words
If You've Had Too Much Drink....
Photos no longer available
Interesting building I found on my visit to Digg.com. Imagine being drunk and wandering by this place in Paris. I guess it’s a surrealist building, but I’m not sure if it is built this way or if the building is covered to obtain the look. You can find more information about the building by visiting the following website . This is where I obtained these press photos (more photos after the jump).
The website is in French. I cannot translate the text. If you happen to garner more information on this building I’d like to know.
Photos no longer available
A Review of Juno
The first movie to be reviewed on the “reloaded” website is Juno. Farrah and I watched Juno about a week ago at the AMC Cupertino Square 16. This theater is becoming our number-one place to watch movies. I suppose because it is new, clean, and doesn’t smell like feet yet.
We had only heard good things about the movie, so expectations were slightly high. The only aspect I wasn’t looking forward to was Jennifer Garner’s acting. We bought our Milk Duds and headed into the theater. We were early enough to have our choice of seats. But the place quickly filled up with eager moviegoers. It had been some time since we watched a movie in a crowded theater.
Here is the brief synopsis provided by Netflix:
Facing an unplanned pregnancy, worldly teen Juno (Ellen Page) devises a plan to locate the proverbial perfect parents to adopt her baby. But the seemingly ideal couple Juno chooses appears to still have some growing up to do. Now, everyone in Juno's world must do a little soul-searching. Michael Cera (Superbad) co-stars while Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner play the pair of affluent yuppies anxious for a child in this offbeat coming-of-age comedy.
What I Liked
The film is funny and smartly written. Sharing laughter with a large crowd sure makes the movie experience more enjoyable. Juno is one of those movies that has very quotable dialog. You can find yourself quoting lines often throughout the following weeks. The acting is sharp all around, especially from Ellen Page who plays the lead. Yes, I even liked Jennifer Garner.
The film moves at a brisk pace, clocking in at a fast 92 minutes. The seemingly predictable plot points turned out to be refreshingly unpredictable, at least from my standpoint.
What I Did Not Enjoy
I can’t think of anything I didn’t enjoy about Juno. I could say it was short, but it didn’t feel too short. I was awaiting an unsatisfying ending; you know the endings where each viewer needs to determine for themselves if the characters found happiness or not? Luckily this did not come to pass.
Some may think the dialog is trying too hard to be memorable, trying hard to be cute and hip. But it works in this movie for both the characters in high school and the adults.
Final Thoughts
Strong movie. Smart script. Strong acting by likable actors. A good way to spend a few hours in a warm theater.
Rating: ***** out of 5 stars
Happy New Year!!!
Happy New Year to All!!!
May your year be a joyous and prosperous!
Now, I need to do that resolution thing, right?
Ok, in particular order, my resolutions are to:
- Use the sleep apnea (CPAP) machine more often, which will give me more energy to...
- Exercise more, which will help me in...
- Losing weight, which will also help with...
- the sleep apnea-thing
For those you of you who don’t know what sleeping with a CPAP machine looks like, see the photo below:
Read the story here for more on sleep apnea.
Not sure what Farrah’s resolutions may be. You’ll need to ask her.
./Janella.com Reloaded
I am starting with a clean slate.
Janella.com is rebuilding from the ground up. I’m starting from zero. This means blog postings previous to this one are no longer available to view. This purging does is not only limited to the blog you are reading now, but also the photos section - which will now hosted on Smugmug. My thoughts on my Flickr account is to post only individual photos there. More on what individual mean in the future.
Why am I doing this?
I have been contemplating this for quite some time. I have been on a creative slump, both in writing and taking photos. It has persisted for awhile now. I have tried dealing with this slump by making manic site design updates to the web site, which regular visitors have seen in the last year.
Part of the problem is with Wordpress, which makes it easy to change your web site’s look by offering plenty of free wonderfully hackable themes. Plug-ins for Wordpress provide additional ways to add features and change the look of the site. Then there are the software updates which can add or change base features. When I started using Wordpress to power the site I started with version 1. As of this posting it is at version 2.3.1.
When I make changes I am satisfied for a short time. Then I start browsing older entries created when using version 1.x or even 2.0, such as the entries of our London trip. I then become unhappy with the way the site looks. The cycle then begins again, changing the site once more. The one constant through these late struggles has been the same - the content.
