I finally went to the Carlos Club in San Carlos. Yikes.
I went to a newish club in San Francisco. The name escapes me. I met the owners. It was cool. The logo looked like a fancy H. Any ideas?
I went to Los Angeles for a weekend. It was awesome. The traffic was light and the sun was out. I saw Russell Peters running down Wilshire Boulevard. Cool. I hung out a lot at Hermosa Beach where the beers were $1 at an awesome place called Dragon Bar. You should definitely check it out. It's always weird staying at a friend of a friend's place, but the woman was very nice and accommodating. One night was spent at UCSB. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the campus. I only saw the bar scene which was... typical.
I have seen lots of movies recently. Knocked Up was hilarious. Pirates 3 was great... during the second half. 28 Weeks Later was decently entertaining. Blades of Glory was decently funny. Ocean's 13 was pretty good. Die Hard 4 was awesome. Transformers was really good and really bad simultaneously. I can't wait to see Harry Potter 5.
Vandelay Ventures is making progress. The Viddyou investment finally went through. Go Viddyou.
After living in Sunnyvale I moved into Brian's house for a month in San Jose while I continued to look for apartments. I had a lot of fun living there even though my room was small and I was living out of boxes. Now, I have my own place in Mountain View. It's... decent. Old, but decent. I've spent lots of time organizing/cleaning up. Soon, it will be presentable. Perhaps a house warming party is in order? Yeah baby.
I guess I never wrote about my second trip to Vegas. My friend Abby flew in from Virginia which was awesome. We stayed at the Tropicana (yes I know but it was amazingly cheap and the hotel is in a great location). There were some good moments on the trip. Other moments were just annoying and obnoxious. I look forward to my third trip to Vegas which will hopefully be made this summer.
I bought these shoes. I'm happy.
I bought the iPhone. It's awesome. For videos during my time in the line and store, check out my Viddyou page.
The Office season finale was great. I can't wait for season four. It looks like Pam and Jim may finally get together.
My Powerbook G4 will be 5 years old next month. Amazing.
I bought some rollerblades. I'm happy. My commute from Brian's place to work required a method faster than walking but slower than a car.
Why does this country care so much about Paris Hilton? Ugh. Every time I see her face it angers me.
Fearless is an amazing movie. Jet Li's "last" movie was thoroughly entertaining. It had a very typical become the best lose everything return to fundamentals win everything plot but it was well done.
Version 3 of my web presence is approaching. My superblog is going to be sweet. Pictures, videos, and text all in one place.
I burned my finger on a Foreman Grill. I know. Pathetic.
Wow. My lack of blogging in the last two months has created some hostility. Cool!
It's funny because I've actually been carrying around a little Moleskin for jotting down thoughts I have that should be placed in this blog. I guess I should type them up...
Well, we are an LLC. Congratulations to my team! www.vandelayventures.com We are working on some things, and talking to some people. Vague? You better believe it. I'll tell you all more when we pass the non disclosure stage. I am extremely excited.
I have been invited to be a writer for TheDailyGeek.tv. Woohoo! The site's focus is products and services for the ultra chic geek lifestyle. Check it out.
I discovered the coolest bar ever: The Swinging Door Bar. It's in San Mateo. Yes you read that correctly. It's also known as the Dueling Piano Bar. Basically, there are two pianos facing each other, and the two pianists take requests from the audience. However, if you don't like the song currently being played, you pay the other pianist to play a different song. It goes back and forth with increasing dollar amounts each turn. There was a song everyone was really into so I naturally interrupted the song to get the maximum number of "boos." Awesome. I had a wonderful time while celebrating Ricky's future success and school acceptance. Definitely check out this bar. The pianists are hilarious and htey know how to get a crowd going.
I discovered an amazing new service called Jott.com. It has literally changed my life. I'm not sure how profitable it is, but it sure is impressive. Here's the question: These days what do you always have on you? Wallet, keys, and... cell phone. The cell phone can be used for so much more than just making phone calls to people. What about computers? You sign up for Jott and get a phone number to call. When you hear the beep you start talking. The service records your message, converts it to text, and emails you the transcript! Simple right?! It's amazing. I love it. The best use I've found is whenever I hear a cool song I call Jott and say some lyrics I hear. Then when I get home I Yahoo! Search the lyrics, find out the name of the song, and buy it from iTunes. Great process. With a service like Jott you can always make notes that will be there when you get home. I'm surprised there aren't more useful services that are built around constant access to the cell phone.
