Thursday, January 31, 2008

LOST: The Best AND Worst Show EVER!

As I sit here pondering what I just saw on tonight's LOST, I can't help but continually go back and forth in my head, at once praising the show for being brilliant and blowing everything else on TV out of the water, but also cursing it for continuing to throw me for loops and wondering what the hell is going on. What was Charlie going to tell Hurley? Why did Hurley say he should have gone with Jack when Hurley wants to be back on the island but Jack was leading the group of people trying to get off the island? Who was the tall black guy Hurley spoke with in the mental institution, what did he want, and was he real, or a figment of his imagination like Charlie? If one of both of the tall man and Charlie were figments of Hurley's imagination, why did other people in the mental institution point out said characters to Hurley? Was Hurley imaging the whole lot of people in the institution? And finally, "The Oceanic 6." Jack, Kate, Hurley...Who are the other 3?

So many questions, and only 7 more episodes, for now, to get answers.

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Monday, January 28, 2008

Seiko SKX173.

I heart watches. Since my lenghty dissertation a while back I've been researching watches trying to figure out if there is anything awesome out there which I can actually afford. My journey wound up taking me to the Seiko SKX173, a dive watch with classic looks and historically reliable automatic movement. By the way, clearly I don't dive, but the translation of the concept for me is that the watch is fairly large, waterproof, has a nice lume (i.e. glows in the dark) and durable. I'm sure there are some non-dive watches with these characteristics, but why bother when these look so awesome?

Picture:















Since I've had this all of two hours now I can't make any sort of definitive, long-term definition, so that will be forthcoming. But I can say that for the value, my gut reaction is that this is a must-purchase for anyone who wants a watch with these characteristics (Seiko sells about 100 different spins on this watch with different-shaped number markers, dial/bezel colors, etc., although the 007 and 173 are the "classic" variations). Another thing I like about this watch is that the second hand sweeps; not with Rolex-like precision, but something like 6 beats per second, which I think is more elegant than the one-second tick. Also, I'd read some negative reviews about the rubber strap being too stiff or generally uncomfortable, but I'm shocked by how much I like it. It's actually quite comfortable and attractive. Anyway, that's all I've got for now; I'll try to update later with how well the automatic movement keeps time.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Kudos: Home Depot.

The other day I went to Home Depot to buy air filter replacements. The filters my house uses are 20x20x1 and 20x14x1. The latter, it turns out, is an abnormal size because it can occasionally be tricky to find; 20x16x1 is the more common size. So, of course, even though I literally had what I need to buy written down on a sheet of paper, I managed to screw up the oddball filter, and only realized it after I took off the cellophane. As I prepared myself to grovel at HD and profess my stupidity, I was cut off because the exchange was a total non-issue. The customer service lady just said "no big deal" and sent me on my way.

So thanks, Home Depot, for helping out the scatterbrained population that somehow screws up a simple shopping list. :)

Thursday, January 24, 2008

"3:10 to Yuma".

I just finished watching "3:10 to Yuma," and was taken back to my memories of "Unforgiven," the last Western I saw where afterward I felt that I'd seen one that will go down as a classic in the history of the genre (although I can truthfully say this still wasn't on the same level as "Unforgiven"). I won't bother adding a plot summary for a movie that came out long ago, and a remake at that, but I'll tell you that the performances all around were excellent and the finale was worth the buildup. Check it out.

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The Cloverfield Spew-Fest Continues.

It turns out I'm not the only one that got a not-so-fresh feeling from the film, since it's now national news.

Anyway, I still think it was a good movie. But the sequel better have normal camera action - there is no way they can pull off that gimmick twice.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Break-Fest.

I'm watching the Australian Women's Semifinal between Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic, and I have to say, it's pretty disappointing and somewhat annoying when the pros are involved in a huge crap-fest. In the first set, there were 6 breaks of serve in a row.

If I were really hardcore, I'd stay up 'till 3:30 a.m. tonight to check out Federer vs. Blake, which if anything, will be intriguing from the standpoint of seeing whether Blake can be competitive against Federer for once. If Blake could upset Fed and Nadal wins, Nadal would take over the number 1 ranking from Fed, which would be mind-boggling.

Whenever I see professional tennis on TV, I always feel motivated to grab my racket and hit the court. Too bad it's in the 20s outside right now. I'm hardcore enough to play outside when it's in the 30s, but not the 20s. Hopefully it'll warm up tomorrow.

On a closing note, let's enjoy a brief moment of recognition for my friend Chris, who finally broke down and purchased clothing for the first time high school (only partially joking). Good work, bro!

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Misc.

- The Patriots won earlier today to my chagrin, because that means we're now one game away from decades of debates and discussions about how godlike and amazing the 2008 Patriots were. Even three games into the season I thought the Brady-worship was a little crazy, but if they pull this off we'll never hear the end of it (seriously).

- The Packers and Giants are playing in ~-20 degree wind-chill conditions. Jimmy Johnson showed his glass of water frozen-solid at the pre-game show. It's been in the 30s here in Fort Worth this weekend, which is pretty painful to my Texas-acclimated skin. These guys are insane.

