Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Friday, January 27, 2006
Arghhh!!!
I had been writing about the Kings and the Artest trade for almost an hour when Mozilla crapped out on me while I was checking the Kings score. NBA.com, you suck!
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Road to recovery
I returned to work today after a couple of days on the sidelines with the flu. It was pretty grueling, as I'm still not feeling too hot. (Actually, I was feeling really hot around the afternoon, when I was sweating in the office.) That coupled with relentless sinus pressure made work not much fun.The good news is, while I was sick, I was able to catch up on Alias season five and watch the last two discs of Lost season one. The bad news is I was somewhat delirious with fever.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Germ warfare
Having a first-grade teacher for a wife has its disadvantages. One of those being first-graders aren't very good with personal hygiene. So it's not a huge surprise that one of the little rugrats got Rhonda sick, and she's passed it on to me. She's got seven of her nineteen kids out sick, so it could be any of them.
That brings me to one of my pet peeves - parents who send their kids to school sick. I understand it's difficult to find a sitter, and not everyone can work from home, but if your kid is contagious, they shouldn't be at school spreading it around to everyone else.
While I'm on the subject, perfect attendance is the most trumped-up concept in education. It seems to me the only reasons the perfect attendance award exists are to prepare our children to be good worker bees and show up to the office no matter how sick they make the people around them, and because the school loses money when kids aren't in class. I never had perfect attendance, and I got good grades and turned out okay. I don't think I ever got Giants tickets or special rewards for getting good grades. But perfect attendance? Let's send that runny-nosed kid to a baseball game!
So whoever you are out there, who sent their kid to my wife's class sick, thanks a lot. Thanks to you, I've got a fever and wobbly, sore legs and phlegm the size of a baseball in my lungs.
That brings me to one of my pet peeves - parents who send their kids to school sick. I understand it's difficult to find a sitter, and not everyone can work from home, but if your kid is contagious, they shouldn't be at school spreading it around to everyone else.
While I'm on the subject, perfect attendance is the most trumped-up concept in education. It seems to me the only reasons the perfect attendance award exists are to prepare our children to be good worker bees and show up to the office no matter how sick they make the people around them, and because the school loses money when kids aren't in class. I never had perfect attendance, and I got good grades and turned out okay. I don't think I ever got Giants tickets or special rewards for getting good grades. But perfect attendance? Let's send that runny-nosed kid to a baseball game!
So whoever you are out there, who sent their kid to my wife's class sick, thanks a lot. Thanks to you, I've got a fever and wobbly, sore legs and phlegm the size of a baseball in my lungs.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
P. Zitty
This blog keeps writing itself. I'm blogging, watching the Kings game in high-def, and a commercial comes on for Proactiv starring...Sean "P. Diddy" Combs? Are you kidding me?!?
Moisturize or Die!
Moisturize or Die!
46 Things That Never Happen on Star Trek
I ran across this while googling for the iBook b.o. smell. No it's nothing new, but it is amusing.
1. The Enterprise runs into a mysterious energy field of a type that it has encountered several times before.
2. The Enterprise goes to check up on a remote outpost of scientists, who are all perfectly all right.
3. The Enterprise comes across a Garden-of-Eden-like planet called Paradise, where everyone is happy all the time. However, everything is soon revealed to be exactly as it seems.
4. The crew of the Enterprise discover a totally new lifeform, which later turns out to be a rather well-known old lifeform, wearing a silly hat.
5. The crew of the Enterprise are struck by a strange alien plague, for which the cure is found in the well-stocked sick-bay.
6. An enigmatic being composed of pure energy attempts to interface to the Enterprise's computer, only to find out that it has forgotten to bring the right leads.
7. A power surge on the Bridge is rapidly and correctly diagnosed as a faulty capacitor by the highly-trained and competent engineering staff.
8. A power surge on the Bridge fails to electrocute the user of a computer panel, due to a highly sophisticated 24th century surge protection feature called a "fuse".