Another cool service I discovered to use as a time waster is StumbleUpon.com. You can choose what kind of videos you want to see, and the service will automatically show you relevant videos from Youtube, Myspace, and Metacafe. Definitely check it out but have a clock close by so you don't waste too much time. ;)
I saw Dana Carvey at San Jose Improv. Absolutely hilarious. It was a workshop which means he was trying out jokes for his upcoming HBO special. He had notes and after each joke he would comment on how the audience responded. After his material was through he asked the audience what we wanted to hear. Someone quickly yelled out "church lady!" Afterwards, I yelled out "Schwarzenegger" since I remember Carvey doing the Hanz and Franz routines on Saturday Night Live. Luckily, Carvey heard me and went into a Governator routine. Go me. Hell yes.
I received my first hacking lesson. I had no idea how ridiculously easy it is to see what people are IMing on nearby networks. It's really scary. Also, if you aren't using SSL for email, watch out. People can see that too using free, easy to use software. Do you have Comcast? HOLY SHIT. Talk about ridiculous. Everything happening in nearby homes is coming into your home. Everything you do in your home is going into nearby homes. You better believe it baby. If you hook up a computer in between the wall and your cable modem, you can see all the traffic in nearby homes. To me this is shocking.
For the first time in my life I went to a midwest style club. It was terrifying. The place is in San Jose and it's called Rodeo Club. I had no idea the obesity problem was so bad until that night. However, the music was upbeat and entertaining. Girls love to line dance, and I thoroughly enjoy watching it. Haha. Oh and there were lots of tattoos too.
The last service I'm going to discuss is Viddyou.com. It's a complete solution for video blogging. If you have a webcam, this is it. The interface is beautiful and efficient. Everyone I demonstrate the service to is shocked to see how easy it is to use. You click Record and boom your live image appears in the browser window. Definitely check it out. They opened to the public last Monday, and they have already been covered on TechCrunch and ArsTechnica.
Especially good recent Netflix movies: Rocky Balboa - Rocky was surprisingly kind and generous throughout the movie. I enjoyed that. Chasing Amy - AMAZING. You must see this movie. Save the Tiger - Jack Lemmon, 1974 Academy Award winning performane. Charade - Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn. Wonderful. The Breakfast Club - Yes, I finally saw this movie. Sixteen Candles - Awwww what a sweet movie. Prestige - Extremely entertaining. Gridiron Gang - The Rock's performance was impressive, and the teamwork was touching.
That's it. I think I'm going to the OC this week. Giddy up.
Goodman: "Do you see a replay in what happened in the lead-up to the war with Iraq -- the allegations of the weapons of mass destruction, the media leaping onto the bandwagon?"
Clark: "Well, in a way. But, you know, history doesn't repeat itself exactly twice. What I did warn about when I testified in front of Congress in 2002, I said if you want to worry about a state, it shouldn't be Iraq, it should be Iran. But this government, our administration, wanted to worry about Iraq not Iran. "I knew why, because I had been through the Pentagon right after 9/11. About ten days after 9/11, I went through the Pentagon and I saw Secretary Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz. I went downstairs just to say hello to some of the people on the Joint Staff who used to work for me, and one of the generals called me in. He said, "Sir, you've got to come in and talk to me a second." I said, "Well, you're too busy." He said, "No, no." He says, "We've made the decision we're going to war with Iraq." This was on or about the 20th of September. I said, "We're going to war with Iraq? Why?" He said, "I don't know." He said, "I guess they don't know what else to do." So I said, "Well, did they find some information connecting Saddam to al-Qaeda?" He said, "No, no." He says, "There's nothing new that way. They just made the decision to go to war with Iraq." He said, "I guess it's like we don't know what to do about terrorists, but we've got a good military and we can take down governments." And he said, "I guess if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem has to look like a nail."
Zune? Where are you? What happened to "killing the iPod"? You have disappeared from the top Amazon electronic products! I read several times that your sharing feature was useless even at CES. How is that possible? It's the center of the gadget universe! Where are your sales figures? How many songs have sold on the Zune store? I believe I can answer all of these questions...
