Lucid Dreaming

I read a very interesting article on "Lucid Dreaming" techniques and thought it would be a really fun thing to try to learn how to do. I've had lucid dreams in the past and they were amazing to experience but they have been far and few between. I would be great to be able to do it more often (if not every night). One training method is to ask yourself throughout the day "Am I dreaming?". Once you get in the habit of asking yourself this while awake you will instinctively do it while dreaming and then approach a lucent state. Apparently there are things you can do to kind of anchor your lucidity in the dream state and they all seem to involve looking at your hands or feet (I'm not really sure why). Now at night when I wake up to roll over or go to the bathroom I keep telling myself "Don't forget to look at you hands".... Anyway, as I read the article I thought up a little visual story based on some of the lucid dreaming techniques and themes.

The Lucid Dreamer

A man walks alone on a beach at twilight. He thinks to himself "Am I dreaming"?

He is illuminated by the light from the moon and the stars.

He looks at the face of his digital wristwatch and the numbers seem to float slightly. He thinks to himself "Am I dreaming?"

He feels a bright light emanating from his forehead, between his eyes. The light begins to overtake him as he realizes he is staring at the sun. He thinks to himself "Am I dreaming"?

The light fads as if occluded by a large building. The man begins to count "One, two, three.." and his gaze turns to an urban billboard that reads "Four, Five, Six..." and the man thinks to himself "Am I dreaming?"..

KG in Green?

There are some rumors floating around that Ainge is looking to get Kevin Garnett in a Celtics uniform. I am very very excited about this! Last year the Celtics were awful - arguably the worst team in the league. Aside from trading Pierce I would deal ANY player(s) on our roster for KG. I think the young guys we have aren't gonna amount to much and even if the Pierce/KG duo only lasts for one year (that's all KG has left on his contract) it would be great for Boston. And in a very weak Eastern conference we would be a lock for the playoffs.

a few thoughts....

I haven't been blogging much the past few weeks - maybe an indication of my increased work on the job. Anyway, here are a few thoughts in no particular order....

- Red Sox have been faltering of late. Cruising along until maybe the last 15 or so games. There have been some bright spots (a few close-game wins, including Schillings almost no-no) but they need to turn things around asap. Perfect timing for the Yanks to win 8 straight and seriously cut into our once double digit lead in games.

- Working from home is the best thing ever. I'm just a productive as I am at work but there is no commute and no dress code. (But ya gotta remember to shower before you start your day!)

- New job? I may be looking for a new job soon. I assume they are gonna ask me back for another year at Children's but I want to play the field and see what my options are. I like working with that recruiting firm I used to find my current job so I'll probably go back to them...

The NBA's AfterLife

Good god LeBron. I know I just proclaimed the NBA was dead but LeBron just gave me a reason to watch the NBA Finals (so I'm a hypocrite - so sue me. Maybe it wasn't that the NBA died but rather something inside ME died.) Granted I CAN'T watch the Finals becuase all the games start at 9pm so I'll be asleep before the end of the first quarter. And what's the deal with no Sunday afternoon games either! I used to love the "NBA on NBC" during the finals but this year the games are on these obscure cable networks that I can't keep track of. Anyway, after LeBron's instant classic against the Pistons he is now THE MAN. And even if he doesn't single handedly beat the Spurs he is now at that next level. He'll get the calls and he'll get the ball when it counts. I'm happy for him and I hope in a few years he'll be in the Finals facing off against Oden.

GTTH Story #7

A man asleep on bus opens his eyes and sees a person sitting across from him. He sees this stranger as would one looks at a portrait in an art gallery - a work that is interpreted uniquely. (This happens several times perhaps)

The man closes his eyes and goes back to sleep. Time passes - maybe going from night to day (but not to indicate protagonist as a homeless person living on the bus rather making a very long "commute"). He is briefly re-awoken and sees a new person across from him. This person looks mysterious (wearing sunglasses at night perhaps). The stranger is a guide and somehow takes the protagonist on a journey (out of body or perhaps physically - literally pulling him out the roof of the bus).

The NBA is Dead to Me

Last night while I was peacefully sleeping the NBA had a heart attack and died.

I woke up this morning in shock and disgust. The NBA had been sick for a while but I didn't see this coming.

How could two small market pacific-northwest teams get the first two picks in the lottery? No one cares about basketball in Portland and Seattle.

