List of Links for Today (LOLT)

A few links to read:

  • Star Wars will be available on blu ray this year! I'm placing my pre-order on this one even though I don't particularly like the newer movies.
  • More Star Wars - cool posters.
  • You can't walk straight blindfolded. There's science behind this, of course.
  • I bet you aren't as into Twilight as this lady who has it tattooed on her back.
  • Bjork does karaoke, BUT for a cause.
  • If you have a Mac, you may want to see if there is a software update available.  Last week, Apple launched the Mac App Store.  I haven't bought anything from it yet, but it does look interesting.

Verizon iPhone? Not for Us - Yet

There’s been speculation that Verizon will announce the availability of the iPhone on their network this coming Tuesday. It’s great news since Verizon (supposedly) has a better network. I’ve had plenty of dropped calls on my iPhone, and plenty of bad connections to the 3G network. I’d love to go to Verizon, but I don’t think I will right away.

Why?

  • iPhone 5: Verizon will likely be offering the iPhone 4. While I'm lusting after a new iPhone - I'm using a slightly crippled iPhone 3GS - the iPhone 5 should be coming out in June or July. I can wait a few more months and decide then.
  • The Network: I'm not sure I can give up the ability to talk on the phone and surf the web at the same time, something you can do on a 3G network but not the CDMA network which Verzion has. Is CDMA better than EDGE, which was the network the first iPhone used? If it's the same limitations, then I'm not sure I'd want to be on it.
  • Convincing Others: If I move carriers, so does the rest of the family. I think everyone would be cool getting new phones. But I don't look forward to telling our parents, "Yeah, you need to get a new phone. Why? Well, because, that's why."
  • Costing More: I hear that Verizon phone plans are slightly more expensive on average than AT&T's plans. I'm not sure this is true. But I'm not willing to pay more just yet.

Come June or July a decision will need to be made whether to stick with AT&T or not. I’m sure I won’t be the only one weighing whether to go to Verizon, that is of course if Verizon does announce the iPhone this coming Tuesday.

Immunizations

Mia had her first immunization shots yesterday. Oh, the pain! But she’s a trooper, a tough cookie, like her mom.

She was given three shots and a sweet liquid that was taken orally. Farrah readily volunteered to hold me, though she didn’t really know what to expect. As she tightly held Mia the nurse gave the first shot into Mia’s right leg. When the needle entered Mia’s thigh, and the plunger was pressed down, Mia let out the biggest cry I ever heard from her tiny mouth. The scream was heartfelt and piercing. The nurse then gave Mia a few drops of the sweet liquid in an effort to soothe her. It calmed her for a brief moment until the other two shots were administered to her left leg. She was given the last of the sweet liquid to calm her down a bit. But you could see the tears streaming down the side of her face. It’s heartbreaking not being able to do anything but say, “It’ll be all right. You’re fine now.”

She cried until she could cry no longer. Exhausted, she fell asleep on the drive home.

Mia was quiet for a few hours. But then she awoke screaming, most likely from the pain in her legs. I was on my way home when Farrah told me 0.8 ml of acetaminophen, as dictated by the doctor, helped Mia through the next rough few hours. I don’t think we ever heard her cry so badly.

A Bunch of Quick Movie Reviews

Wow, a post other than photos and Twitter updates! Yeah, I’ve been a bit behind in reviewing movies that I’ve been able to watch the last couple of months. Yes, even with Mia, work, and all the things life has to throw at you, there is still a little time to enjoy a movie. Well, I enjoyed some of them. Others were not so good.

  • Karate Kid (2010) – Why remake this movie? They should have just called it “Kung Fu Kid” considering that’s what Jaden Smith is learning. Jaden Smith overacts and Jackie Chan doesn’t get enough screen time. A valiant effort to not use the same script, but it falls short.
    Rating: Rental

  • Robin Hood – Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett aren’t bad in this movie. It’s just that the story isn’t compelling at the least.
    Rating: Cable TV

  • Inception – This is the last film we saw in the theater. I thought it was great, not realizing it was a long film. I would have liked to have seen some of the scenes in IMAX, but overall I was satisfied to watch it on the big screen. If you get this on Blu-ray, I hope you have a large screen to watch it on, to get the full effect.
    Rating: Full Admission

  • The Losers – Action-packed movie, but no characters to care about. Zoe Saldana was the only thing going for this movie.
    Rating: Rental