9. The Enterprise ferries an alien VIP from one place to another without serious incident.
10. The Enterprise is captured by a vastly superior alien intelligence which does not put them on trial.
11. The Enterprise separates as soon as there is any danger.
12. The Enterprise gets involved in an enigmatic, strange, and dangerous situation, and there are no pesky aliens they can blame it on in the end.
13. The Enterprise is captured by a vastly inferior alien intelligence which they easily pacify by offering it some candy.
14. The Enterprise is involved in a bizarre time-warp phenomenon, which is not connected with the 20th century in some way.
15. Somebody takes out a shuttle and it doesn't explode or crash.
16. A major Starfleet emergency breaks out near the Enterprise, but fortunately some other ships in the area are able to deal with it to everyone's satisfaction.
17. The shields on the Enterprise stay up during a battle.
18. The Enterprise visits the Klingon Home World on a bright, sunny day.
19. An attempt at undermining the Klingon-Federation alliance is discovered without anyone noting that such an attempt, if successful, "would represent a fundamental shift of power throughout the quadrant."
20. A major character spends the entire episode in the Holodeck without a single malfunction trapping him/her there.
21. Picard hears the door chime and doesn't bother to say "Come".
22. Picard doesn't answer a suggestion with "Make it so!"
23. Picard walks up to the replicator and says, "Coke on ice."
24. Counselor Troi states something other than the blindingly obvious.
25. Mood rings come back in style, jeopardizing Counselor Troi's position.
26. Worf and Troi finally decide to get married, only to have Kate Pulaski show up and disrupt the wedding by shouting, "Did he read you love poetry?! Did he serve you poisonous tea?! He's MINE!"
27. When Word tells the bridge officers that something is entering visual range no one says "on screen".
28. Worf actually gives another vessel more than 2 seconds to respond to one of the Enterprise's hails.
29. Worf kills Wesley by mistake in the holodeck (pity this wasn't done in "Deja Vu" - then we could have seen it 5 times without rewinding the tape).
30. Wesley Crusher gets beaten up by his classmates for being a know-it-all, and consequently has to try to make some friends that are his own age for a change.
31. Wesley saves the ship, the Federation, and the universe as we know it, and EVERYONE is grateful.
32. The warp engines start playing up a bit, but seem to sort themselves out after a while without any intervention from boy genius Wesley Crusher.
33. Wesley Crusher tries to upgrade the warp drive and they work better than ever.
34. Beverly Crusher manages to go through a whole episode without having a hot flush and getting breathless every time Picard is in the room.
35. Guinan forgets herself, and breaks into a stand up comedy routine.
36. Data falls in love with the replicator.
37. Kirk (or Riker) falls in love with a women on a planet he visits, and isn't tragically separated from her at the end of the episode.
38. The Captain has to make a difficult decision about a less advanced people which is made a great deal easier by the Starfleet Prime Directive.
39. An unknown ensign beams down as part of an away team and lives to tell the tale.
40. Spock or Data is fired from his high-ranking position for not being able to understand the most basic nuances of about one in three sentences that anyone says to him.
41. Kirk's hair remains consistent for more than 1 consecutive episode.
42. Kirk gets into a fistfight and doesn't rip his shirt (or even, Kirk doesn't get into a fistfight).
43. Kirk doesn't end up kissing the troubled guest-female before she doesn't sacrifice herself for him.
44. Scotty doesn't mention the laws of physics.
45. Spock isn't the only crew member not affected by a new weapon/attack by an alien race due to his "darn green blood" or "bizarre Vulcan physiology" and thus he cannot save the day.
46. The episode ends without Bones & Kirk laughing at Spock's inability to understand the joke, and he doesn't raise his eyebrow.
