End of another year?

I thought as we draw close to 2007, I will acknowledge the year that was by finally taking part in one of its technologically hip trends. Yes, this was the year that the social networking phenomenon took off and I finally succumb and joined one. It's not really the whole networking with friends that I really care about (although it does seem to do some of the keeping in touch with others that I am otherwise so poor at). I just want to play with all of the web apps that are developed for such sites. So if you ever visit my page, don't be distracted by the endless random social applications (or not, it's experimental that way). As I am shocked and surprised that anyone reads this blog, I will be pretty impressed that you leave me a message as well.

Oh, I never mentioned which site I finally joined, huh? I have been telling everyone that since I am such a Google whore that I want to join Orkut, with the tag line of, "It's the number 1 social networking site in Brazil!" In the end, I will just have to play with OpenSocial apps elsewhere....

Parental Quiz

So when I open the fridge and see this:

Should I think:

a) Man, if there is room for individual pieces of candy in the fridge (it's on the bottom shelf too), I obviously need to do some grocery shopping.

b) Well, at least they want to take care of the candy they have and not let it melt in my couch.

c) Why haven't I eaten their Mr. Goodbar yet??

The crazy things kids do....

New! Bigger! Improved!

As much as some are seeing me develop into an Apple whore, my heart (or flower, if you want to keep the dirty metaphor going) already belongs to another. If you are talking about me willing to at least try to use every product that they spit out, just put the word Google in front of it and I'm there. I admit I did stray for a while there during the getting-to-know-you honeymoon phase with my iPhone, but with Gmail now supporting IMAP, the Google Reader coming out of beta, and my continual quest to better organize myself with the help of Google calendar (sharable so my wife/secretary can do the actual tracking of dates), I am back to being a faithful follower of all things G. (incidentally, if you are one of the lucky people with a few shares of their stock, I am waiting for my residual in the mail)

All of which leads me to introduce the newest feature of this humble blog. To the right you will see all my shared items from my Google Reader.....Who gives a crap what I am reading while at work everyday, you may ask? ... Well I don't know, what are you doing here now reading about my technically promiscuous ways? As you will probably notice, the items are heavy in tech and food items. Because if there is one thing that I like to do, it's eating good food and playing with gadgets...preferably both. (I'll be awaiting my invite)

Save Your Allowance....

Caught up on some TV today and watched the 100th episode of Family Guy. Stewie finally kills Lois, and it leads to an entertaining cliffhanger...then I see this blurb on the 'ol Internet...

Boy hires hitman to kill parents ground denies Playstation, TV

I think there is a social message that I can be ranting about, but my soapbox is in the shop, and I'm sleepy...

On a related note, I am almost ashamed to say that new Hitman movie looks good, and I never played the video game.

Public Service Annoucement

IMG_8355
Originally uploaded by Alanmine

Now, I understand people not giving out the best candy on Halloween. I would buy candy and keep the good stuff for myself too. I also understand you getting rid of candy that you don't want. I have also sorted through my kid's bounty, pulled out the crappy stuff, and gave them out to the 15 year old kids who come by at 9:30 at night with no costumes and a pillow case. But please, use a little common sense. Please do not give out those old chocolate laying around thinking, "Gee, we should get rid of those cute little chocolate that looks like little bottles of wine." Because kids biting into razor blades are no fun, but making my kids drunk before bed is not acceptable either. Thank you. *cue cheesy music*

Losing it all...

As if the Cal football season isn't being flushed down the toilet fast enough, now our most famous moment in the sun is being surpassed. Life as a Golden Bear is not good right now.....

(Got to admit though, this is a pretty awesome play in a totally ridiculous way)

Who needs the Kwik-E-Mart?...I Doooo!!

As a tie-in to their long awaited movie, the Simpson has a promotional deal with 7-11 to give the Kwik-E-Mart experience at their stores. As an even deeper tie-in, a few selected stores were.... er.....selected to be completely transformed to look like an authentic Kwik-E-Mart. Now if that isn't worth a little trek down the peninsula, I don't know what is. So down in Mountain View, nestled between the Computer History Museum and Google headquarters, one can live like any citizen of Springfield and get themselves a donut with pink icing and sprinkles, and wash it down with a Squishee or perhaps a Buzz cola. If all of that isn't enough of a surreal experience, how about...

- We waited in line to basically shop in a 7-11. How crazy is that????



- At the Computer History museum, there was a wedding taking place....I don't even know what to say to that.

- At said museum, at said wedding, we heard a mariachi band playing....I need to be invited to weddings like that more often.



- While in line at 7-11 (let us digest that last statement again......), the person regulating the line at the door was heard soliciting a job from the guy in front of us (who was wearing a Google t-shirt) I should have known that Apu probably has a Computer Science degree and probably worked at a call center for Adobe in Bangalore before becoming an entrepreneur in Springfield.