Version 1 of the Zune was doomed from the beginning. Microsoft knew this. We knew this. De-throning the iPod will take several years and several revisions. In my opinion the biggest mistake Microsoft made was not allowing Zune customers to play their PlaysForSure legally purchased music. Any songs purchased through Napster, Rhapsody, Yahoo Music, etc. were digital trash with the Zune. Customers had to rebuild their legal library from scratch by purchasing all songs through the Zune store. Allow me to repeat/rephrase this ridiculous situation. Customers who purchased songs through other digital music stores that used MICROSOFT PLAYSFORSURE format could not play those songs on the MICROSOFT ZUNE. Does that make sense to you? No? There's a reason: poor business model. This strategy basically alienated people who invested in the legalized digital music industry. I have purchased many songs through the iTunes Store. If a hot new product came out that wasn't compatible with my collection, why would I buy the product? Let's take this one step further. If APPLE came out with a new media player that didn't play my APPLE songs, I would be both confused and upset.
The second flaw was the Zune's built in WiFi. Yes, this was innovative (an innovation from Microsoft?!). However, it was poorly executed. Here's how it works: Joe has a Zune. Mary has a Zune. Joe can send Mary a song to "try out." Mary can play the song THREE time before the file is no longer playable. Also, she only has SEVENTY TWO hours to play the song THREE times. Then, she must go purchase the song from the Zune store to hear it again. Wonderful service? I don't think so. By the way, that is the only use for the built in WiFi. Zunes cannot browse the web, they cannot sync wirelessly to computers, etc. Let's try some role playing:
Mary: "Wow I love my Zune even though I wish I had an iPod. Let's check if anyone else in the room has a Zune." Mary uses her Zune to search for others. The list is empty. Mary looks around and sees a total stranger using one. Mary: "Hey you have a Zune! Why don't you have your wireless thing on? Wanna send me a song?" Joe: "Who are you?" Mary: "I'm a fellow Zune-er. Isn't that cool?" Joe: "Uh I guess. Here's a song by the band [insert random band name here]." Joe sends Mary a song. Mary listens to the song. Mary hates it. Mary: "Cool thanks!" Mary leaves and does not purchase the song when she gets home. Joe drinks his latte and wishes he had an iPod. Joe decides to never take out his Zune in public again.
One may ask "Why is Joe not excited to talk to Mary, a fellow Zune-er?" Allow me to explain: Windows people are not accustomed to being excited over their products. They think of their products as tools (similar to toasters, blow dryers, and coffee makers). There's no excitement, glancing, or smiling when a Windows computer user sees a fellow Windows user at the local coffee house. This is obviously not the case for Mac owners. I'm proud to sit in Coupa Cafe in Palo Alto and look around at all the Macs. Seeing a new Macbook Pro is cool. Seeing someone watching an episode of The Office on an iPod Video is enchanting. Windows users, however, simply don't care. Okay back to the WiFi. I mentioned before how even at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Zune owners could not find sharing Zune-ers. How pathetic is that? CES is packed with thousands of people who own the latest and greatest gadgets. If you don't find a Zune to share with at CES, you won't find one anywhere. My point is the WiFi is cool, but in the first version of the Zune it's waste of money.
The next major mistake was the user experience on the software side. When the Zune was released I read countless reports online of the installation software crashing multiple times which required the computer to be restarted. In addition to the crashing, the installation software was over thirty screens long (in other words customers had to click "Next" many more times than what is to be expected and tolerated). With a new product release it is extremely important to have a flawless out of box experience. If users have to restart their computer repeatedly then that experience is spoiled. Even if the device's hardware and interface is wonderful, requiring several hours of failed installation attempts is not worth your time or patience.
The final Zune failure was the release date. It was simply too late to compete with the iPod and iTunes Store. In addition to a music library, people invested in television shows and movies to watch on their iPod Videos. Billions of songs, millions of movies, and millions of television shows have been purchased. Why would anyone dump that collection and start over? However, not everyone legally downloads music. People who rip their own CDs or use services like Kazaa and Limwire have no digital investments. They can freely switch between players since their song files are the standard mp3 (no Digital Rights Management). To those of you who switched to Zune-ism: you'll be back. Oh yes. You will be back (to Apple).