Yes, the words I have written should stay the same. They should not be edited or reformatted. I should not care that 5 years ago I did not like to capitalize blog entries properly or that post tagging is something I didn’t do last year. I wouldn’t think I would have been the type of person who would care about this, but I do care for some reason I cannot articulate.
What I should be doing is adding new entries when the writing urge hits. I should be taking photos and posting them. But then the above takes a hold of me. It hinders me, stopping me from writing a word or taking a photo. At this point it is something I can’t seem to shut off.
So I have decided to start over.
I tried to think of a graceful way to archive the previous content, other than the archive method offered through Wordpress. At this point I have come up with nothing. What I have written before, and what you have graciously shared your comments on, is not lost. It is simply offline at the moment.
./Janella.com is now ‘red’. “Those of you who know me know that red is my favorite color,” he says sarcastically. I found the Half-Baked via the Weblog Tools Collection site and liked it tremendously.
I hope you are interested in what I write in the future. I hope you comment when you feel the need to do so. I hope to take more photos, interesting photos. I hope to update the site often - in content, not necessarily in design (but perhaps playing a bit with the layout).
From here on we begin anew.
Celebrating a Graduation
This is the second post about last weekend. As I mentioned previously, a great deal happened.
Last Saturday was Kristel’s college graduation celebration at Dynasty Restaurant in Cupertino Square. The event was celebrated with a dinner, sharing plenty of food with family and friends. I believe we had a total of twelve large courses, each one topping the other. Farrah and I have always enjoyed Dynasty Restaurant and this time was no exception.
At the party, Farrah had an opportunity to catch up with a former co-worker, Teddy, who recently came back to the states. Later in the evening, Kristel gave a heartwarming speech thanking everyone for sharing this moment with her, as well as sharing her feelings regarding the support her family has given her thus far. Nice speech Kristel.
Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my camera to capture any of these moments. After the fact, I wish I had done so. There were so many moments I could have captured. But for some odd reason, in the last several months, I have been very hesitant in taking photos. I think I am in a bit of a funk in this regard. I think I just need to pick up the gear and take photos.
What's in the Box?
As you have most likely noticed, I have update the site once more. I have added a Twitter widget.
What is Twitter?
Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?
The postings to the left - at the time of this writing - are made mostly though SMS. When I have access to a computer, and I think about it, I might make an update through there.
I heard about Twitter awhile back, but never jumped on board. I wondered - who would be interested in what I’m doing? But then again I blog right? Clearly I regard myself as interesting enough to blog, so why not Twitter as well?
Twitter is also known as micro-blogging, since entries are limited (140 characters). It’s similar to sending text messages to someone, but I am sending it to my blog as well. Pownce, which I did a write up on as well, is a similar service with a few differences. I guess Pownce isn’t doing well according to Techcrunch. But Twitter also has issues, mainly downtime, which Techcrunch reports is on the upswing.
You can follow people on Twitter - where you will receive a text message on updates they make on Twitter. I haven’t done this yet because I don’t know anyone on there. But if you sign up for Twitter let me know. I can then follow you!
Give Twitter a spin.
Tori Amos - The Paramount Theater in Oakland, CA
This review is about a week late, but it has taken me a bit of time to digest the Tori Amos concert Farrah, and I saw it last Friday. Tori is touring in support of her latest album, American Doll Posse. I wasn’t a huge fan of the new album, but after watching Tori’s performance, it makes me want to play the album every day. I guess that’s what good concerts do to you.
The Venue
I like going to The Paramount Theater in Oakland. The theater looks great and the sound has always been well producing in the handful of shows I’ve been to there. Parking is very convenient, located directly across the street. The staff is nice and helpful, showing each attendee their seat.
The Performance
Photo by ericskiff as posted on Flickr.
In Tori’s latest album, she sings her songs through various personas. I believe she performed first as Santa, then for the second half as Tori. Yes, I guess Tori is one of Tori’s personas. Her set list included:
- Body and Soul
- She's Your Cocaine
- Hoochie Woman
- Secret Spell
- You Can Bring Your Dog
- Raspberry Swirl
- Big Wheel
- Crucify
- Sugar
- Cornflake Girl
- Bells For Her
- Caught a Lite Sneeze
- Winter
- Cooling
- Virginia
- Hotel
- Code Red
- Precious Things
- Bouncing Off Clouds
- Hey Jupiter
We enjoyed the concert overall. I especially enjoyed Caught a Lite Sneeze, even though I saw her perform this song before. I believe Farrah enjoyed her new song, Bouncing Off Clouds
When we entered The Paramount there were several signs noting that the show was being taped. Farrah and I have only been to one previous show that was being filmed, Jack Johnson at the Greek Theater. [sample video] The Greek Theater is a big venue, so filming wasn’t obtrusive. Unfortunately, where we sat in The Paramount a boom crossed our viewing path often. This made parts of the performance frustrating to watch, breaking up the rhythm of the show for us.