1. The Enterprise runs into a mysterious energy field of a type that it has encountered several times before.
2. The Enterprise goes to check up on a remote outpost of scientists, who are all perfectly all right.
3. The Enterprise comes across a Garden-of-Eden-like planet called Paradise, where everyone is happy all the time. However, everything is soon revealed to be exactly as it seems.
4. The crew of the Enterprise discover a totally new lifeform, which later turns out to be a rather well-known old lifeform, wearing a silly hat.
5. The crew of the Enterprise are struck by a strange alien plague, for which the cure is found in the well-stocked sick-bay.
6. An enigmatic being composed of pure energy attempts to interface to the Enterprise's computer, only to find out that it has forgotten to bring the right leads.
7. A power surge on the Bridge is rapidly and correctly diagnosed as a faulty capacitor by the highly-trained and competent engineering staff.
8. A power surge on the Bridge fails to electrocute the user of a computer panel, due to a highly sophisticated 24th century surge protection feature called a "fuse".
9. The Enterprise ferries an alien VIP from one place to another without serious incident.
10. The Enterprise is captured by a vastly superior alien intelligence which does not put them on trial.
11. The Enterprise separates as soon as there is any danger.
12. The Enterprise gets involved in an enigmatic, strange, and dangerous situation, and there are no pesky aliens they can blame it on in the end.
13. The Enterprise is captured by a vastly inferior alien intelligence which they easily pacify by offering it some candy.
14. The Enterprise is involved in a bizarre time-warp phenomenon, which is not connected with the 20th century in some way.
15. Somebody takes out a shuttle and it doesn't explode or crash.
16. A major Starfleet emergency breaks out near the Enterprise, but fortunately some other ships in the area are able to deal with it to everyone's satisfaction.
17. The shields on the Enterprise stay up during a battle.
18. The Enterprise visits the Klingon Home World on a bright, sunny day.
19. An attempt at undermining the Klingon-Federation alliance is discovered without anyone noting that such an attempt, if successful, "would represent a fundamental shift of power throughout the quadrant."
20. A major character spends the entire episode in the Holodeck without a single malfunction trapping him/her there.
21. Picard hears the door chime and doesn't bother to say "Come".
22. Picard doesn't answer a suggestion with "Make it so!"
23. Picard walks up to the replicator and says, "Coke on ice."
24. Counselor Troi states something other than the blindingly obvious.
25. Mood rings come back in style, jeopardizing Counselor Troi's position.
26. Worf and Troi finally decide to get married, only to have Kate Pulaski show up and disrupt the wedding by shouting, "Did he read you love poetry?! Did he serve you poisonous tea?! He's MINE!"
27. When Word tells the bridge officers that something is entering visual range no one says "on screen".
28. Worf actually gives another vessel more than 2 seconds to respond to one of the Enterprise's hails.
29. Worf kills Wesley by mistake in the holodeck (pity this wasn't done in "Deja Vu" - then we could have seen it 5 times without rewinding the tape).
30. Wesley Crusher gets beaten up by his classmates for being a know-it-all, and consequently has to try to make some friends that are his own age for a change.
31. Wesley saves the ship, the Federation, and the universe as we know it, and EVERYONE is grateful.
32. The warp engines start playing up a bit, but seem to sort themselves out after a while without any intervention from boy genius Wesley Crusher.
33. Wesley Crusher tries to upgrade the warp drive and they work better than ever.
34. Beverly Crusher manages to go through a whole episode without having a hot flush and getting breathless every time Picard is in the room.
35. Guinan forgets herself, and breaks into a stand up comedy routine.
36. Data falls in love with the replicator.
37. Kirk (or Riker) falls in love with a women on a planet he visits, and isn't tragically separated from her at the end of the episode.
38. The Captain has to make a difficult decision about a less advanced people which is made a great deal easier by the Starfleet Prime Directive.
39. An unknown ensign beams down as part of an away team and lives to tell the tale.
40. Spock or Data is fired from his high-ranking position for not being able to understand the most basic nuances of about one in three sentences that anyone says to him.
