December Mix

  • Money Maker Ludacris
  • Fergalicious Fergie Feat. Will.I.Am
  • My Love (Feat. T.I. & Timbaland) Justin Timberlake
  • Show Me Janet Jackson
  • Work It Out Jurassic 5 & Dave Matthews Band
  • Chasing Cars Snow Patrol
  • Better Regina Spektor
  • When You Were Young The Killers
  • Irreplaceable Beyonce
  • Hurt Christina Aguilera
  • Gravity John Mayer
  • Mad World Michael Andrews
  • Goodnight And Go Imogen Heap

QotD: Stupid Human Trick

What is your stupid human trick?
Submitted by Scarlett.
I can fold my tongue in half - from front to back.

Rest In Peace

This morning we had to put Tigger to sleep.  He was 19 years old.

He hadn’t eaten on his own the last six days. We brought him in on Friday and found out his white cell count was up, his body temperature was down, and his hydration level low.   They gave him fluids and antibiotics.

Later that evening Tigger's breathing pattern had changed. It seemed he was struggling with each breath.  We kept an eye on him through the night, trying to keep him warm, but there was no change in his condition.

So this morning we brought him back to the clinic, knowing full well the choice we had to make. After more consultation with the vet, and an xray to guide us in our choice, we made the decision that he shouldn’t suffer any longer.  I called my sister Tessie, who had Tigger originally, and told her the news.  She agreed as well it was time to let him go.

I will always remember Tigger as the most affectionate cat I ever knew.  I’m am happy that I had the opportunity to be his owner for about 13 of his 19 years of life.  His meowing and playful clawing will be missed.


Nothing Less Then Kelly Clarkson

Oh, my friends at Yahoo!, how I hope the rumor is not true. I went to only one YEP (Year End Party) out of three opportunities.

Chris Daughtry

I missed The Flaming Lips and Earth, Wind and Fire, but did manage to see Ozamotli.  But Chris Daughtry? Granted, I would have voted for him, if I did that sort of thing. But if you’re going to have an American Idol perform at your Christmas party, can you at least get the current champ? Or better yet Kelly Clarkson?

Perhaps it’s a ruse. Maybe someone like Bob Dylan will show up?


QotD: My Dream Career

What's your dream career? 
Submitted by Something.
If I could do it all over again I would have probably be a chef.  I thought of being a chef my junior year in high school.  Funny, I don't cook to often now, but I think if I made that career choice back then and stuck with it, I would be pretty good at cooking.

Weekend in San Diego - Part 1

farrah and I took a trip down south to visit friends. We haven't visited Yen and Heidi since they moved there last year. My friend Tage has lived in San Diego for several years and I have never visited him there.

We caught an evening flight out of SJO, arriving to unexpected warm weather in San Diego around 9:30 pm. Farrah and I didn't eat dinner before leaving San Jose, so Yen and Heidi - who picked us up at the airport - treated us to Extraordinary Desserts. We entered the eatery a little before eleven and the place closed at midnight. But the place was extrememly busy for 70 minutes we were there.

Posing in front of Extraordinary Desserts

Our waitress seemed distracted. I'm guessing she was thinking about the end of the day more then about how to provide decent service for her customers. Everyone at our table ordered a type of panini, but I can't remember what kind I had. For dessert I ended up with Chocolate Short Bread which tasted like an overbaked cookie. I know that doesn't sound appealing to some, but I enjoyed it. I would have been better with a big glass of milk. Farrah, in her quest to find the perfect bread pudding, had their warmed bread pudding a la mode. Yum!

On Saturday morning we tried eating at Hash House A Go Go before splitting up for the weekend. Farrah was going to hang out with Yen and Heidi while I hung out with Tage for the rest of he weekend. The plan was to have breakfast, then split up. Unfortunately, the Hash House A Go Go was a little too busy when we did a drive by. We decided to go to a local Starbucks, then went our separate ways.

Shopping was on the agenda for the girls, while I had a hankering to go to the zoo and take photos. I haven't been to a zoo since I was a teenager, so I thought the San Diego Zoo would be the touristy thing to do. Plus I've been uninspired lately in taking photos.

Tiger Looking HIppos Ahoy!