End Result
Overall it was a good performance. I think it was the first time I’ve seen Tori do costume changes. This added a different element to the performance.
Genentech Holiday Party 2007
Last Saturday I attended the holiday party for Genentech. It was held at AT&T ballpark. Yes, Genentech took over the whole baseball park.
First off, let me say that I hate calling it AT&T Park. Though PacBell no longer exists as a company, the former ballpark name PacBell Park rings more true when spoken aloud.
Last year’s holiday party was held at the Marriott in San Francisco. It was a more formal affair, dressing up for dinner and dancing. The party was great, but very crowded even though the party took up all the ballrooms and most of all the other nooks in hotel. I’m guessing the venue change had partially to do with that situation plus the Marriott is going through a slight renovation at this time, so it may have not been available for this shindig.
This affair had been built around two ideas: do you want to dine and dance or did you want to dine and get down-and-dirty in the snow. Yep, snow. We chose the latter, which meant dressing more for a trip to Tahoe then a trip to a ball.
We met up with Farrah’s co worker one her co workers (plus her boyfriend). It was my first time meeting both of them and we hung out most of the night together. Farrah co worker brought her ice skates as we heard there was going to be an ice skating rink somewhere in the ballpark.
We both entered ballpark at 7:00pm sharp. Once we got to inside we headed up toward the ballpark. We looked out onto the field to see what was in store. So much could be done:
- Near the middle of the baseball diamond there was the ice rink.
- In left field a hill of snow was available to sled down.
- In each dug out you could stand in line to have a whack at the batting cages.
- There was a dance floor and band set up in center field. The band played 70's disco and soul music.
- In the field and club level, a dining area and music was set up. Jazz and an 80's coverband where at the club level, a DJ in the field level area.
- Fireworks lit up the sky a little after 9:00pm
- There was food throughout the ballpark. A big favorite was smores which was available int he Promenade level.
Farrah and I watch as her co worker and her boyfriend ice skate for some time. We met up with Sarah and her date, who also ice skated. We danced and ate the night away, spending all of the five hours in the ballpark.
It was a very very good holiday party.
I’ll post some photos when I get a chance.
Being Smug Again
I’m working on bringing photos back up on Smugmug - which will be the primary source for most photos. I’m thinking of using Flickr more for photos I’m trying to be a little more creative with. Also falling into Flickr will be photos of more questionable content that Smugmug might not allow (such as the Folsom Street Fair photo set).
I’ll write more shortly on why I chose Smugmug over Zenfolio going forward. It’s just going to take me some time to encapsulate my thoughts on this subject. But you can look at my current Smugmug page at http://verbal.smugmug.com/:
Spider-Man 3
Spider-Man is not one of my favorite comic book characters. I’m more of a Batman guy, but I have enjoyed the Spider-Man movies. I thought the second movie in the series was better than the first. So my expectation of this third installment was very high, even after hearing of the lousy reviews.
As I always start my reviews, here is the Netflix synopsis of Spider-Man 3:
After defeating eight-armed cyborg Doctor Octopus, Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) faces off against a new crop of villains, including the shape-shifting Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), in the third adventure of the comic book series. While Spidey's superpowers are altered by an alien organism, his alter ego, Peter Parker, deals with nemesis Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) and gets caught up in a love triangle. Kirsten Dunst and James Franco co-star.
What I Liked
The actors and the characters they inhabit are likable. The special effects involving the Sandman were cool. Also, the “Gwen Stacy rescue scene” was done with just the right amount of intensity. The last battle scene at some moments, but in the end left me unfulfilled.
What I Didn’t Enjoy
But not all the special effects worked. The first battle slash chase scene looked particularly fake and uninspiring. Subsequent battles were too long and a bit repetitious.