I just finished a whole bunch of work and I became inspired to explain why I will miss The OC.
The show lasted four years. Unfortunately, it is arguable that the quality of the show decreased each passing year. For various reasons, however, the magic was maintained. The first year I sat side by side with the Pachey. We cheered while Ryan and Marissa fell in love, and we cursed (intensely) when Oliver and Theresa screwed it up. Yes, this may sound silly, but it was important to us. The characters were witty thanks to the writers. The simultaneous adult vs. teenager plots were well executed, and they added a mature complexity to the show. I will never forget those nights of jumping up and down on the couch in 708 East Buffalo when Oliver was finally destroyed (and subsequently cut from the show). Consequences for bad decisions were never forgotten. Every time kids drank alcohol or got high, people suffered.
The second season had some thoroughly silly plot twists. I believe we experienced the first of several deaths in the show. Although the show began its downfall, I was still fortunate to be able to watch the show with the Pachey on Linden. Sometimes we were interrupted and mocked by Shannon, but her taste in entertainment doesn't mesh well mine. The main mom's drinking problem was also pretty depressing. Watching one character contemplate murdering her husband was ridiculous. That was just too unrealistic for these characters in that environment. However, the guy she wanted to murder died anyways... that night.
The third season's silliness was overcome by watching the episodes with Shannon (the gf). Our ritual was to sneak into Cascadilla and watch on a floor where nobody was using the TV. This was only necessary when Fox's reception wasn't clear enough in the apartment. I definitely miss those days. When Shannon graduated and moved away we would call each other during the commercial breaks to most likely complain about Ryan's self deprecating behavior. This season had our second and third deaths along with the usual surprising dating pairs amongst the small group of friends and family. When Marissa died in the season finale, I thought the show was making a crashing nosedive into cancelation. It was a hilarious death considering her best acting occurred while she was dying. Although it was just a TV show, it was still heartbreaking to watch her die. The college applications/interviews were also really annoying. I kept thinking: how will the show continue if one character goes to Brown, one stays in Orange County, and a few go to Berkeley? Somehow they pulled it off (basically by only sending one character away).
The fourth season was awful. I had to watch the episodes alone. I had no Pachey to laugh with, and no Shannon to discuss Ryan's obnoxiously selfish, immature behavior. Without Marissa, it became clear who was the anchor of the group. There were some huge, huge, huge plot inconsistencies that lasted the whole season (another example of the fourth season's blatantly incomplete planning). A few new characters emerged. They were all annoying. Every week the story got worse and worse. And then? An earthquake! Come on. This isn't Days of Our Lives. What happened?! Well, the show ended with decent closure anyways. Children were born, characters were married, and, best of all, Ryan took advantage of an opportunity to help out a confused, lost, young soul. It was his turn to rescue.
So why will I miss this show? There was something absolutely magical about the cohesiveness of both the adult and kid groups. The actors all had an uncanny ability to say more with silence. The characters could be easily loved. They grew on me, and I cared for them. I wanted them to be happy. Unfortunately, so many awful things happened to these characters. Collective happiness was somewhat rare. When it came, it was wonderful.
I hope I conveyed my feelings for this show. I will continue to be a big fan.
I saw a Kia commercial that used the phrase "experience giddyupness."
On an episode of 'Til Death, Ray Romano appeared to say one line. It was hilarious.
I started exercising again. I signed up for 24 Hour Fitness. Here are some things that I believe are ridiculous: If you are swinging your entire body to lift something, YOU ARE USING TOO MUCH WEIGHT. If you are bench pressing an entire six inches, YOU ARE USING TOO MUCH WEIGHT. If you are hunched over a stair climber, YOU ARE NOT USING THE MACHINE CORRECTLY. Come on. Isn't this all common sense? Apparently not.
I saw The Number 23. I thought it was excellent. What an abnormal movie! I was shocked to see Jim Carrey pull off such a creepy role. I highly recommend seeing this movie. It is not scary at all. Only spooky with the occasional violent surprise. The best part was when I walked out of the theater and looked at the address across the street: 365. 3x6+5=23!! Also, my driver's license number... adds up to 23!! Weird...
