After taking the stage, he spoke for a short time, and then said that since he didn't have anything planned, he opened things up to a Q&A session, which was hilarious (see Ghost Dog's write-up for more details). As you would expect, he's as snarky and witty in person as the characters he plays.
After the Q&A session, Bruce left the stage and went back to the lobby to start signing, and the waiting began. It took about an hour and a half to get our numbers called to get into line, and another 30 minutes in the line, before finally, I got to meet the man. As I walked up to the table he was sitting at, he said "Hello Sir!" While I handed him my books he asked what I did for a living. I told him "A web designer and developer" to which he responded "That sounds like a very sensible job in this modern age." Perhaps. 🙂 After I thanked him, I stood back and took a couple photos of Mr. & Mrs. Ghost Dog getting their book signed, and then we left. How totally cool!
After we left we went to the Horse Brass for dinner and beers, and then to Moon & Sixpence for more beers. What a kiler evening! To the right is one of the two books I got autographed. For the other, I'd chosen to use just my last name, which for any of you who know it, know is rather long. Bruce looked at it and went "[slowly reads last name] eh? That's one heck-of-a name." and proceeded to write it out seperately, one line for each syllable. Sweet! 🙂 (Post-dated, originally written on October 3rd, because I'm a slacker. :))
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Chad Vader (for the uninitiated)
Among of the funnier YouTube videos I've seen in a while (right next to the Star Trek G4TV videos out there) are the Chad Vader ones. I had seen the first Chad Vader a little while back but this morning discovered 'Episode 2'. Watch them in order, they're pretty funny (if you're a Star Wars nerd and enjoy parody). If you haven't seen the Star Trek G4 ones, I highly recommend them too. Artwork, dope.
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I hate the heat
As the title says, I hate the heat. I hate how tired it makes me. I hate sweating standing completely still. I hate how the relative rarity of this kind of heat here doesn't quite warrant the purchase of an expensive air conditioning unit for my house, but being miserable not having one. Urgh.
OK, I'm done ranting. This past weekend Kelly and I accomplished one goal, we ordered a new desk and chair for the guest bedroom / Kelly's office. We also escaped the heat a bit and saw Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. The movie, while great fun, wasn't (for me) quite as good as the first one, but it was well worth seeing in the theater (which, for anyone who knows how I feel about the theater-going experience nowadays, says a lot).
Here's to hoping the weather forecast is correct and that it will drop below 90° F for the rest of the week.
– Signing off, and melting into a big puddle of goo.
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A Funny Star Wars Fan Film
Recently the Star Wars Fan Film award winners were chosen (the top prize was picked by none other than George Lucas himself), this years ‘George Lucas Selects’ winner was Escape from Tatooine, where the entire ending is a spoof of the ending of Planet of the Apes (2001).
However, I was alerted today by my buddy Steve to the Audience Choice winner, which is in my opinion a great deal funnier than ‘Escape from Tatooine’.
Take a look at ‘Pink Five Strikes Back’ here (atomfilms.com)
However you may wish to view the original ‘Pink Five‘ first.
-r-