We've suffered for so long in Boston - why this? Why now!? We were bad last year but we're going to be even worse next year and the year after that. We had to suffer the indignity of watching our team prance around no-talents-washouts like Baker, Blount, Scallabrine, Telfair and others.

There are huge flaws and cracks in the NBA system. With playoffs that have become irrelevant and hard to watch, poorly officiated games, silly player suspensions and generally under performing superstar players why the hell should I watch basketball anymore?

Please, give me a reason....

Old School Internet

I was surfin around online looking for a new gmail image (the image that is associated with your email/chat for other gmail users) and I found a few animated gifs that made me laugh and reminisce. I remember back in the day on the web when animated gifs were high-tech and fancy - now I think only teenagers on myspace use them (since they are taboo among anyone with any design sense)... So here are some of my personal favs in no particular order:

Gotta love that donkey....



Comedic gold....



If you're a programmer then you know....

DJ Chicken George

I've been a fan of this guy since I heard his Beta Lounge sampler disc from a while back. I just found out that he has a radioshow on Properly Chilled called "Radio Jazztronica". Check it out!

More DnB...

I've added another Liquid Lounge set from dnbradio.com. Its pretty good chillout DnB but there are a few DJ mix mistakes including one right at the start of the set (it almost sounds like the record is scratched and skips around). Also noteworthy - at the 34min mark the music gets a little scary and paranoid for a bit but then it gets back to the good stuff. Anyway, check it out if you get a chance...

GTTH Story #6

A being is discovered on earth that is not an ordinary human. The difference isn't clear but he is easily identifiable due to gov mandated locater wrist-band. When in public the being is confronted by almost all passerby. A mixture of wonderment, expectations and mistrust. The news media distributes a wildly drastic spectrum of
opinions regarding the being ranging from paranoid mistrust to pacific wonder and praise.

GTTH Story #5

Our story's main character roughly parallels the "The Dude" from Big Lebowski but our protagonist is of college age and lives in the present. Like "The Dude" our character is an "everyman" - the embodiment of our time and place. He attends a liberal college and is politically concerned but not active. He has a penchant for smoking weed with his peers and talking about "things that matter, man" until the inevitable apathy sets in and he forgets and/or passes out.

Our protagonist learns that his best friend from home has died in a car crash and he goes home to attend the funeral and mourn. Former acquaintances from high school are about town gathering and partying but with somewhat saddened spirits due to the death. Our protagonist has a curious mind and maybe in part due to the drinking and drugs begins to suspect that his friends death was not an accident. As he attempts to solve the "mystery" he runs into more people from his past as well as members of the "hard-core straight edge" scene with whom his friend had been hanging out with before his death. Our protagonist stumbles along assembling what be believes to be clues while also attracting attention from hidden yet powerful people with interests they believe might be compromised during his investigation.

Still Working @ Home

And loving it... What a great week! I'm definitely going to try to work at home more. I guess I don't have a great "work space" but I think that concept might be a bit overrated. I got this nice cloth & wood chair with a matching ottoman, my laptop, a big cup of Dunkies, and my noise canceling Bose headphones. No need to mess up a good thing. Speaking of which, check out the new links in the right-pane: I've added a couple links to a great radio program on Drum and Bass radio. The show is called Liquid Lounge and it is a good selection of softer DnB - check it out! (Note: During the 4/16/07 set there is a hilariously bad "train wreck" at about the 62:45 mark...)

I'm looking forward to more NBA playoff basketball this weekend. Even though I'm in the habit of only watching the 4th quarter the games they are still very entertaining. Tonight is a big night for Bulls. If they win tonight I see them going to the Finals. I think they can beat Heat and, if they do, I think they can beat Detroit in the next round too. Don't get me wrong, I love Shaq, but I think he needs help from Wade and if Wade isn't %100 (which I suspect he isn't) I don't think they'll win. There, I said it. Now we wait and see...

Working @ Home

My boss is on vacation this week which means I have a full week without any meetings and since I can save three hours a day by not traveling to and from the hospital I've decided to use this as an opportunity to work from home. For the most part I've found it to be quite nice. I can concentrate just as well as being at work but I don't have to wear pants. I've spent the last few days syncing the development environment on my laptop at home with my desktop at work (which is actually an important exercise as I will have to do it again on the machine we use for our usability testing later in the summer) and have been keeping quite busy. Once I'm up and running on my laptop I'll be able to work from home whenever I feel like it. Anyway, I should get back to work!