I also saw Zodiac. It was entertaining, but also realistically disturbing. It shows that literally anyone, anywhere can murder you without personal motive. Ahhhh! Just what I need to know. It was cool to see the events take place around the Bay Area, and it's interesting to ask people what it was like in the late 60s when the Zodiac guy was in the spotlight.
Annoying Windows problem #[lost count in 1996]: Last week during work my Windows computer began reversing all of my text. "Hello" would come out "olleH". Isn't that wonderful? Thanks Microsoft!
Annoying Windows problem #[lost count in 1996 +1]: The date on my work computer changed to a month and a half in the future! Hooray! All emails sent by me have the wrong date. Yes this sounds silly but in a business environment it's really obnoxious.
I ordered personal business cards from psprint.com. Yes, I am awesome. On one side is my logo with a black background and the other is my contact information in white with a black background. I was surprised by how cheap it was to make them. I designed them in Illustrator and uploaded them directly to the site. If I see you I'll be happy to give you one.
I went to a San Jose Sharks game last week. My co-worker and I experienced some particularly intriguing mathematics. Allow me to explain:
Me: "Hi we'd like a pair of crappy tickets please." Ticket guy: "Okay that's $43." Me: "Wow that's kinda steep. Allllllright we'll do it." Co-worker hands over credit card. Ticket guy: "Okay that'll be $86." Me: "Um excuse me? What happened to $43?" Ticket guy: "It's $43 each." Me: "What?! Oh man that sucks. Fine! We're already here." Ticket guy hands us two tickets and credit card receipt to sign. Co-worker shows me credit card receipt. $43. Me: "So do I have to pay too?" Co-worker: "David shut up and walk away."
Yes, we got two tickets for $43. Each ticket said $43. We are awesome.
The game was decently fun. We mostly discussed web design and potential business ideas. Lots of fun: fried chicken, beer, and design.
Friday at work was awesome. We had to build a device that would simulate a door opening and closing repeatedly. We went to the toy store to find some way to accomplish the task. We bought a Lego motor with some gears and other various pieces. It took a while to create a clever gear ratio system, but we did it eventually (I'm taking credit for work done mostly by my co-worker). I'll post pictures of the device soon. Yay for start-ups!
Recent movies I've watched: Miami Vice - Ehhh. What was up with that Ferrari spewing out blue fire from the exhaust? That was hilarious. Idiocracy - This was done by same guy who did Office Space. I was hoping it would have a similar low-budget, cultish charm but I was severely incorrect. If this movie didn't have Luke Wilson, I can't imagine it making a dime. The Graduate - Finally, I understand what my dad has been raving about throughout my life. What an amazing movie.
I finally got a chance to listen to Barack Obama give a speech and answer some questions. I hope he beats Clinton. He appears to be the best candidate.
I went to a party Saturday night with a bunch of fascinating foodies. It's fun to hear people provide details on the food they prepared. I'm not accustomed to thinking about food that way. Normally I just eat without thinking about tastes and textures. Perhaps my mind has been opened up to a new sub culture. During this party, we watched most of Labyrinth. Oh... my... lord. That was the weirdest stoner movie ever made.
The Office continues to be hilarious. 24 continues to be awesome.
Using Tivo to watch the Superbowl is amazing. You fast forward through the game and watch the commercials. Genius? You know it. I was disappointed by the halftime show. Prince? Come on. Retire already! Remember the old Superbowls that would have three different groups perform in one show? That was cool. The only redeeming quality of the show was the marching band. They had glow-in-the-dark uniforms. The rest? Just a big "eh."
I watched an incredible movie this weekend... The Rainmaker. Matt Damon, Danny DeVito, and Jon Voight. You should all check it out. Something's Gotta Give was also delightful. Great cast and entertaining plot. I'm reading Richard Goodwin's Remembering America. It's so unusual to read about Presidents (Kennedy and Johnson) who actually wanted to help improve society. I can't even begin to imagine what it was like to grow up with leaders who were good people and who actually wanted to make a difference in the lives of the citizens they served. I wish I was alive in the 60s so I could have witnessed strong, positive, and just leaders. Yes I realize that Johnson got the US involved in that Vietnam thing. However, one cannot ignore the drastic, long-lasting changes made to Civil Rights. Of course these are complex issues that deserve more time for debate offline.
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