Thursday, January 29, 2009

Tokyo

So sorry for not posting during my trip to Tokyo.  I have two good reasons.  The first being that getting a decent wifi connection was nearly impossible.  In Japan, they are totally over wifi and consider it to be archaic.   They are totally in to 3G.   The other reason is because I was just to busy having fun to blog.  Anyways, now that I am home and have had time to let it all sync in, I made a video of the some of what I saw.  



Also, here are some of my favorite pictures.

The maid cafe that me and some guys went to .



I also made some friends and attended a one year old birthday party.


I saw nice lights in Roppongi.



I saw this great sign.




I also saw and did a lot more than that, but it would be futile to explain it all in one post.  Tokyo was great and I definitely want to go back.  I will try to post all my pictures to my mobile me gallery eventually.


Monday, January 26, 2009

Greetings from Denver


I just arrived at The Denver International Airport en route to Tokyo.  This will definitely be the most difficult journey since I must endure an exceptionally long lay over.  It is currently 9 degrees here.  The airport is not conveniently located near downtown, so I am kicking it in the airport, reading good books and surfing the the web via the free wifi.  I was lucky enough to get away from the chain fast food restaurants and enjoy a fantastic veggie burger from the Boulder Beer Tap House.  Their Mojo IPA is most excellent.  After this I have a 13 hour ride to Tokyo and then the real fun begins.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Dance moves of the impossible.

How did they do it without Red Bull?


Saturday, January 24, 2009

Self Defense

Here is a really helpful and awesome video on self defense from some guys who may not be the most qualified people to do so.  The best quote from this video is the mustache guy when he says, "Uggghhhagghhhhh!"


Friday, January 23, 2009

Squirrels go nuts, and attack people.


My apartment complex is no stranger to wildlife.  In fact, when you walk out side it is not odd to see at least five squirrels, numerous birds of varying species (I once saw a Great Blue Herring), a couple of pets, and possibly chipmunk.  I swear that it sometimes feels like you are in a Disney musical and all the little guys are going to start singing you off to work.  I am not much for animals, but these little guys don't bother me.  Seriously, why should you be afraid of a squirrel?  Well, folks in Durham, England had better watch out.  It seems that some nurses have reported that they were attacked by the rodents.  Now the staff are taking precautionary measures that include traveling in pairs and wielding umbrellas.    The cause behind the aggression is unknown, but does not appear to rabies related.  One nurse wrote that this was a moderate problem on a a scale from insignificant to catastrophic on her accident report, which would probably vary from person to person ( I myself would lean closer to the catastrophic).  I must say that I will carry on with greater caution anytime I leave my apartment.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Daily Digg and Reddit links (Vermeer Simpsons style)


Not even a face a mother could love.


In the U.K. people seem to admit to extraordinary claims and taboo things publicly more than most Americans.   Maybe Americans feel a need to keep secrets, but Brits are fairly open about their dirty little secrets.  For instance, a girl called into a radio show and told the DJ that she had eaten human meat her father had fed to her.  Of course she was eating it unknowingly, since her father had apparently kidnapped young African girls and fed them to his family back home.  Sounds like a really disturbing film or an episode of Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  You can listen to the story here.  While that is shocking, so is the fact that a mother of two has flat out told the Daily Mail that she feels absolutely no love towards her oldest daughter.  I find it odd that she went as far as going public to the press, but even more odd that she felt compelled to announce it period.  While in shows like Arrested Development it is funny when Lucile shows no love to Gob, but this is real life.  Therapy will be expensive in this family.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Without You by Mark Gormley

Ever seen a band and just wandered to yourself what the hell were they thinking?  Well this is one of those music videos that may leave you feeling that way.  I don't know if the VJ guy is serious, if Mark Gormley is serious, or the people who made the video are serious.  All I know, is that Mark Gormley knows how to rock and he doesn't even need to untuck his polo shirt to do it.  Check out the music video for Mark Gormley's "Without You."


Monday, January 19, 2009

My top 5 favorite Lost episodes

With all the buzz and excitement surrounding the quickly approaching season of Lost, I  can't help but reminisce over my favorite episodes.  Now this will vary from person to person, but here are the 5 that really worked for me.  Hopefully there will be more episodes this coming season to add to this list.

1) Walkabout- Season 1
This was the very first episode of Lost I ever saw and it hooked me.  In this first Locke-centric episode we discover that the knife wielding hunter was actually in a wheelchair upon his arrival to the island.  Especially touching is the scene when the losties burn the fuselage and Locke watches his old wheelchair burn while he flashbacks to when he is denied his chance to go on the walkabout in Australia. 