Ozomotli Rocks!

On Saturday night I went to an Ozomotli show with Alex, Diane, Prahbakar, Chris and Jessie. This was my third Ozo show and it was awesome! I danced all night! I think they put on the best show of any group or musician I've seen. I've got a bunch of tickets to the John Brown's Body show next Friday but Alex, Prabhakar and London are all gonna be out of town so hopefully I can find enough people to come with.

Friday....

Another Friday. Just what I needed. The weekends for a working man are a sacred thing. I'm looking forward to some good food and plenty of relaxation. The NBA playoffs start this weekend and I'll definatley be watching. The best first round match-up in the East is the Bulls/Mami series. I'm predicting the Bulls are gonna surprise a lot of people but I never bet against Shaq. I think this will be a great series.

Next Year

So here is "that list for another time". So there are lots of factors to consider but I think the big issue is weather I want to live at home for another year. Lets pro/con it:

Pros:
Save money. This is huge. If I can suck it up for just one more year I'd have a pretty nice "nest egg". I'm not saying I won't be able to save otherwise but the difference is huge.

TLC from mom and dad is super nice: full fridge, access to car(s), no utility bills etc (even though I do try to pay for most of my shit) When I move out I bet I'm gonna be surprised at how many of the adult "little thing" responsibilities an errands I've forgotten.

No roommates! I have a great living relationship with my parents. Granted there is the occasional irksome "honey, what/where are you going" type questions but in terms of keeping things clean and staying out of each other's way - this is as good as it gets (unless I live alone or am shaking up w/ a girly).

Con:

Sex life. Bottom line: if I live at home I won't get laid. Obviously I can't bring girls home. Not ever. So, of course, why not just "stay at her place"? My parents know when I don't come home and I god damn know for a fact that when i do get home they are gonna want to know where I've been. This is a conversation I am not having. I don't want to lie to them and I don't want them thinking I'm some womanizing male slut.

Social life. At no fault of my parents, I just don't feel totally comfortable having friends come to my parent's house. Back in the day when I had my own space I loved having people over - I loved being a host and I loved taking care of my guest. It been a long time since that has happened and I miss it.

Undecided:

Boston. I really do love it here. Do I want to be here forever? Most likely. I want to be close to my sister, mom and dad. I think what I need is a proverbial "bachelor's party" before settling down. I'm pretty sure that a little time away will "make my heart grow fonder". But what if I actually like it more somewhere else? All for the better right? Or an experiment gone terribly wrong.. There is more to this but lets save it for another time...

Profession. This really was my first year in the profession of "computer programmer". Do I want it to become my career? I think so. I like how challenging it is and how it requires continuous learning and growth. I want job security (but I'm wary of working for a defense contractor or anyone else I deem morally ambiguous) and I want a competitive rate for my work. I'd love to get in the video game or film industry (just cuz it seems sexy and fun) but I don't want "burn out" stress. Anyway, in terms of living at home, I shouldn't have trouble finding work that is a reasonable commuting distance from my parents house.

Feeling Shitty

I always get this seasonal shitty-ness. Things get warm and then things get cold and it goes back and forth and so on - typical Boston bullshit. I'm kinda in that tricky space of "too sick to do shit" yet "not too sick to try to do shit" that becomes very frustrating. I go out thinking I'm gonna have a good time and when I get there I end up feeling crappy and wanting to go home. Anyw ay, otherwise life is good. Had a rough time last week re-adjusting from my DC trip but I just chalk it up to the natural ebb and flow of life. Some weeks you get shit done some weeks you don't. I'm getting close to the point where I need to begin to asses what I want to do next year. I'm not totally sure of it but (assuming the project finishes on time and properly) I probably will get an offer from Children's Hospital to return for another one year stint. Regardless, I still need to consider what I want to be doing next year, where I want to do it and how much I want to do it for. But thats a list for another time.... Anyway right now I'm sitting in the upstairs lobby of the Somerville Theater at The Books show waiting for the opening act to finish. From out here it sounds like this "musician" is panning in and out one long monotonous note. Its creating a sort of "sound wall" that keeps bashing against my head (resulting in a slight headache and nausea). I know the Books are gonna be doing some video art with their music but at this rate I might just stay out here.

GTTH Story #4

Success begets success while failure is infinite and bottomless. ..