- Speaking of "Cloverfield: Bring Your Barf Bag," my poor neighbors have been afflicted by a barf-fest that's rotated from their son to both parents. I'm somewhat curious whether Cloverfield indeed had the epic yacking-power I believed it did or whether the inclination for hurlage was actually aided by some virus action. Mmmm...chunky.

- Monika and I are dog-sitting this weekend for Miles' friend, Caedmon. After approximately 50 hours of playplayplayplayplay the dogs are finally out of commission. I almost can't believe it.

- The Australian Open has been pretty interesting thus far. Who'd have thought that Tipsy would take Fed to five sets? Suddenly the Swiss machine looks like he might be beatable. That's only in theory, though; every time I begin to think that Fed decides to turn it on and prove us all wrong.

- My wife is the best chef ever. I've mentioned that before, but it frequently deserves reiteration.

- The Giants/Packers game is actually shockingly tight right now. Time to pay attention to the rest of the game...

Friday, January 18, 2008

"Cloverfield": Bring Your Barf Bag!

I just returned from Cloverfield, and it was an excellent movie. I won't describe anything in the movie in detail so as not to spoil anything. I do want to caution you, though - I almost hurled. The camera was unsteady - seriously unsteady - relentlessly unsteady. I felt sick to my stomach afterward. I just want to warn you.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

No Particular Reason Other Than It Makes Me Smile.

:)







Sunday, January 13, 2008

Tired and Happy.

There's a lyric in the Radiohead song "No Surprises" that says "you look so tired, unhappy," but whenever I hear it, my ears transform it into "tired and happy," a phrase that I believe describes my general disposition fairly well. I spend a lot of time working hard - at everything - and often, at times like 10:33 PM on a Sunday night after a long day with a fun birthday party, I'm exhausted and just want to collapse into bed. And I wouldn't change a thing.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Closer to 30 than 25.

Tomorrow I'm turning 28. In celebration of my achievement of making it 28 years thus far, I encourage you to check out the most amusing song of 2007, "Birthday Dethday" by Dethklok (yes, this is supposed to be hilarious):

Many years ago today
Something grew inside of your mother
That thing was YOU!

You! You! You! You! You!
Did she scream?
Did she cry?
Only those that are born are ones that get to die!
One more year closer to dying
Body organs ripping, frying
Biological discordance
Birthday equals self-abhorrence

R S V P Please
For the death of me
You have little time
You're running out of life
Happy Birthday.
You're gonna die!

On a side-note, a couple days ago a friend recommended a band which he said "makes Dethklok sound like Bon Jovi." I need to check that out.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Fun.

The other day I was chatting with a friend about investment-related stuff. He mentioned that he was joining up with a couple different groups of friends on occasion to talk about investments, and that he’s learning a lot, and that I should join up, because it’s a lot of fun. I took pause at that comment, because I certainly do not consider talking about anything business-related “fun.” He thinks it’s fun, though, and I know a lot of others that do. In fact, I have many friends that consider it fun to constantly learn new things about investments and the business world in general, and constantly strive to go to meetings and make new contacts because that’s what gives them their kicks.

This is not the case for me. When I think about fun, I think about hanging out with Monika, playing tennis, lifting weights, running, listening to music, painting, or driving my car. In other words, whereas I work in a “math-related” industry, I get little to no pleasure from participating in more activities that involve 0s and 1s.

Of course, the grand conclusion here is that I need to quit my job and become a professional athlete, rock star, artist, or race car driver. Does anyone know people that are hiring in any of those slots that want someone with no to limited experience?

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Another Gem from the Dilbert Blog.

I must quote this since it's not only hilarious, but also so applicable to my summer tendencies:

"I opted for the slow but certain death of sun exposure. My skin is just thick enough to keep my organs from forming a pile around my ankles. It can’t handle much sun. I had so much sunscreen on that all I needed was a tiny model of a bride and groom on my head and I would have looked like a wedding cake. But I still kept checking my pulse to see if the sun had killed me yet. It was nearly 80 degrees on the beach, and about 120 degrees inside my hard shell of sun screen."

"Vacation Challenged" - check it out!

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Work = Boo.

I've now been on vacation for 17 days, and tomorrow I have to return to work. I'm not looking forward to it.

Thursday, January 03, 2008

How Many Handles Are In My Kitchen?

Yesterday Monika and I traveled to Frisco for a Great Ikea Odyssey. Those of you who have been to Ikea know what I'm talking about - it makes Wal-Mart and Super Target seem like convenience stores in comparison. When we reached the kitchen section, we found cabinet handles we liked a lot. So, we started counting the number of cabinets in our kitchen, and were somewhat shocked at the realization of just how many we have. Want to take a guess? You're not going to believe it. Scroll down for the answer (I'm shrinking it so you don't cheat)...










59.

Yes. You read that right. We have a big kitchen, but never in a million years would I have thought we have THAT many drawers/cabinets. It took me about 4 hours all-in to install all the handles, and the vast majority of the work was measuring and marking where to drill holes, which was more difficult than you'd think.

The end product is awesome, though - it was worth the effort. I'll upload pictures and post them shortly.