  • The Blind Side – Likable actors and characters. Good solid story. I can see why Sandra Bullock was nominated for an Oscar (not sure she should have won it though).
    Rating: Matinee

  • She’s Out of My League – A predictable movie with a few funny moments. The shaving scene, and the outtakes of it, were a bit disturbing.
    Rating: Cable TV

  • Killers – An awful movie. A waste of time. I’m not sure why I bothered renting it. Oh, I know why. I rented Mr. & Mrs. Smith at the same time. I wanted to compare the two films. At least I watched one good film. Avoid Killers at all costs.
    Rating: Cable TV

  • Date Night – Tina Fey and Steve Carell are hilarious in this film. But I thought it would have been funnier than it turned out to be.
    Rating: Cable TV

  • The Book of Eli – Strong performance by Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman. Not sure if Mila Kunis worked in this film for me though. The ending was a surprise, but not enough for me to watch the movie again.
    Rating: Rental

  • Shutter Island – Well told story. Solid acting. Looks gorgeous in Blu-ray. I wouldn’t mind watching it again, though I don’t think it holds up with repeat viewing.
    Rating: Matinee

  • Hot Tub Time Machine – Good funny movie that reminds me of the teen movies of the 80s.
    Rating: Matinee

  • Kick-Ass – I was expecting funny/violent, which it started off as. Then it turned serious/violent. Action sequences were nice, but the overall tone of the film didn’t work for me.
    Rating: Rental

  • Zombieland – Another solid funny movie. Even though zombies scare Farrah, she sat through this film and enjoyed it. Worth a repeat viewing.
    Rating: Full Admission

Side Effects

It has been a week now since I’ve started to take the antibiotics meant to cure what ails me. I find it funny how drugs that are meant to help cure you make you feel so blah. I guess it’s just how your body interacts with the drug, teaming up with your immune system to defeat whatever is bothering you. I suppose that’s why they put all those funky adverse effects on the label. You know the ones like “may cause diarrhea, nausea, and bleeding from various orifices”.

The two antibiotics I’m ingesting - Ciprofloxacin and Metronidazole - have been unkind to me. After taking Metronidazole, I get hot flashes during the day. After adding Ciprofloxacin to the mix, I get lightheaded and nauseous. It makes functioning a bit difficult. I can’t drive a car. When I’m a passenger in a car I feel car sick immediately. I can’t stare at a computer screen too long because I’ll start to feel more ill. (BTW - I’m composing this via an iPad/iPhone app called Dragon Dictation.) If you do searches on both drugs (here and here) you can see that the side effects could be worse. Thankfully they aren’t.

At this point, I have 2 1/2 days more of the medication to take. I’ll take my last pills on Saturday morning, suffering through the effects throughout the day. I’m hoping Saturday night and Sunday will be much better. Later, I’ll have to follow up with the doctor to see what the heck cause my issue in the first place. Hopefully, it’s nothing too serious. Hopefully, I won’t need to take these medications again.

Been Ill

I’m sorry I haven’t been posting lately, especially missing the weekly Wednesday Mia photo post. But I was sick. Actually, I still am a bit ill.

The short story:

  • Woke up with a stomach ache Tuesday morning. Thought nothing of it. Took a couple of antacids hoping it’d go away.
  • Wednesday morning I woke up with more localized pain on the left side of my abdomen. (By the way - this was also Mia’s first day at daycare. More on that in a later post.) By afternoon I had cold and hot flashes.
  • Wednesday afternoon I was able to get an appointment with a doctor. Turns out I had a 102.6 fever, but of course, I felt cold so I didn’t notice. He prescribed antibiotics - Ciprofloxacin and Metronidazole - as well as getting a blood test.
  • The doc’s diagnosis is either stomach flu or diverticulitis.

At this point, the pain in my belly is still there, but it has lessened in strength. The medication I’m on is throwing me for a loop. I’m taking Ciprofloxacin and Metronidazole. I’m getting nauseous on one antibiotic and getting hot flashes with the other. Fun huh? Unfortunately, you can’t just stop taking the antibiotic - a 10-day course - so I’ll be suffering for a while.