41. Kirk's hair remains consistent for more than 1 consecutive episode.
42. Kirk gets into a fistfight and doesn't rip his shirt (or even, Kirk doesn't get into a fistfight).
43. Kirk doesn't end up kissing the troubled guest-female before she doesn't sacrifice herself for him.
44. Scotty doesn't mention the laws of physics.
45. Spock isn't the only crew member not affected by a new weapon/attack by an alien race due to his "darn green blood" or "bizarre Vulcan physiology" and thus he cannot save the day.
46. The episode ends without Bones & Kirk laughing at Spock's inability to understand the joke, and he doesn't raise his eyebrow.
The iBOok
Another reason to hate Apple: Rhonda is doing progress reports and is using her school-issued iBook. And it smells like feet. Or armpit. It's so bad that, sitting here on the couch, I'm thinking about moving.
We've tried leaving it open to air out, but that hasn't worked. She only uses it to do progress reports and report cards. Meanwhile, this Dell Latitude C400 smells like...nothing.
The iBook funk is reportedly caused by heat and given off by the plastic used for the translucent keys. I would rather not be able to see my keyboard in the dark then to smell like Telegraph Avenue every time I boot up.
Someone had posted about it on the Apple website message boards, but mysteriously that post has disappeared. We'll have to try throwing a dryer sheet between the keyboard and screen.
We've tried leaving it open to air out, but that hasn't worked. She only uses it to do progress reports and report cards. Meanwhile, this Dell Latitude C400 smells like...nothing.
The iBook funk is reportedly caused by heat and given off by the plastic used for the translucent keys. I would rather not be able to see my keyboard in the dark then to smell like Telegraph Avenue every time I boot up.
Someone had posted about it on the Apple website message boards, but mysteriously that post has disappeared. We'll have to try throwing a dryer sheet between the keyboard and screen.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
That 24-hour Starbucks is looking good
Ho hum. Rhonda and I are killing some time at my parents' house. We drove into Stockton for the day for Uncle Ken's belated Christmas party and were supposed to drive home. But Rhonda's got a headache going and is now knocked out on the couch. We're supposed to meet up with Bob and Jamie, who are on their way to Lodi for the night after the Warriors-Lakers game, in Tracy for some dessert. Judging on how Rhonda is feeling, that could be a short visit.
Not much to report today. One of the workers at the Camden McDonald's either has a hearing problem or can't speak English. I ordered a sausage biscuit, I got a bacon, egg and cheese McGriddle. There is not one ingredient common between those two things. We had some time to kill in the afternoon so we went to Valley Fair and just kind of walked around.
I'm looking forward to Michelle Kwan's retirement. Rhonda was somewhat disinterested in the U.S. championship, and somehow I got out of the day without watching any figure skating. It was a good day. Since I have been picture-happy on my blog lately, I salute you, Michelle Kwan:
Tomorrow brings an exciting day of cleaning house, washing dishes and doing laundry. I can hardly contain my excitement. I will also have to watch a lot of Alias and other stuff to clear some space on my DVR. Fox has made it their mission to make my DVR explode by airing four hours of 24 Sunday and Monday.
(Give credit where credit's due: Clever picture from vanmega.com via Google Images)
Well, time to go, off for Tracy and a brief visit with friends before soldering on back to the South Bay. Toodles.
Not much to report today. One of the workers at the Camden McDonald's either has a hearing problem or can't speak English. I ordered a sausage biscuit, I got a bacon, egg and cheese McGriddle. There is not one ingredient common between those two things. We had some time to kill in the afternoon so we went to Valley Fair and just kind of walked around.