2) The Brig- Season 3
While many people would agree that season 3 was not the best season, there were still moments that stood out.  I particularly liked this episode for the encounter between Sawyer and Locke's father which was very intense.



3)The Constant- Season 4
Probably my favorite story-line in the show is the one surrounding Desmond and his one true love Penny.  When Desmond talks to Penny on the phone in this episode, it is actually more emotional than when he actually finds her at the end of the season.


4) There's No Place Like Home Part 1 &2- Season 4
As far as season finales go, this one has it all: several plot lines intertwining and merging together, romance, insane amounts of action, a dramatic and emotional rescue, explosions, death of major characters, moving islands, and not a slow moment within the two hours.  If the writers of this show know anything, it is how to make a dramatic and pleasing season finale.  


5) The Pilot- Season 1
I have known so many people who have gotten hopelessly addicted to this show, and all it took was the very first episode.  The start, the beginning seems more like a Hollywood movie rather than a T.V. show.  Mystery is introduced immediately with the appearance of the monster.  If you are not even a little curious and slightly hooked after watching this then you may have something wrong with you.



Daily Digg and Reddit posts(and a funny pic)


Sunday, January 18, 2009

Microsoft Songsmith

As a lifelong Apple user, I am not in anyway swayed or manipulated by the "It's cool to own Mac" ads that have been around the last several years. I was using a Mac before the appearence of Justin Long; when the only games for Mac were point and click adventure games and there was no itunes or ipods to speak of. To me Apple will always be a solid operating system with exceptionally stable hardware that suites my needs as a creative professional. With that said, I will mention that it is important for a computer company to know what the majority of people want and not just need. While I am not swayed by the hip Mac guy, dressed in an American Apperal hoodie and blue jeans who plays devils advocate to the stiff and rigid PC guy, I do see the need for a company to reach a broader audience if it wishes to succeed. I feel that Apple has done a good job of this, despite the fact that their ads are obnoxious and pretensious at times. On the flip side, Microsoft has done a poor job at managing to stay connected to what the public wants and needs. While windows XP was a pleasant computing experiance for most, Vista brought nothing but trouble for a bulk of its users. In an attempt to neutralize the bad press that Vista had caused, they launched an advertising campaign starring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld, that showed how out of touch the company really was in terms of their "hip" factor. Luckily these ads were replaced by the "I'm a PC" ads, that in my opinion, are the best ads Microsoft has ever made. However, right when it would appear that they were heading in the right direction with better advertising and the new Windows 7 that should work all the problems out that they had with Vista, Microsoft releases what I can only assume is supposed to be a mock up of Apple's Garageband. Microsoft Songsmith is a new, user friendly recording software that can be easily used by the masses. Now I have not tried Songsmith first hand, but this advertisment really show that Microsoft is still far from understanding the public. Check out the ad.
*warning*
ONCE THE SONG GOES IN, IT CAN NEVER COME OUT!

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Song of the week.

My good friend Michael Frederick played this for me and now I can't stop singing it.  

"Never Go to Work" by They Might Be Giants


Wednesday, January 14, 2009

30 Ways to Die by Electrocution


I found this on Digg. It is pretty dark, but slightly amusing. It reminds me of A David Sedaris story where he talks about a book that he bought that would show what you would look like in different death instances. In the words of Louie the Lightning Bug, you got to play it safe around electricity.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bre/sets/72157611077138836/show/

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

The VSL theory


Here is an interesting article about João Magueijo, a Cambridge University physicist, theory on Varying Speed of Light (VSL). More or less, his theory states that Light moved faster in the early ages of our Universe. Like most radical physic theories, this could dethrone Einstein and bring radical change to Cosmology, bringing a unfied theory of physics. Here is the article.

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/01/faster-than-the.html

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Popcorn Fiction



I work at a library and see thousands of books on a daily basis. Personally I am a lover of good literature, and while taste is an issue of sole opinion, I think that I like books of a decent intellectual caliber. Now, I have been told my entire life, through the advice of my parents and other sources of morality, that you cannot judge a book by its cover. While this definitely holds up as an excellent metaphorical reminder for giving every person you meet a fair shake, I am pretty sure that you can actually judge literal books by their covers and determine whether or not your are diving head first into some popcorn drivel. These warning signs should save you from such a mistake.