Anyway, they ran out of Buzz Cola, I didn't feel like buying overpriced Krusty-O's, and none of us were brave enough to eat donuts with bright pink frosting (well, Hannah wanted one, but this was one of those rare instances where my good parenting sense kicked in).


(Thanks Sis for the help with the pictures)

Item #463...

...things you would not see in your house if you did not have children.


Courtesy of my iPhone!

Karaoke Sara

Sara singing Seasons of Love from Rent. I don't have anything to add. It speaks for itself.

Temptation

I want to give a sincere thanks to all of you.

Really, I appreciate your efforts.

You have used very good reason and common sense to try and talk me out of it You tell me it's just not my time yet. If I can just wait, it will only get better.

Well, I couldn't do it. It sucked me in like nothing ever before and I found that I can resist it no longer...

Purely a Business Decision...

Enjoy the scene now, the tickets will be sold soon. I have to get that iPhone fund going somehow...

Bad Luck

Losing your driver's license mere weeks after your renewal. (My last license lasted a good 5 years) - Bad

Having to spend my lunch break sitting at the DMV, surrounded by the weirdest looking bunch of people ever. (Doesn't normal people need to go to the DMV anymore?) - Worse

Coming home to a letter from the Coliseum letting you know that they have a "property" of yours. - Priceless!

Where's Webster? (not the short kid)

I had a discussion with a co-worker today where she told me that she doesn't think she is "nerdy", but that she was more "dorky". I didn't know what the difference was except that she claims that dorky is just basically a little un-cool where as you are nerdy if you are a math major or play a lot of WoW. (I only hit .500 on that one). Well I looked it up and came up with these definitions:

1. Slang A stupid, inept, or foolish person
2. Vulgar Slang The penis.

I don't think either of those about my co-worker. Maybe she should find a new term to describe herself, like ghee, or even, chipmonkey! Suggestions welcomed.

I Really Am Not That Geeky...

Breakthrough brings 'Star Trek' teleport a step closer

Disclaimer:

- I am not a Star Trek fan at all. I've seen a few, mostly Next Generation ones, but that's it.
- I do not claim to completely understand what the article is talking about. For some reason, quantum physics fascinates me. I like how I, at best, barely wrap my mind around the ideas. Somehow, having something just beyond my mental reach is stimulating.

Of course, I can say the same about woman. (Probably not the only time women has been compared to quantum physics)

Yattai!

Serial dramas are so much better when watched all together. How many of you have had '24' marathons? Who is still planning to finally rent 'Lost' season 1 and start getting into the mythology? (Is it just me?) Heroes lost a significant number of viewers this year because it kept going on extended leaves where people was held in suspense for weeks at a time. I think I might have quit caring if I was put in that position as well. But I got to the party late, and sure watching it online leaves some things to be desired (No more Orville Redenbaucher commercials!!!!), I took two and half weeks and watch 23 pretty engrossing chapters of ordinary people discovering extraordinary chapters. Like any good fantasies, your level of suspense must be...er..suspended quite a bit to fully get into the story (my favorite moment of the finale: Sylar stopping bullets before they hit him, only to be skewered by Hiro running at him with a sword. Was he distracted by Ali Larter's hot body too?), but I had a good run, cuddling up to Britt in bed with the laptop.... Now if anyone wants to check out some resourceful folks wandering around an island in the same outfit for 3 years, I am ready to go....

A Good Run

3 more chapters online, one finale on the Tivo.

So I was about a week off. I figured NBC would at least keep them online that long. With the announcement of the DVD release (with HD-DVD version too. Another reason to get my Xbox 360 fixed), and the launch of summer contents like graphic novels to keep people interested, maybe I had more time than I thought. There's a lot on how TV viewership is down this season and this should really get those Nielson folks and revamp the way they measure TV viewing. Does anyone have on record that I have just spent the past 2 weeks revolving my life around their show? Does it make it into any widely published totals how many people have shows on their Season Passes on their DVR? All these datas are more available than we think (Tivo knew how many people hit the rewind button to see Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction). It's time it all gets factored into the equation. Despite the amount of crap reality shows that clogs our airwaves out there, we are still watching TV. We are watching TV differently than our parents, so please stop counting us like them. Perfectly good TV shows will only suffer because of it.

A Stroll in the Park

You should be glad to hear that my couch-potato fest was interrupted by exercise. I carefully say exercise, rather than a race, because the Bay to Breaker is really about 1000 people who likes to run and 59,000 who likes to wake up early and be drunk by 9am. It's good to know so many people are versatile enough to stagger down the street first thing in the morning as well as they do last thing at night....Anyway, people always ask the same two questions when they hear that I was there, so to be efficient, I'll answer them here and just hand people a card with this blog's address. Remember, there are no stupid questions, just stupid people. (I am tired of the questions getting the blame. Another tactic by the liberal left, I think)



1) How was it? - Honestly, that is exactly what most people ask me. Aside from just generally being a stupid question (except for when I ask my wife that in bed, which is a different, NC-17 blog), being at a Bay to Breaker is pretty much what you would think it would be. For me, it's like attending a convention of live-action bad jokes. Everywhere you turn...