I’m not sure if it’s diverticulitis or the stomach flu, even though the doctor feels it’s the former. The long-term treatment for diverticulitis is a change in diet. I guess that wouldn’t hurt. Either way, I’m stuck with these antibiotics for the next several days.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - My Review

Netflix Synopsis:

Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) and rebellious computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) team up to investigate the unsolved disappearance of wealthy Henrik Vanger’s (Sven-Bertil Taube) teen niece (Ewa Fröling), only to uncover dark secrets about Vanger’s powerful family. Niels Arden Oplev directs this Swedish thriller based on the first novel from Stieg Larsson’s best-selling trilogy.

My Take:

I haven’t read the book, a synopsis of the book, or even a synopsis of the movie before renting it. I thought the title was interesting enough to warrant a rental. What was I expecting? From the title I was expecting an action film a la Angelina Jolie in Salt. What I got instead was a compelling hardcore drama-mystery-thriller.

What was difficult to handle in this film is not the subtitles, but the violence against women. There is graphic violence against the “Girl”, Lisbeth, in the title of the film, as well as referenced violence against several other females. The dialog, and descriptions of what happens to certain characters, are also difficult to stomach. It is like watching a hardcore episode of Criminal Minds or Law and Order: SVU. But then Lisbeth is one smart tough girl. She is not afraid of the pain she goes through, and certainly is not shy in dealing out a violent barrage if need be. Her complexity - a product of what she’s been through - is alluded to throughout the film. I’m sure it’s dealt with more thoroughly in the book(s).

I hear they are doing a US remake of this film. I would be hesitant to see it. But then I hear David Fincher is helming the remake. Either he or Christopher Nolan would do a worthy remake worth, at the least, checking out.

Rating: Full Admission

Four Weeks

It has been four weeks.  In the quiet times, when there is a chance for reflection, time seems to have passed by rapidly.  At other times, especially during the crying spells, time seems to move glacially.  Either way, it still amounts to four weeks. Mia is now four weeks old.

Things Learned

There are only so many books you can read and so many stories you can hear from others who’ve been through it, to prepare you for a child. I’m sure what we’ve learned is contained in a book, a web site, or a friend’s story, but nonetheless here are a few things we’ve learned:

  • Crying doesn’t always mean she is hungry.  Sometimes she just wants to be held, especially at 3am.
  • Baby acne just happens. Seriously, it wasn’t the gangly beard I grew that caused her face or arm rash.
  • Changing one diaper can rapidly digress into changing three diapers.
  • During a diaper change, if her butt is angled correctly, she can project a poo stream a good foot away. Yeah, it happened.  Luckily I was to her right when it did.
  • She’s not cross-eyed.  She’s just trying to focus at something far away. Whew!
  • Hiccups happen.  It seems to not bother Mia as much as us.
  • It’s probably wise to do a load of laundry a day, both for yourself and the baby.
  • Amazon.com is a great site.  It is especially great for subscription services. You can subscribe to diapers, wipes, etc. It’s convenient and saves some money as well.
  • Another good site is Diapers.com. I had to call their customer service because of a missed shipment.  They were very quick in correcting the issue. They also ship as quick as Amazon does.
  • The Baby Geek app for the iPhone / iPad has been very helpful.

The Cuteness

There are many cute things Mia does. I’ve tried to capture the moments on video, but sometimes it’s not possible.  Here are a few that I don’t want to forget about:

  • After she sneezes, Mia lets out this exhaustive sigh, as if the sneeze took every ounce of energy she had.
  • When Mia wakes up, she stretches multiple times, contorting her body in an “S” shape, getting the most out of each consecutive stretch.
  • She can lift her own head when doing the over-the-shoulder burp. This makes it difficult to hold her at times.
  • From time to time she makes an “O” shape with her mouth as if she’s about to say something. As long as it’s not crying, it’s good.
  • She sleeps with her arms raised as if she’s crossing a finish line.

I’m sure the future holds more to come, both in learning and cuteness.

GPOMW - First Week Photo Edition

Now I understand why so few photos are taken during the first few weeks of a baby’s birth.  First off, the baby is often asleep.  Seriously, there are only so many photos you can take of a sleeping baby.  I suppose you can take photos in various outfits, but nonetheless, they are still sleeping.  The second reason so few photos are taken is that you - the parents - are really freakin’ exhausted!  So when your baby is awake, and you have your camera ready, capturing the moment in a photo is a gem.

This photo of Mia was taken on July 8, 2010.  At this point, she was one week old. She was very active for a few hours before falling asleep once more.