The whiny nice Peter Parker started to get on my nerves. The angry Venom-infected Peter wasn’t menacing to be but an over-the-top hilarious caricature. My guess - Toby Maguire can’t pull off this duality bit convincingly. Also, the path the Harry Osborn character takes feels a bit forced.
The film also suffers from too many characters in a movie. Let’s see, there’s the old gang (Peter/Spidey, Mary Jane, Aunt May, etc.) and the new characters (Gwen Stacy, Ed Brock Jr., Venom, The Sandman, and a few others). To me, this problem caused some of the old Batman franchise films not to reach their full potential.
Final Thoughts
This trilogy hasn’t ended on a strong note. Spider-Man 3 is a watchable film. I just don’t think I’ll care to watch it again.
1/2 (out of 5)
Unwillingness
I decided to finally learn Adobe’s Photohop, so I signed up for a class at my local Junior College. The classroom has about forty computers, ten of which are iMacs. Since the first day of class the iMacs haven’t worked.
Each day I would come into class, and each day the teacher would say, “Choose a computer, but don’t sit at a Mac. They aren’t working! I hate Macs.”
Actually the iMacs do work! Unfortunately no one, even those people in the IT department at the JC, can figure out how to get them on the network! So the iMacs sit there looking pretty.
Four weeks later I arrive at class with the teacher declaring the Macs now work. The IT departments solution? They installed Windows!!!
I’m a bit sad at the unwillingness of the IT department to try and seek out a solution other than installing Windows. You would think they could do a simple search on the Internet, but I guess that is just too much work.
Two Weeks with an iPhone
If you haven’t heard, I have dumped my problematic LG-VX8500 (aka The Chocolate) and moved onto an iPhone. The recent price cut, coupled with the frustration with my possessed Chocolate auto dialing, helped make my decision easier.
So what do I think of the iPhone?
What I Like:
My primary concern was that the phone, as well as the AT & T service, would provide a horrible experience. Up to this point, phone use has been a pleasant experience. Call quality is good both on a headset and the iPhone directly. I haven’t had a dropped call or weak signal throughout my routine travel and use.
I love that my contacts and calendar are managed from my iMac. The interface to the iPhone address book makes looking for and dialing a phone number an enjoyable experience - except when you need to do it quickly (see below). Syncing is a breeze for these two applications. I love being able to make edits to a contact or calendar entry and having complete faith it will sync properly. No issues as of yet.
The Mail application is also very well done. I am able to access an account I set up specifically for the iPhone - a Yahoo! account since it does push mail - with ease. I filter/forward emails to that single account to retrieve while mobile. No issue accessing over WiFi or on The Edge Network.
The iPod part of the phone is great. Listening to music and viewing videos has been a joy with this device. The memory space is just enough to fit plenty of music and videos to last a weekend trip.
What I Don’t Like:
The major complaint I have is the inability to make a call quickly - e.g. single touch dialing. It takes a minimum of three contacts (e.g. press, slide, touch) if you have your iPhone setup correctly to make a quick call. But I rarely need to make a quick call.
I’m not missing voice dialing (I didn’t use it much), GPS (never had it), or a 3G Network (never used it). Larger memory than 8 GB would be nice, but it’s not a deal breaker. Plus, from what I have read, 8 GB is the largest memory available for any smartphone.
Good phone, and a great iPod! It was worth the (lower) price of the iPhone.
No New Material from the Fugees
Fugees fans won’t be hearing any new material from the ‘Killing Me Softly’ stars anytime soon. (via Lauryn Hill should ‘see a psychiatrist’ | Metro.co.uk)
New Navigation
I wanted the website to have a splash page introduction. I was going to code some HTML but then I thought of another way to do it. I’ve used Pixelpost before as a photo blog. Then it dawned on me that I can use it as the site intro as well!
The front page photo will rotate from time to time based on when I post a photo. Please make any comments on the photos if you wish. From the front page, you can access:
- The Blog - where I might write some long winded post.
- My Tumblr - a quick blog that is more up-to-date than the main blog. Here you will find quotes, stories, videos, or photos that I run into during the day. Some links may be Not Safe For Work (NSFW). I will try to point those out.
- My Flickr account - where most of my photos are posted.
- Browse - which allows you to view the photos posted on the main page. The archive will get larger as more photos are posted.
Please comment and enjoy!