A young man attending a prestigious college has everything one could want. A beautiful girlfriend, a perfect body, and a 4.0 gpa. He sees where he is headed: a life of financial success and accomplishment. A carbon copy of the people who brought him into this world. But he wonders "Am I 'missing out'?. What would it be to be someone else, anyone else? Isn't life intended to have strife and struggle? Whats the point if there is nothing to overcome?"

So our young protagonist decides to take fate into his own hands. In quick succession he destroys his body (knocking out his own teeth and becoming obese), tanks his classes (drops out of college), and disconnects from his family. His girlfriend leaves him. Time passes. He has hit rock bottom and forgotten how he had intentionally sabotaged himself. Nevertheless he finds a spark. Something from his former life - the will to succeed. Unfortunately his failure has no bottom but rather created a ceiling and our protagonist's plight is now the vicious circle of failure.

GTTH Story #3

An ER doctor at a children's hospital is miserable. He has seen things no man should see. He is on the brink of total exhaustion and decides he needs a break. He travels the world but everywhere he goes he sees the same thing: sick and dying children. He goes home realizing there is no real escape. A once brilliant young doctor becomes a drunk unable to accept the harsh realities of our modern world - "everywhere we go there is inescapable misery". The doctor settles into menial work in a rustic town mostly to support his drinking. He meets a woman at his bar. She is new to town but also seems to be trying to escape her past. The doctor likes this woman but the idea of a relationship seems only to lead to the inevitable status quo: picket fences, marriage and kids. He can't deal with her emotionally. ("Sure we'll get married and it will beautiful. We will share our love with each other. We will share our over-flowing love with the children we bring into this world. But nothing lasts and there is no equity. Good people don't win and innocence is an illusion.")

GTTH Story #2

A man is ascending to heaven - as we see him riding an escalator into the clouds a figure appears. The figure says "As you know you are going to heaven. What you don't know is that you have a choice. You can go to heaven now and remain there for eternity or you can do a mission for god and perhaps one day join him at an even higher, more transcendental place. If you do this mission that we are asking of you, you will be sent back to earth as your former self. You will begin your life again but you will retain all that you have already learned. This in itself is a gift. In return we ask that you take upon a mission for us. We can't tell you now but you will know when it has been asked. If you succeed you will join God."

The man accepts the proposal and he begins life again. He grows to become a young man in his early 20's and is very much a normal person but someone with "wisdom beyond his years". He notices that things (culturally, historically, socially) are mostly the same from his "first life" but there are some strange little discrepancies that nag at him. People are mostly the same as before but most have different names. He discovers that he has been given a new ability - he can draw beautiful pictures but all of them depict either heaven or hell.

And while his second life is fairly similar to his first life the protagonist does experience a few novel things. Particularly he meets a woman. She is someone he didn't know from his past life and he is convinced that she is god's messenger (and that he has met her because of all his divine knowledge and proper decision making) He thinks she is the conduit for the mission he had been told of. But the woman is not a messenger from god - she was sent by the devil. She easily seduces the protagonist and over time he forgets his mission. Time passes. The protagonist now has forgotten his mission and his divine gift (knowledge of his past life). Totally engulfed in the love of the temptress he leads life like a waking dream. The protagonist continues to draw pictures although he must do so in private as she won't allow it. When he looks at his private collection of drawings something gnaws at him.

GTTH Story #1

Suburban Sleuthing. A post-college slacker (early 20's) living back at home with the rents with a penchant for getting high (pot) in his bedroom. He has a routine of walking around his peaceful suburban enclave (while high or drunk) and looking into neighbors windows. He starts creating imaginative plot-lines to connect what he sees going on. Very slowly he begins to realize that things are not what they seem and the people he is snooping on know he is watching and may in fact be trying to warn him about possible danger. One night while snooping on a neighbors house and seeing some bizarre behavior, a young woman (whom the protagonist knew and crushed on in high school) comes running out of the house, past him, and down the street. He follows her. But before he can catch up to her the police suddenly arrive and bring him home to his parents and inform them of his "snooping habit". While more or less on house arrest the protagonist passes time by smoking pot and looking out his window. One such night a car comes howling down the street and drives onto the neighbors front yard tearing up the grass and shrubs. The same young woman emerges from the car and starts pounding on the front door. Quickly the door opens and she is let inside. The protagonist takes a hit and passes out. He wakes up the next morning and all is calm with no trace of what transpired last night.