1)To begin, if the authors name is larger than the title of the book, then you can assume that you dealing with a definite popcorn piece. More than likely it will fall under such a genre as Mystery, Romance, or inspirational. Most of the time they are most readily available in paperback.
2) If it happens that the book is in hard back, then you can except a full sized portrait of the author on the back of the book. You should be extra concerned if the author's name is embossed as well.
3) If you see a series of the authors work and all their title are similar, as in the share the same word in the title, then definitely be wary going into this.
4) Also, blurbs are a good way to know if the content of the book you are about to read is worth the time. Generally, if the best a critic or fellow writer can do is describe the book in a series of adjectives like sexy, passionate, and raw then you may want to try something different. an honest blurb can tell you a lot about the content of a books. For instance, one of my favorite blurbs comes from David Sedaris's Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. The blurb said, "If wit were measured in people, then David Sedaris would be Chine. His Talent is that huge." Now that is a blurb by a critic who was really blown away ( I mainly added this because I really like that blurb).
5) As a final precaution, and that is all this is, know that being on the New York Time's Best Seller List is not a a guarantee that the book is any good. Now several best sellers have been, but don't be fooled by this accomplishment waved so proudly above the title. This is like eating Mcdonald's, just because the sign says that over a billion have been sold. Is it good for you to eat at Mcdonald's? That is for you to decided, but the taste of the food is not determined by the amount of hamburgers sold. Books should be no different.

Now, this post is meant for humor's sake only and please don't feel insulted if you are a lover of any of these type of books :)

Friday, January 2, 2009

Geometry Wars



Do you need some trivial and fun thing in your life that will encompass way too much time and leave you hopelessly addicted? Then Geometry Wars is the game for you. My roommate downloaded it on his Xbox and now my life has new meaning. Essentially it is a series of arcade styled mini-games that favor Galaga with a touch of Tron. The gameplay is exceptionally easy and hopelessly addicting. You can watch the beautiful colors exploded all aver the screen while simultaneously watching the hours slip away.

Here is a brief history of the game taken from wikipedia:

Geometry Wars is a minigame created by Bizarre Creations as part of Project Gotham Racing 2 for the Xbox, accessible through the in-game garage. An updated version of the game, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, is available for download on the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade. It can also be played in demo form in Project Gotham Racing 3. It previously held the record for most-downloaded Xbox Live Arcade game. A new version, Geometry Wars: Evolved, has been produced for mobile phones and a version has also been released for Windows Vista, as well as a reduced-price Windows XP release on the Steam content delivery network. Another version named Geometry Wars: Waves is available to play in Project Gotham Racing 4. Geometry Wars: Galaxies was released for the Nintendo DS and Wii in November 2007. A sequel, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 was released to Xbox Live Arcade on July 30, 2008.

Check out the official website.

ASIMO in the Rose Bowl Parade


Here he is in all of his glory.

The Male Motor



I was recently at my parents house and noticed an old tattered book on the kitchen counter that my father picked up at a yard sale. He mentioned that it was one of his favorite books, based on the gross inaccuracies in it. The Male Motor by M. Sayle Taylor SC.D, Ph.D was first published in November of 1927. The primary concern of the book are the issues middle aged men face in regards to their prostate. Taylor fears that everyman is at risk of losing his sex energy in old age from being oversexed. I highly recommend that you read this on your own, but here is one of my favorite parts of the book in the chapter on masturbation.

“There are comparatively few men, whose memory serves them correctly, who can look back on a boyhood absolutely devoid of any phase of this practice. And in many cases the habit was begun long before the age of puberty had been reached. Usually, when begun in early boyhood, it is a social rather than a solitary game. Older boys, older or more precocious, ofttimes with nothing other than the exuberant spirit of play in their minds, initiate the boys into a gang or neighborhood clique, using exposure and some sort of competitive “game” as part of the initiation.
Fortunately most boys go through this stage just as they do the stage of petty-thievery, when cookies, pies, and jams are swiped- without becoming an addict. But when the habit carries over or is begun after the age of puberty has been reached, it then takes on a grim aspect. The sex anatomy, just budding into adult form, is taxed far beyond its capacity. When the practice is carried on over a period of years excessively (beyond natures recuperative ability), the harmful effect becomes so self-evident that is does not take the eye of a physician to discover what is wrong. The victim becomes sallow and anemic. The face loses its expressiveness, the eye becomes shifty, and the whole body takes on a languid air. Cowardliness, listlessness, slovenliness, and absent-mindedness are some of the characteristics of the victim of excessive self pollution.”
makes

As I understand it, this book is kind of hard to find and is something of a collectors item. Here is a link(sadly Amazon is out) if you are interested in buying this incredible book. They only have one copy though. It is perfect rainy day quick read that makes for interesting dinner conversation.