- A priest, a bear, and Darth Vader are crossing the street....

- Nacho Libre was pushing a stroller at the park...

and my personal favorite...

- Malificent asked the nun to hold her bag before using the port-a-potty...

...I wish I had a punchline for even of those these jokes. Maybe that's a different race....



2) Did you see any naked people? - Really, you all know that the quality of any possible nude runners would not exactly be aesthetically pleasing. Why must all of you torture me by reminding me of the traumatizing images? In short, yes, mostly male, and it is certainly bigger than yours. Now please never speak of this again...

Still in Pursuit...

Ok, so I didn't quite make it. Monday is here and I am just finished with chapter 14. The quest is still on though, like Hiro on his mission, I am still determined to catch up before NBC pulls them off of their website and force me to buy their DVD (of course, if I am obsessing like this now, I think the chances of me owning the DVD is good). I thought I would get through more of them yesterday after the Bay to Breakers, but I was too tired after dinner (and stiff. There should be a Frankenstein impersonation contest after next year's race) to watch more than a few. So two more down today, the finale is on the Tivo (right next to the Departed. You get the feeling that I save my TV watching just like me saving up my blog entries. Every six months, it's all I can do...), and I am going to be TIRED at work tomorrow (more than usual, of course).

Day...whatever it is...

.....Counting was never my strong point....

Scrubs is probably my favorite show on TV. I was glad that it's coming back for one more season. I'm even content that the next season will be it's last....so I wasn't able to stiff-arm the season finale in my quest to catch up on Heroes. I did catch chapter 6 afterwards, so I won't have to stay up all weekend...calling in sick Monday, now that's a different possibility...

...Friday was a day of higher determination. I was doing a few random things on World of Warcraft (I am just easily obsessible, aren't I?...if that is a real word, anyway) and it lead me to a later start. I talked myself into the fact that it's Saturday tomorrow that I watched chapter 8 right after 7. So 15 episodes to go, and I better get started. But first....

- In case you forgot, in chapter 6, future Hiro's message to Peter was the fame "Save the cheerleader, save the world" line. I can be in on it now! (I know, those of you who watched it 5 months ago think I am just so cute right now...)

- My sister just alerted me to the fact that they are also showing Heroes on Sci-Fi channel. I might have invested the time to watch it on a real tv, but the online version is so much more flexible. I would enlist my Tivo to help, but I have some stuff saved on there so I don't have room to be recording a whole marathon. (Including The Departed that I rented from Amazon Unbox. Rentals straight to your Tivo! I'll let you know how the quality is...uh...Tuesday.)

Day 4 of Heroes Catch Up

Due to the premiere of Zach playing in the pit band in Damn Yankees in Stockton, and an inconvenient (albeit brief) interruption of my DSL service, there was no Heroes last night. I'll have to wait another day to hear what Hiro had to tell Peter from the future.

4 days for 19 episodes...the marathon is definitely on for this weekend...around my Bay to Breaker commitments Sunday morning. It should be fun....

The Race is On...

(Don't you hate it when someone disappears for months and just comes back like nothing happened? No explanations for where they have been for the past four months? I know I do)

Recently, I have been wanting to get on the Heroes train. At first I figured, "I already missed the beginning, I'll just wait until the season 1 DVD comes out." Then I remember that the episodes are available online, so I've been meaning to check if it was just recent episodes or the whole season. After overcoming the procrastinations and laziness I finally found out that the whole season is online. Upon hearing that the season finale is Monday, I have an need to get caught up and watch the finale with everyone else on tv (watching shows on the computer, while, convenient, still isn't the most comfortable). So with 6 days until the end, the race is on to watch the last 19 episodes. This will probably mean a mini marathon this weekend, so if anyone want to join me for a few hours of comic book fun, give me a call.

- So far the story is pretty engaging and they balance the different characters pretty well. It's hard not to like the (mis) adventures of Hiro and Ando the best. I've always been a fan of Ali Larter and her Niki character is pretty hot. I hear her story gets kind of dumb later on, but as long as I get to watch her, I'm ok with it.
- Seeing the various handiwork of Sylar is pretty cool too. It's not everyday that you see a guy frozen solid with the top of his head sawed off (unless you watch CSI, I suppose, which I don't). My favorite so far though is seeing Claire on the autopsy table with her chest opened. Neat!
- I'm trying to watch the whole season in a week also because I am afraid that after the finale on Monday, NBC will soon pull it off their website and I will really have to wait for the DVD in August. So I better hurry and get back to it...I'll let you all know my progress as the week goes on....