"Gun to the head" creative writing

I want to get more in touch with my creative writing muse so I think a little exercise is in order. I will call it "Gun-to-the-Head Creative writing"". Here's how it works: a stranger approaches and puts a gun to your temple. He says "Tell me a story - and make it good". Hence the exercise. Lets also assume that our assailent is fairly literate and would call me out on any derivative or plagiarised material.

Good Times

Just got back from DC last night and I had a great time! Here are some of the highlights in no particular order: guitar hero 2, Grindhouse, the lounge at the Ritz Carlton, VIP table with champagne and raspberries, meeting Joe's sister Adina, the Woodland Park Zoo, and quality "non-stabby" Mexican food.

DC!

Yeah baby! The nation's capital! I'm going to DC. This is my first real vacation since I started my job and I'm psyched. Granted I went skiing a couple times during the winter but this my first real trip since last summer when I went to a wedding in Syracuse. (Don't go to Syracuse unless you have to.) Anyway, this weekend is the big "Cherry Blossom" event in DC and I have no idea what that actually means but I bet there will be a bunch of tourists doing the tourist thing. I don't really care what we end up doin - all I want to do is eat some good food and have fun.

Fantasy Baseball

I just joined a fantasy baseball league with Aloma, Alex and Divakar (and a few other guys I don't know). It's only the first day and I've already found it to be a welcome distraction at work (becuase I really do need a distraction once in a while). Anyway, as a newbie I've already learned some lessons and got slightly screwed by my inexperience. We did an auto-draft and since I didn't properly manage my pre-draft list I used two fairly high drafts picks to select two different players both on the DL and out for the remainder of the season. Ouch. Anyway, I've got a couple trades in the works and there are a few decent guys on the waiver so my teams certainly on the way up!

Final Four

Even though I've previously mentioned that I'm not a huge college basketball fan I'm really looking forward to the two Final Four games today. I think the Georgetown vs Ohio game is gonna be an instant classic with Hibbert going against Oden. Its rare to find two such talented big guys and I've heard some comparison to the Olijawan/Ewing showdown back in the day. As for the Florida vs UCLA game I'm not really familiar with either team but Noah on Florida is really fun to watch and I think his experience gives Florida an edge.

Bloc Party Show!

Last night I saw Bloc Party at the Orpheum theater in downtown Boston. The show was AWESOME! I'm starting to become a huge fan of this band and the more I listen to their music the more I appreciate it and enjoy it. In concert they tore through a face paced set and never let up rockin the crowd. I'm really digging the live music scene in Boston and I've got tickets to several shows coming up including Ozomatli, The Books and John Brown's Body. Should be good times!

More NBA

Well my shout-out to Kobe was very well timed. Last night he scored 62 points making him one of only four players to ever have three consecutive games scoring 50 points of more. Quite a personal achievement for sure but I don't think he's gonna win another title with the lakers. At least not until they surround him with some better players. Odom is pretty good but they really don't have anyone that can step up if Kobe isn't at the top of his game. In other news, the Celtics lost again last night but Pierce jammed his shoulder in the process. I think its time for him to go on the injured reserve list and let the young guys finish out the year. As for Doc I think he's done a good job of developing the young guys like Jefferson and Rondo but it certainly seems like they have a long way to go in terms of winning games without a strong performance from pierce. The West-Green-Gomes-Jefferson-Perkins line up has played the second most minutes (behind the Telfair-Pierce-Szczerbiak-Gomes-Perkins) but has one of the poorest over-under point differentials out of any of the other five man combinations Doc has used.

NBA Personalities

Just a few thoughts I had regarding some of the players around the league. Gilbert Arenas is a weird dude. I like him but there is something off about that makes him seem like a nerdy teen and not an NBA superstar. I feel like he is becoming the NBA's version of a WWF character - making these bold predictions about his performance before a game and then not coming anywhere close to backing it up. Gilbert's persona (at least in my mind) is so different from a guy like Shaq. Shaq oozes confidence and composure and is like the unofficial ambassador for all fans of the game. He is approachable and marketable to guys like me yet he s seems to embody the entire strata of NBA personalities - athlete, comedian, actor, poet, and aristocrat. When Shaq talks I listen. Also, I jut wanted to mention that the strange experiment going on in Denver is giving me a new found respect for AI. He just wants to win and he's changing his game to do it. I don't think they have a chance against upper echelon teams in the west but they are certainly fun to watch.

