great clip

I'm thinking of making a list of 'best of 2007'. Probably will be just a series of posts instead of one long one.

Let me start with this performance of "Love and Mercy", Kennedy Center honors Brian Wilson.

I Am Legend

I try not to overhype a movie in my mind, but I think I did for "I Am Legend". I thought the movie was very good, great but I wanted more. Will Smith was excellent and New York City as the setting was perfect. I wanted a bit more of the backstory. Hopefully an 'extended edition' or director's cut DVD will be released. I would like to see the movie again. Probably try to catch it on the IMAX screen.

still better than summer

Haven't talked about the weather as of late. December 2007 has definitely been colder than December last year. Today was particularly cold with stinging sleet, in the NYC area.

Still like it a whole lot more than summer.

opening soon

Ok I know in the sidebar it didn't always show properly. Looking forward to see the movie this Friday.


Visit the Official I Am Legend Website

Just in time for Thanksgiving...

Beware if you have a weak stomach.... Doctors untangle the strange case of the giant hairball

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

The Right to Vote

Most say their vote has a price...

http://media.www.nyunews.com/media/storage/paper869/news/2007/11/14/News/Most-Say.Their.Vote.Has.A.Price-3099547.shtml

I think the last line hits it right on the head...

One CAS junior went even further, writing that "anyone who'd sell his lifelong right to vote should be deported."

Cute, Tasty, Electrifying

Two squirrel related stories...
Good news for New Jersey squirrel eaters

Squirrels briefly kill power in 2 cities

current weather

Certainly a change from the summer and it isn't winter yet.

better finish it...

"New York's $25,000 dessert sets Guinness record"

"It is eaten with a gold spoon decorated with white and chocolate-colored diamonds, which can also be taken home."... ok how many people don't take the spoon home.

Jam That Phone

Article in the New York Times about cellphone jamming. While I'm sympathetic to the problem, I believe the jamming will do more harm than good.

I do remember being in riding an elevator at the hospital. One person was really talking away, loudly, on her cell phone. I turned to a person on the opposite side. We just looked at each other then started laughing. We couldn't believe how loud the person was. She glanced at each of us and I think she knew why we were laughing. Didn't stop her from talking anyway.

Riveting

Trapped, a crew waits for the fire
Just watched a segment on the Today show on this story. Absolutely riveting. Very happy it turned out well.

Camouflage

Ok.. not quite sure what to think of this:
Fearing Crime, Japanese Wear the Hiding Place

An Educated Consumer Is Our Best Customer

Well they rather you not be educated... "Undercover reporters find PC repairmen batting .300"

Not to say there aren't good computer techs out there, but 'repairs' for your expensive tool (honestly all the people I know use their computers not 'play' with them) can run very high.

Not left in backseat...

Well I guess it was good that she didn't leave the kid in the backseat of a locked car on a hot day....

Police: Irate Woman Throws Baby At Trooper

fall like

Ok, now it is downright chilly... but I'm not complaining. While there can still be bouts of heat and humidity... it is still technically summer, fall is near.

restaurant work

Probably some of the toughest work out there. I would never want to do it. Check out this post "Plausible Deniability"

Probably can follow up that article with this CEOs say how you treat a waiter can predict a lot about character

muggy

Apple probably should add the current humidity to the weather widget. 73° doesn't show how particularly muggy and uncomfortable it is now. I did think August wasn't as bad as July, at least I didn't remember it being that bad. September started out downright comfortable. Maybe I've become a bit acclimated or perhaps I'm just happier that fall is coming.

new iPods

Pretty decent update to the entire line. The price drop on the iPhones is a bit of a surprise. I wonder if it is a combination of cheaper costs and less than desired sales that caused it.

Biggest disappointment for me. The iPod Touch. If they only put a hard drive in it (didn't have to be that thin for me), I would be ordering one right now. The large capacity iPod Classics are nice, but I want the bigger screen and want more storage capacity for video.

Oh well, maybe the next update.