I'm looking forward to Michelle Kwan's retirement. Rhonda was somewhat disinterested in the U.S. championship, and somehow I got out of the day without watching any figure skating. It was a good day. Since I have been picture-happy on my blog lately, I salute you, Michelle Kwan:
Tomorrow brings an exciting day of cleaning house, washing dishes and doing laundry. I can hardly contain my excitement. I will also have to watch a lot of Alias and other stuff to clear some space on my DVR. Fox has made it their mission to make my DVR explode by airing four hours of 24 Sunday and Monday.
(Give credit where credit's due: Clever picture from vanmega.com via Google Images)
Well, time to go, off for Tracy and a brief visit with friends before soldering on back to the South Bay. Toodles.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
More of a good thing
From Anime News Network comes the fantastic news that the fanboy-fueled comedy Genshiken will be returning for a second season in Japan.
For those who haven't seen it or read the manga, Genshiken is all about the otaku lifestyle - anime, manga, video games, models, cosplay, porn(!), you name it. It's hilarious and does an effective job of poking fun at the otaku way of life without villifying it. It was definitely one of 2005's pleasant surprises for Rhonda and I, as I rolled the dice on the manga, was hooked, and ended up buying the DVDs as well.
I'd really recommend it to anyone familiar with otaku and their ilk. It's my opinion this property would make for a fabulous translation to an American film or TV show. Imagine a show about comic book fanboys and sci-fi geeks sitting around debating and mocking each other, and you've got a hit on your hands. The closest American equivalents would be Kevin Smith's Mallrats or Chasing Amy.
It gets my stamp of approval. (In fact, I liked that picture above so much it's my new wallpaper.)
For those who haven't seen it or read the manga, Genshiken is all about the otaku lifestyle - anime, manga, video games, models, cosplay, porn(!), you name it. It's hilarious and does an effective job of poking fun at the otaku way of life without villifying it. It was definitely one of 2005's pleasant surprises for Rhonda and I, as I rolled the dice on the manga, was hooked, and ended up buying the DVDs as well.
I'd really recommend it to anyone familiar with otaku and their ilk. It's my opinion this property would make for a fabulous translation to an American film or TV show. Imagine a show about comic book fanboys and sci-fi geeks sitting around debating and mocking each other, and you've got a hit on your hands. The closest American equivalents would be Kevin Smith's Mallrats or Chasing Amy.
It gets my stamp of approval. (In fact, I liked that picture above so much it's my new wallpaper.)
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
A waking lithium flower about to bloom.
Finished up Stand Alone Complex tonight. Initial impressions are it was a great show and ranks up there as one of my all-time favorites. For the casual anime fan, it's a lot more enjoyable than either of the movies, which are more existential and abstract. However, it's still very smart and is surprisingly literary. Without giving too much away, the story and themes are really applicable to the world we live in.
On a side note, they really nailed the Hachiko exit of the Shibuya JR station, and the Starbucks across the street, where the Laughing Man incident takes place and which figures prominently in episode 23. There's also a great shot of it in Lost in Translation.
Review: Infernal Affairs
So Rhonda knocked out early over the weekend, leaving me with a couple hours to kill. I decided to give the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs a shot, and was pretty glad I did.
The film is built upon a clever premise: a triad boss recruits some young members of his gang without priors and ships them off to the police academy. That way he'll have some of his people on the inside to warn him of any impending busts or investigations into his affairs. In the meantime, the police take a promising recruit and kick him out of the academy to serve as an undercover cop. After a carefully-planned bust goes awry, both the police and the triad realize they have a mole.
The undercover cop and the cop who is working for the triad are played by Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Andy Lau, respectively. Tony's one of my favorite actors from his work with Wong Kar-Wai in Chungking Express and In the Mood For Love; most will recognize him as Broken Sword from Hero or from John Woo's Hard Boiled. I've only seen Andy Lau in House of Flying Daggers, and I only saw half of that, so I wasn't too familiar with his work. Both actors are really good in this movie.