Leave the Sleeping Cat Alone

A Red River Hog

Skeleton of a Snake

Monkey See

I planned to take a lot of photos while in San Diego with the NIkon D70s. But while unpacking the night before, I found that I left a 1GB memory card back home. This meant I was down to only one 1GB card. I shoot in RAW, so that only afforded me 138 photos. But I thought, no worries, because I brought my portable hard drive, right? I even charged the hard drive two nights ago to ensure it was ready for the trip. But yes, you guessed it, I filled my memory card half way through the trip through the zoo, and then then took out the hard drive to dump the photos but (queue the wah wah wahhhh sound effect) the hard drive didn't work! Damn!!!

My photo shooting experience at the zoo and surrounding area felt a little truncated due to the memory card shortage. But oh well. I figured we could stop by a Best Buy or other store to pick up a card for the next day. After the zoo, Tage and I walked around Balboa Park. I must have seen at least five wedding parties taking photos in the surrounding area. I'll need to explore Balboa Park a little more on another visit.

We tried to meet up for dinner with the girls, but time and distance was against us. So Tage and I ending up eating at Fleming, a very nice steak house. The girls ended up at the Rei DO Gado Churrascaria, a Brazilian place I heard about and wanted to try, and which Farrah enjoyed.

Boy, my blogging stamina ain't what it used to be. I'll have need to blog about what happened on Sunday at a later time. I should work on the rest of the photos from the trip as well.


QotD: OS Preference

Windows, Mac, Linux - What's your preference and why?
Submitted by ramblingsbymark.
In order of preference: Mac, Linux, then Windows.  I've actually just switched all my home computers to Mac.  Linux I've used at jobs and on website.  Windows I enjoy the least.  Too many people with too many spyware slash virus problems!

QotD: All My Computers

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How many computers do you have in your house? 
Submitted by Foomper.

Four.

24" iMac - Just purchased this about three weeks ago.  A very sweet machine, and my primary home computer.  I know I wrote that I was lusting after Mac Pro, but after researching it more I think the iMac suits my needs.  Away with Windows!

Pentium 4 3.0 gHz Windows XP machine - A three year old computer which is the second computer I ever built.  I used a black Antech Sonata case, and an ASUS P4C800 Deluxe Motherboard.   It was frustratingly fun to build a computer from scratch.


QotD: On Podcasts

Do you listen to podcasts? Are there any you'd recommend?
Inspired by Alex.

I listen to a lot of the twit.tv podcasts, or as Leo Laporte has been using now, netcasts. I like his Mac netcasts, This Week in Tech, and his KFI feed.

Also on my list is the Answer Bitch from E! Online. Celebrity gossip with a little bite!


Found Today

Farrah Fawcett Trading CardFarrah Fawcett Trading Card

It cleaning month here in the city.  They call it extra dump days.  The first two weekends of this month we were able to take large amounts of junk to our local dump without being charged extra. Also, on normal trash days you for the whole month you can set aside extra garbage for the trucks to pick up.

So I’ve been in the garage a few days this month trying to get rid off all those items I no longer use.  I can’t believe the amount of magazines I’ve found and thrown in the recyle bin.  I would have to say a good 70 lbs of magazines have been hauled away.

Anyway, today’s gem was in a box full of old trading cards.  Most of the cards were Star Wars, Star Trek, Superman I and II, and some KISS trading cards.  Most are in a non-collectible state.  But the one find was this Farrah Fawcett Charlie’s Angels card.  I showed it to my farrah who thinks I should put it on my office wall.

Score!


QotD: Save It For A Rainy Day

What's the best way to spend a rainy day?
Submitted by Vee.
With farrah, making Banana Pancakes (If you didn't know, it's a Jack Johnson song).

Lyrics:

Well can't you see that it's just raining
there ain't no need to go outside...
But Baby, You hardly even notice
when I try to show you
this song is meant to keep ya
from doing what you're supposed to
waking up too early
Maybe we can sleep in
make you banana pancakes
pretend like it's the weekend now

Vox Hunt: I Love This Mug

Show us your mug.

My Chipped Batman MugMy Chipped Batman Mug

My Batman mug is used for most liquid beverages.  Unfortunately, I chipped it while washing it earlier this year :(

But it minor damage hasn’t stopped me from using it!


QotD: Set Your DVR

What TV show(s) will you be watching this season? Why? 

Submitted by ducnly.vox.com.

Since I got a my first Tivo from BossaNova, watching televison has never been the same.  But that story is for another day.   I’ve finally gotten this entry finished.  Ok, let’s do this in alphabetical order, shall we?