The iPhone is definitely a much better buy now, but sorry... I still hate AT&T/Cingular.

Not from China

Fortunately (so far) this isn't a product that has made it to US markets. Pretty sad.

Poisonous Puffer Fish Sold as Salmon Kills 15 in Thailand

Spongebob Leadpants

Maybe one day they'll be mining for lead and discover toys mixed with the ore.

More recalls of chinese made products.
Sponge Bob SquarePants™ address book and journals recalled

Fake Sunroof

Definitely one of the lamest things ever. From autoblog.com:

DECANO self-adhesive sunroof doesn't let the sun shine in

Lull in the weather

Since last Friday it has been downright fall like. Quite a bit of rain yesterday, but consistently cool and comfortable. Supposed to get hot again later this week, but it has been a nice break in the summer.

Now that's more like it...

Now if only every summer day was as cool as today. Many will disagree but I find it downright comfortable.

I'll have what she's having...

Great article in the NY Times about women no longer having qualms ordering a steak during a date:

"Be Yourselves, Girls, Order the Rib-Eye"


It is about as hot as when Julia Stiles during an interview on Conan O'Brien said she was no longer a vegan. Here is a rough transcript of the interview. Done in 2003? Didn't seem that long ago.

Delays...

Was watching the news this morning and only saw reports of weather related delays on the trains that service NYC and the surrounding areas. Then I get a call from my mom saying she's been waiting for a bus with some space available as they were packed since subway service had been suspended.

So, packed an extra set of clothes, put on the good sneakers and prepared to walk. All in all not too bad. Ended up being slightly late to work. Heat and humidity made me soaking wet but again, had the spare set of clothes.

Here is the NY Times story on the delays this morning.

Kid left behind...

After all those stories about parents leaving their kids in a van (and dying from the heat), talk about "forgetting about your kid". Nice there was a happy ending to all of this.

Boy rescued after 6-hour Dead Sea ordeal - Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070805/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_dead_sea

muggy

It may not seem that hot but the humidity is really oppressive. Trying to vent the hot air in the apartment out.

I think all the people who say they love the summers are also the ones who have air conditioning at home.

Nike + iPod pt 2

Was going to switch back to the old Nano but forgot that it needed a charge. Tried a walk again with the newer Nano. This time no problems and it saved the workout data without a problem. Let's see how long that lasts.

summer break

Nice and cool this morning. You may be wondering what is the deal with my weather 'reports'. Growing up in New York, I really really really hated summers. Specifically hot and humid summers. Not having any air conditioning, hot/humid nights made sleeping impossible.

When I lived in Los Angeles, I was really spoiled by the weather. The area I lived in, not too far from the ocean, stayed mild and comfortable. For six years, seldom ever felt 'uncomfortable'.

Some of the recent hot/humid nights here I was out of mind. Couldn't believe how uncomfortable I was. These occasional breaks from the heat are a blessing.

sleeping weather

Weather as of 4:09am. Great sleeping weather. Supposedly the lower humidity will last till Monday. Hopefully catch up on some much needed sleep this weekend.

Disturbing story

"Will Nowell of Nashville said that his 10-year-old son, Cullen, had developed a sore arm through overuse and was taking a year off from pitching. He acknowledged that Cullen was too young to have Tommy John surgery, but if the soreness did not disappear in two or three years, he said, “I wouldn’t be afraid of it.”

I'm glad -he- wouldn't be afraid of putting his 12-13 year old son through surgery.

Fit Young Pitchers See Elbow Repair as Cure-All
By JERÉ LONGMAN
Published: July 20, 2007
The success of Tommy John surgery among major leaguers has prompted young pitchers to push for it.

Story update

Looks like that earlier story about cardboard meat buns was a hoax.

From Yahoo news:

Beijing's cardboard-stuffed buns a hoax

Looking south - Lexington Ave.

Looking south - Lexington Ave., originally uploaded by xpressbus.

Major steam pipe explosion in New York today. Unfortunately some people hurt, one person killed. Here is some news coverage of the event.