Comic Wonder

What the hell happened to me!? How did I become a "comic book nerd" and why am I proud of it. Isn't it strange that I should be embracing the medium at an age when most people are out growing out of it as a childhood past-time. Well there are a few things about the comics that I like. Firstly I like comics that have some indie creed and are more targeted to adults. Authors like Brian Wood make me think there are some legitimate young artists who found the comic book medium as an expression of their creative vision. Guys like Eisner and Spielgman write autobiographically about their lives, the jewish condition and real issues that most kids wouldn't really understand. Even books about confused teens like Blankets and Sloth can't really be appreciated until the reader has gone through the teen age experience and can reflect upon that part life with some subjective objectivity. And even the comics aimed at a young audience are written by adults who speak in their approximation of youth thinking. This not only is a self fulfilling way of dictating youth culture but also a way to tapping in the youth culture as an outsider.

Basketball in March

So it's mid-march and all the sports media outlets and clogged full with news about the annual college basketball tournament. To be honest I don't really give a crap about the tournament and still prefer to watch pro basketball if given the choice. Granted I will probably tune in to watch the Final Four and the championship game but mostly because that'll mean getting a preview of the Celtic's first round draft pick. Currently the Celtics are the second worst team in the league with a three game difference over Memphis for the bottom spot. The way the NBA lottery works the two worst teams share about a 50% chance of getting either the first or second overall pick. Its really a win-win at this point cuz either Durant or Oden will be the first and second picks and I'll be happy if the Celtics end up with either. Also, just wanted to point out something that i think has historical relevance but most people aren't paying attention to. Kobe Bryant just scored 65 points the other night and then followed it with a 50 point game. (And don't forget that last season he scored 85 in a game.) Now back when Kobe and Shaq won three championships with the Lakers it seemed like everybody fought about which of the two were the better individual player. Then Shaq went to Miami and won another championship and in my mind claimed the honor as the better if the two (even though Shaq had Dwyan Wade and a bunch of role players making a team much much beter than Kobe's Lakers). Still, a case can be made for Kobe looking at his individual achievements on a team much worse than Shaq's.

Verizon FiOS

Big things happening at the Grossman estate. My dad has enlsited me and sis to orchestrate the change over from Commcast/ATT (cable/dsl) to the fiber-optic goodness of Verizon's FiOS. The difference should be very noticeable. DSL is slow as hell and comcast doesn't broadcast all that many HD channels. Also, the Verizon DVR seems fully loaded and has a cool feature that lets you share recorded shows with other tvs in the house.

New HD TV?

So, yesterday my dad decided to buy himself a new 42' plasma HD tv for is birthday. So he sat down at my computer and placed the order. Unfortunately he didn't sign out of my account and he ended up buying two tvs - one on my credit card and one on his. I got the order conformation email this morning and when i got to work I tried to cancel the order. Apparently the tv was "being prepared" for shipping and I had missed the cancellation deadline. All I can do now is refuse to sign for the order and it will get taken back to amazon at which point I'll get my refund. As adamant as I am about getting my money back I'm kinda tempted to keep the tv. I'd never let myself make this purchase but deep down I wish could. So, what do you guys think - should I keep the TV? Check it out....

Comic Round-Up

Its been a while since my last comic review so its time to catch up! Here's what I've been reading:

Astonishing X-Men

This is my first foray into mainstream superhero genre but with Joss Whedon as the author I thought I'd give it a try. Granted a lot of subtle (and not so subtle) plot points flew way over my head but overall this was an enjoyable read. With vols 2 & 3 already on stands I'm looking forward to more reading goodness.

Blankets

Blankets is the ultimate indulgence of a sensitive male indie author. While it is "highly emotive" I still found a real connection with the story in itsdepiction of young people falling in and out of love. I really enjoyed the story and I've starting reading another, similar book called "Sloth"

DMZ vol.1 , vol.2

Brain Wood is one of my favorite indie authors and while these books signify his work becoming more mainstream (distributed underDC's Vertigo imprint) these are his best stories to date. With DMZ Wood has created a scary and immersive near-future world with great characters (Check out Zee's back-story in the final chapter of Vol.2). I highly recommend picking up both volumes!

Next Wave

From Warren Ellis, the author of Transmetropolitan, this comic is one of my new favorites. Its got great style, tons of action and its really funny. I'm looking forward to the next volume coming out this summer.