The Amazing Race 10 - Just goes to show that couples can fight with each other in any country.

America’s Next Top Model - I like all the drama.

Battlestar Galactica - Never thought I would like a remade version of a childhood show, but his sci-fi stuff is gritty and bleak.  Oh, and there are the sexy women on the show as well.

Brothers & Sisters - Not sure how this drama is going to unfold, but it has me (slightly) interested.

Criminal Minds - I didn’t like this show at first, but for some reason it grew on me.

CSI - The one true CSI.  No substitutes, baby!

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - We watch this show together to see who will cry first. (Yes, I have cried during this show - he admits reluctantly.)

Family Guy - I actually watch this show more religiously than the Simpson!                               

Family Guy - Wheel Of Fortune

Family Guy - Wheel Of Fortune

Gilmore Girls - Because my wife watches it.

Grey’s Anatomy - Yeah, hooked into the melodrama.  I’m just hoping George is really moving on, cause I’m tired of his whiny self.

Heroes - Who doesn’t want to see superheroes?

House - I just love this guess this disease show!

How I Met Your Mother - Funny show, lousy title.  See below for more lousy titles.

Men in Trees - Because my wife watches it.  Plus, I don’t think there is much else on Friday nights.

Law and Order: CI - Oh man, Annabella Sciorra isn’t on there any longer?  Oh, but Vincent D’Onofiro is still going strong.

Lost - Because I need to find the answers to all the freakin' questions from the last two seasons.  What do you mean there will be more questions???!!!!

The Office - So, whree do Jim and Pam go from here?

NCIS - Good cast, weak but watchable stories. 

Project Runway - Yeah, I’m into the drama…and Heidi Klum isn’t bad to watch.

Smith - Not sure this one will last, but Virgina Madsen is always nice to watch.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - Lousy title, but (hopefully) some good writing.  The pilot episode was good.

Top Chef - I like cooking, and what beats this Project Runway meets Iron Chef show?

24 - Because Jack Bauer kicks butt!

The Unit - I can do without the household melodrama parts, but I guess that’s part of the show.

What About Brian? - Lousy title, but I got hooked last year.

By the way - if you watch a lot of TV, you might want to check out MeeVee.


Today

I took today off to attend a company anniversary party.  The party was for a biotech company my wife recently joined.  We had heard they throw amazing parties, but I didn't realize the scale until today.
 
I always thought my previous employer had great parties.  For past Christmas parties my last employer has had The Flaming Lips, Ozomatli, and Earth, Wind and Fire.  (Yeah, I know the last one seems odd when compared to the other two.)  This last company is a Internet media-type company, so I would think they would get cool acts.  And so I was disappointed last year when Sugar Ray was the performer for the 10th anniversary party.  Yawn!
 
Anyway, for today's party I attended - a biotech company - they had some amazing secret acts in store.  When I say secret, I mean the performers were not announce to the companys' employees beforehand. 
 
First off was the Foo Fighters, who performed an acoustic set.  Dave Grohl was in fine shape, and interactive with the crowd.  I believe I saw them only once and concert previously, but I think this one tops it.
 
 Next up was big Bob Dylan! I'm not too much into Dylan, but what I heard I could get into.  His shadow seems more animated in the iPod commerials though.  He seemed to want to get through his set an be off, a sharp constrast to the Foo Fighters and the next act.
 
The next act, the Black Eyed Peas, had the crowd rockin'. farrah and I saw the group way way back when they opened for Macy Gray, and were pre-Fergie.  I must say, I'm wasn't a fan of the addition of Fergie, but boy can those guys perform.  And yes, she can too.  Fergie sang a solo of "Sweet Child O' Mine" and even did a little Axel Rose shuffle (you know that side-step dance move he does).  The show could have ended there but....
 
Last up were The Eagles.  Those guys can still rock, sounding just like they do on CD.  But again, it seemed - from the few songs I saw them do - they just wanted to play the tunes and get off stage.
 
We didn't stay until the end, as our feet were getting tired from standing all day and the long drive home still yet to come.  Overall, it was a good day.  If I learned one thing today, it is that biotech can rock better than a bunch of Yahoos!

Happy Birthday, Tessie and Tiana!!!

My (older) SisterTiana with StickersA quick happy birthday to Tessie and Tiana!!!  

farrah and I wish we could be there to help you celebrate!