Cold War

Check out this story from the BBC... "What the real Cold War meant"

What I find most fascinating at the end of the article are the collection of memories of the period from various people.

NYC Burger

For the friends who love In-N-Out burgers here in NYC, looks like rumors that one will open up here. The NYC based Shake Shack's burgers have often been compared to In-N-Out but I have yet had a chance to go.

crash then screams

holding, originally uploaded by xpressbus.

While walking home from the subway station, I heard a crash then screams from a park I usually walk by. As I got closer, you could see people running and gathering. You can see from the pics (click on the pic to see the full set) a relatively large section of a tree fell on perhaps a group of people. At least that is what some people were saying. There may have been someone they were able to pull out early but when I approached it sounded like only one person was trapped. A woman was pulled out after emergency services arrived. The woman appeared conscious but was kept prone by the emergency workers.

The tree fell in a closed off area of the park which is used as a dog run. As people came to help or observe, some heated words were exchanged as gates to the area were left open. Dog owners were upset as some pets had escaped, some were perhaps startled by the incident. As I left the scene, one owner was desperately searching for her dog and listening to someone who has possibly seen the direction her dog had headed off.

Update: TREE BRANCH CLOBBERS GAL | By PATRICK GALLAHUE | New York News | New York City News | NY News

Update-2: Dog missing after tree falls on owner

Nike + iPod

I've been using the Nike+ iPod combination to track my morning walks since before moving from Los Angeles. It has worked very well and has proven very accurate. I had driven the course I walked in LA and it was off by about a tenth of a mile (if that).

With a new 2nd generation iPod Nano I experienced my first problem near the end of a walk. The iPod froze and I had to force a restart. Lost the data from the current workout. That really sucked.

Going to go back to my original Nano and see if I experience any problems. I was looking forward to using the newer iPod as my older one's control pad has proven unresponsive at times. Though it has never crashed during a workout.

I just don't get it...

Stopped by an AT&T store yesterday to ask about number portability. Even the representative there said the way the system works a local address appropriate to the phone number has to be given first. It can be corrected afterwards to the real address.

Ok, so even this 'workaround' is advocated by AT&T or at least some areas of the company? Opening an account then immediately changing the address doesn't raise a red flag with the company? Can someone explain this to me?

Order of the Phoenix

Saw the latest Harry Potter movie last night. Enjoyed it. Definitely quite dark in tone. Great effects. I especially enjoyed the major confrontation that happens at the end of the movie. Having not read the books, I have heard that the series has stayed generally true to the story.

'Private' online photos really aren't

Uh yeah, no kidding.

From Yahoo News:
'Private' online photos really aren't

best ipod ever...

This article pretty much sums up how I felt about the iPhone's iPod capabilities.

"I want buttons"
http://playlistmag.com/weblogs/ipodblog/2007/07/touchscreenipod/index.php

All that and the kitchen sink too...

Still have yet to go there, but I hate waiting on long lines...

Magnolia Bakery Issues Official Statement on Department of Health Shutdown: 'the bakery has operated without this sink for the past 10 years'

maybe it doesn't taste all that bad...

Just another chapter in the sad state of Chinese products. Hopefully stuff like this doesn't get exported. From CNN:

Chinese food 'made from cardboard'

$225,000 parking spot

Check out this CNN story:

Yours for $225,000: a place to park
Spots in new Manhattan condominium development now going for more than typical U.S. home price.

now we're talking comfortable

The past few days of oppressive heat has finally ended. Fortunately it hasn't lasted as long as some past stretches. Of course, this summer season still has a while to go.

Way too hot...

Ok, one of the things on my list of reasons not to move back to New York was "hot and humid summers". Hated them when I was growing up here. Was really spoiled by comfortable summers (heck, comfortable four seasons) in my years in Los Angeles.

It is way too f***ing hot tonight. Just to clarify, that screenshot of the current temperature was taken about 10:30pm.