Red Cliff

The Netflix synopsis: When a warmongering prime minister (Fengyi Zhang) advances his armies against two rival kingdoms, he unwittingly prompts his adversaries (Chen Chang and Yong You) to work together in this martial arts action-adventure. The ensuing conflict culminates in the epic battle of Red Cliff, a struggle by the sea involving more than one million soldiers.

My Take: A John Woo film without guns isn’t bad. And it doesn’t hurt to have Tony Leung in the cast. I was captivated by the story. But I wished it was fleshed out more. I then realized there is a longer two-part original version available.  Albeit it is four hours long, versus 148 minute for theatrical version I watched. I think the trade-off would be worth the extra effort, especially on blu-ray.

Rating: Matinee

Whiteout

Kate Beckinsale in Whiteout Kate Beckinsale

The Netflix synopsis: “The lone U.S. marshal at a research station in Antarctica, Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale) stumbles upon the continent’s first murder victim. With only three days left until the sun sets for six months, Carrie races to solve the complex mystery before darkness falls.”

My Take: Unfortunately, Whiteout was a weak mystery-thriller where you could predict the culprit(s) in the first 10 minutes. The only saving grace of the movie has going for it is the Antarctic setting and the Kate Beckinsale shower scene.  I’m guess the latter was added due to the overall dullness of the movie.  The source material must have better.

**Rating:*Cable TV

GPOYW is GPOMW to Me

Mia Sleeping Mia Bee

GPOYW - Gratuitous Picture Of Yourself Wednesday - is a tumblr tradition I’ve never participated in. But I think I’ll start, but change it up to be GPOMW - Gratuitous Picture Of Mia Wednesday. Let’s be honest, I’ll post photos of Mia anyway. So why not make it an every Wednesday occurrence?

For the inaugural post, I’m using a few photos.  The above series of photos were taken in Mia’s newly built crib on July 13, 2010. Mia’s cousin Kayla help me put the crib together earlier in the day.  So we placed Mia down for a test run.  In a few photos, she is laying next to a Bee flash card, which represents one of the nicknames we gave her and often call her by.

Mia Izobel

Mia Izobel

Mia Izobel was born at 10:16 am on July 1, 2010.  She weighs 7 lbs 12.2 oz, is 19 1/2 inches long, with a thick head of hair. Mommy and baby are doing great!

Imogen Heap @ The Mountain Winery, Saratoga

The last time we saw Imogen Heap perform was at the Warfield. She was ill during that show, battling a cold. But the effects of the cold didn’t hamper her performance. She sounded great that evening. During this Friday’s concert at the Mountain Winery, Imogen didn’t need to battle being ill, but rather she fought the cold windy night. She was able to deliver another solid performance.

We haven’t been to a concert at the Mountain Winery since the remodel. Prior to the remodel, we saw two concerts and a attended a wedding there. It’s a great venue with beatuiful views. The drive up can be harrowing for some, as the roads and can get narrow and windy. The remodel helps to define the concert area, which if I recall, was previously one-level plus a bleacher or two. Now the venue has tiered seating which provides a great view of the stage from almost any seat. Parking is the standard steep price of $20.

We caught the last few songs by one of the opening acts, Geese. Interesting act, but not our cup of tea. They would later support Imogen during her performance.

Imogen came out swinging this tube-like object for the song “The Walk”.

The setlist included (not in order):

  • The Walk
  • Swoon
  • Come Here Boy
  • Wait It Out
  • First Train Home
  • Little Bird
  • Canvas
  • A-Ha!
  • Breathe In
  • Earth
  • Improv
  • Bad Body Double
  • Speeding Cars
  • Let Go
  • Just for Now
  • Goodnight and Go
  • Headlock
  • Tidal
  • The Moment I Said It
  • Hide and Seek

Imogen did something interesting with one of her songs, Earth. She has a contest in which the winner would come on stage to perform the song with her. The winner for Saratoga is shown below in this YouTube clip:

My Short Review of Iron Man 2

We were finally able to watch Iron Man 2 the other night in Cupertino.  I know its been out for some time, but we’ve been a little busy these last few weeks.  The baby fun is just starting, right?

In short, Iron Man 2 is worthy sequel. The movie introduces a few villains and heroes.  Also a character from the first film played by another actor.  It contains as much story depth and deep character development as they first movie - I write sarcastically - and plenty of action sequences.  My favorite sequence was the scene at the race track. 

Rating: Matinee