The movie this film will draw many comparisons to is Michael Mann's Heat, another film telling parallel but overlapping stories about two men on opposite sides of the law. Like Heat, Infernal Affairs eschews the usual bullets-and-bloodshed angle for a more methodical pace and a character-driven story. There is also an underlying theme relating the trials of the characters to the Buddhist version of Hell.
Infernal Affairs is easily one of the best films to emerge from Hong Kong since the beginning of the milennium. Most of the best and most well-known stars and directors left the country when it was turned over to China, and it's definitely taken a while for the void to be filled.
This film got me started thinking about how Hollywood would screw this up once they decide to remake it (at one time, Richard Gere was going to star in a remake of The Killer, yeesh). I was somewhat dismayed that a remake is in the works, titled The Departed and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon. That is, until I saw the director is none other than Martin Scorsese. The film will also star Jack Nicholson and Martin Sheen.
The film is built upon a clever premise: a triad boss recruits some young members of his gang without priors and ships them off to the police academy. That way he'll have some of his people on the inside to warn him of any impending busts or investigations into his affairs. In the meantime, the police take a promising recruit and kick him out of the academy to serve as an undercover cop. After a carefully-planned bust goes awry, both the police and the triad realize they have a mole.
The undercover cop and the cop who is working for the triad are played by Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Andy Lau, respectively. Tony's one of my favorite actors from his work with Wong Kar-Wai in Chungking Express and In the Mood For Love; most will recognize him as Broken Sword from Hero or from John Woo's Hard Boiled. I've only seen Andy Lau in House of Flying Daggers, and I only saw half of that, so I wasn't too familiar with his work. Both actors are really good in this movie.
The movie this film will draw many comparisons to is Michael Mann's Heat, another film telling parallel but overlapping stories about two men on opposite sides of the law. Like Heat, Infernal Affairs eschews the usual bullets-and-bloodshed angle for a more methodical pace and a character-driven story. There is also an underlying theme relating the trials of the characters to the Buddhist version of Hell.
Infernal Affairs is easily one of the best films to emerge from Hong Kong since the beginning of the milennium. Most of the best and most well-known stars and directors left the country when it was turned over to China, and it's definitely taken a while for the void to be filled.
This film got me started thinking about how Hollywood would screw this up once they decide to remake it (at one time, Richard Gere was going to star in a remake of The Killer, yeesh). I was somewhat dismayed that a remake is in the works, titled The Departed and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon. That is, until I saw the director is none other than Martin Scorsese. The film will also star Jack Nicholson and Martin Sheen.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Resolutions
I think New Year's resolutions are pretty lame normally, since it's kind of pointless to wait until a new year comes along to change something you don't like about yourself. Nevertheless, I have a bunch for this year.
We'll see how it goes. Watch this spot for any update on my triumphs and failures.
Or, if I don't do well on that last one, never mind.
- First and foremost, I need to stop gnawing up my fingers. I have a nasty nervous habit of biting my dry-ass cuticles, until they bleed sometimes. Now that I'm a working professional and have to shake a hand every once in a while, it's gotta stop.
- Stick to a budget. Part of this is eating out less and cooking more. Doing pretty well so far, mainly because I've been working at home more. Instead of getting home by six, demoralized and downtrodden from Bay Area traffic, the food's almost done by then.
- Lose some weight, and actually keep it off. Umm, let me get back to you on that one. Not doing so well...Rome not built in a day.
- Elminate the massive backlog of stuff I need to watch. I have been buying DVDs and (legally) downloading anime from BitTorrent for a long time and partly due to the wedding, partly due to sharing a TV with someone else, partly due to having a life - I just don't have the free time I did when I was single. Gradually, I have to watch some of this stuff to stop being that guy who gets told, "What?!? You haven't seen <fill in the blank>?!?!?" Maybe I get this off to a good start by watching the last nine episodes of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.
- Blog more. Lucky you.
We'll see how it goes. Watch this spot for any update on my triumphs and failures.
Or, if I don't do well on that last one, never mind.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
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