Brit

I'd never heard of this book when I found it on the stands at my favorite comic store but when I saw it was written by Kirkman I had to buy it. As I read Brit I so excited to discover that the story takes place in the "Invincible Universe" and is infused with the same sense of humor. While it does add greatly to see a new perspective on the world of the Invincible books Brit hold up on its own. I was so enthralled with this book that I read it one sitting! So, if you're a fan of Invincible or just want a good read (from one of the best authors in the game) I highly recommend this! Note: The edition of Brit I purchased I can't find anywhere. Its called "Brit Volume 1: Old Soldier" and is a hefty compilation containing "Brit", "Brit: Cold Death", and "Brit: Red, White & Blue".)

DST Strangeness

I have a penchant for commenting on things that I don't totally have my facts straight on (so feel free to call me out if I say something totally incorrect) but this new daylight saving time (dst) concept is a complete fiasco. Apperently, the US Congress felt compelled to legisilate a three week time shift moving forward the traditional annual dst change in an effort to save money. First off, who the hell gave congress the right to change time! In my mind time, as a concept,isn't just some arbitray thing - its dictated by our concept of the universe and how quickly earth spins. Congress has no right to tinker with scientific laws. Ok, granted I might be taking that point too far (and sound like some insurrgent US seperatist) but Congress made a huge mistake. The concept of people not turning lights on, hence saving energy and money, do to a slight time change only really makes sense in rural areas. In cities people have no concept of "conservation" anyway - the power is almost always on and almost always stays on. So even with that faulty logic Congess still failed to consider the widespread ramifications of changing time which in effect cause a mini-Y2K with electronics. Computer manufatures all over had to write patches and bug fixes resukting in huge unforssen cost expenditures.

From Film to Web

Here's a quick explination of the process involed getting the footage from my camera onto the web. 1) Record digital film to the camera's memory card. 2) Transfer footage from camera's memory card to computer's hard drive via USB 3) Batch process footage from camera's native avi format to mpeg 4) Load mpeg movies into Aobe Prmiere and edit 5) Export from Premiere to local hard drive. (Eported film file ussually more than 200mb at a resolution of 720x480) This is the final verison of the film in its highest quality form. 6) For film to be seen on web the footage should be about 10mb or less. To do this I re-encode film in QuickTime Pro and output a 176x144 QuickTime Movie file format file. 7) Finally, I upload the QuickTime file to Blip.Tv and they automatically cross-post it to my video blog Mike's Movies. Voila! Another movie ready for feedback and critique.

Project #2

As you might have noticed there is a new spin-off web site called Mikes Movies. I've created this site to host my weekly video projects. Currently on the site is my most recent project but be on the look out for project #2 early next week! For those who are interested here is a quick outline of my one week development lifecycle for each of my video projects

Monday - Friday:
Brain storming and planning (includes purchasing materials and storyboarding)

Saturday - Sunday morning:
Filming and Production (gather all footage and 3D composites/animations)

Sunday afternoon:
pre-processing and editing (includes getting film in the proper format for use with Adobe Premier)

Mon or Tues (after work)
post-processing and posting to the web.

Check out my next post for an in depth explination of the digital film transfer and processing steps!

Mike's Movie Blog

Check it: http://zzzmikedogzzzmovie.blogspot.com
I'll be posting my weekly video projects - enjoy!

Video Game Ethics

Is there such a thing as video game ethics? Are there rules of fair play that exisit between two human players? A lot of times a player will call foul and label some manuver as "cheap". In my mind there is a big differnece between "cheap" and cheating. The "cheap" plays are ussually ones that bend the rules of the video game enviornment to create a favorable winning condition for a player. Maybe "cheap" but I see no ethical breech in this. Video games are designed to allow certain game play strategies to give players advantages. So then, what is cheating? Here are a few things that come to mind:

1) Looking at the other player's controller in an effort to predict their moves or choices

2) Un-pausing a game while another player specifically calls for a time-out

3) Turning off the video game system before the game has ended (i.e. in an effort to aviod the result of the game from being saved)

4) Knowingly not telling another player how buttons map to game play after the other player has asked