TV Shows

NBC has been showing promos for their new fall shows. Bionic Woman looks promising. Love to see how Heroes continues its story. What has caught my eye are two shows with two actors who have been in two of my favorite series/miniseries of all time.

Kevin McKidd is a show called "Journeyman". Looks like a time travel theme show where McKidd's character goes back in time to 'fix things'. Time travel stories has always been a favorite of mine. Kevin McKidd was in the HBO show "Rome".

Just saw the promo for another show starring Damian Lewis called "Life". Apparently about a police officer wrongly imprisoned for a crime (for some time, seems like years in the promo), released then heads right back to work. Lewis was in another HBO series "Band of Brothers". I was surprised to find out after watching the series that Lewis is a British actor. Wouldn't have guessed.

More than meets the eye

Saw Transformers this afternoon. I enjoyed it. Pure summer flick. Don't expect a really 'deep' movie. If you hated the cartoon you may not like the live action version.

Update: Someone on the IMDB comments noted something that I have to agree with. That some of the action sequences are really fast and virtually shot really close up. You don't see some of the action of the beautifully rendered characters.

damaged

damaged, originally uploaded by xpressbus.

Always try to be careful with your stuff. Camera and lens seem to be fine so far. Filter took the brunt of the damage.

Fireworks over Stuyvesant Town

Fireworks over Stuyvesant Town, originally uploaded by xpressbus.

Hope your July 4th was safe and fun.

Live Free or Die Hard

Saw Live Free or Die Hard last week. Loved it. Great summer flick. Great lines from John McClane. Thought it was much better than Die Hard with a Vengeance.

Hard to top the original (which I compare many actions movies to), but if you are a fan of the series, check it out.

street crossing

street crossing, originally uploaded by xpressbus.

always be careful taking shots like these

iPhone - "It was great while it lasted."

Let me start off by saying for the two days I was using the iPhone, I thought it was great. Interface was fluid and fast. The virtual keyboard I felt worked as well as my existing Blackberry mechanical keyboard. The few phone calls I had sounded clear. Speaker phone volume left a bit to be desired. Comparing notes with a fellow iPhone owner, he had similar experiences. We noted that majority of the issues we had could conceivably solved with a software update, etc. Wasn't 'hard coded' like in many other phones.

So why only two days? Picked up a new iPhone from the Soho Apple Store this past Saturday morning. Took it home and attempted activation via iTunes. That didn't work. I couldn't port my number over. I gave the AT&T support line a call and was told what probably stopped the activation was my current Los Angeles cell # and my New York billing address. Had two options, wait till Monday and activate then or activate the phone with a NY phone number then call the provisioning center on Monday to switch the number over. Since the phone plans are all nationwide, shouldn't be a problem. So I opted to activate at that time so I could actually use the phone over the weekend.

Well it was a problem. Spoke to the provisioning center first thing Monday morning before work. Apparently I couldn't maintain the cell # I established in Los Angeles with T-Mobile (which T-Mobile had no issues with me changing my billing address to New York) with the new AT&T account.

So that was that. Returned the phone and the case I bought at the 5th Ave. Apple Store which was great since that location was alot closer to work. Then called AT&T to close the account. The account cancellation representative I spoke to was even puzzled as to why I couldn't keep the number but I'm just the messenger.

To clarify, everyone I spoke to at AT&T was courteous and being in customer service myself, I'm not one to treat them with any less respect. The inability to transfer my # really put a bad taste in my mouth. I had major misgivings in getting the iPhone because of the provider. I had a bad customer experience with Cingular which prompted my switch to T-Mobile. I had a bad experience with AT&T when I first moved to Los Angeles. The strength of the iPhone hardware/software led me to give AT&T/Cingular one more chance.

Before any comments start, yes I am aware of the 'workarounds'. Some needed to be done at time of activation. Some may have involve stretching the 'truth' after activation. As I was telling the Apple Genius and others, why should I have to lie about anything. T-Mobile didn't have an issue with it.