Blogger Hell

So I've always been a huge fan of blogger.com - there where a few things that didn't work perfectly but I liked the service because it was simple and easy. I was even able to add cool widgets - life was good. But things soon turned for the worse when I noticed that my blog looked funny in Internet Explorer. The left side-bar would drop down below the body text and it seemed impossible to fix it. By the time blogger.com offered the chance to "upgrade" my blogg I had no choice - it was the only way to fix the side-bar formatting issue. Truth be told the "new" blogger is really cool with features like the interactive layout wizard and mobile phone support. But after the upgrade my normal style of posting was ruined. Ussually, on the bus rides home from work, I fire up my Motorola Q and via the phone's web browser I go to blogger.con and do a quick post. Problem was the Q no longer was able to work properly with the new blogger dashboard (the "publish post" and "save draft" buttons wouldn't work) and with the Q's intergrated gmail account I couldn't post to go@gmail.com (the mail uses gmail as a gateway so my gmail username isn't used). After a week of fiddling around and losing a bunch of posts in the process I finally figured out how to post from my phone. Using my Q's web browser I go to http://gmail.com/mail and then email the posts to go@blogger.com. Anyway, it took a while but at least I figured it out and now I can get back to blogging as usual.

Jew Kryptonite

What's the deal!? According to some trust-worhty female jews there is a disturbing trend emerging: Asain women are stealing all the eligible Jewish men. Personally, I've never even dated an Asain woman but I do see the appeal. Aside from all the "model minority" bullshit, one thing remains abundantly clear. Asain women are nothing like "Jewish mothers". I think men look for women who are nothing like their mothers'. Thus I see this alleged trend to be a logical conclusion of fact. (NOTE: The photo above is of an actual JDate member)

"Tell your friends: 'Burke Sucks!'"

That whats the locals' say - and it seems to be working. On a President's Day weekend, right after the first big snow storm of the season, Buke mountain had virtually no lift lines and the conditions were near perfect. Burke is really a hidden secret. Aside from the three hour trek (each way) from Boston I would definitely recommend Burk. (Also, my sister and I found out the hard way what "Not Snowboarder Friendly" means - we had to practically cross-country ski our way down the entire eastern side of the mountain.)

The Presentation

I'm psyched to get a long weekend this weekend but I know I won't be able to fully enjoy it. On Tuesday, when I go back to work, I have to make a presentaion. Yes, the dreaded public speaking engagement. I haven't made a formal, get-up-in-front-of-your-peers presentation since I left Digizaar. Back then it was easy, almost second nature. So, as rusty as I am, i've got a little aprehensive about it. But the thing about public speaking is that you need to get up and do it to get better at it. All I can do is prepare as best as possible, know my shit, and then just suck it up and get it over with. I know that with practice I am good at this stuff but it takes just that: practice. Honestly, in terms of my job, for how ever long I'm there this will be the hardest thing for me to do.

The Weekend of James (aka The Binge)

James was in town this weekend and I had a great time. Here's a recap in cronilogical order:
Pulled Pork sandwich w/ mashed potatoes (Blue Ribbon)
Bacon, Egg & Cheese on plain bagel w/ decaf coffe (Bagels by Us)
Grande Chicken Colorado burrito w/ chips & salsa (Bocca Grande in Kendell Sq.)
Beef & Broccoli lunch combo (Beijing Star)
Bacon Cheese Burger w/ Ranch dressing (Godzilla Burger in Cleveland Circle)
Coffe & Chocolate Mouse frozen yogrt (Rancitories)
Plain bagel & cream cheese w/ decaf coffe (Dunkin Donuts in Watertown)

Best day EVER

Maybe god is really a cheap-ass wino pron director? How else could I have been cast along side a kinda hot norweigan computer science graduate student chic? This defies the one known law in this universe: there is not such thing as a good looking (or average looking) female computer sciencetist/programmer. Even Angalena Jolie knows this and thats why she stared in that movie "Hackers" - just to stickit in our collective (pimpled) faces. Anyway, maybe not best day ever but still a good change from the normal dulldrum. Is it an oxymoron to say "biggest pleasent surprise" ever?

Sensory Depravation

I had a really quick and easy day at work today. I think in some part it had do with two things: 1) having enough work to stay busy and 2) listening to blairing Drum'n'Bass. I was totally foused - in the zone almost. Anyway, it was awesome. In other news, Dan and I continue to putter along in the early phases of creating our website. A big thing right now is picking a good domain name. One of the early contenders is YearnToBurn.com. I like it cuz it has a nice ring to it and is easy to parse when in print form.

Mike vs The Mountain - The Conclusion

It was a cold Febury day in New Hampshire when I confronted my foe - Loon Mountain. A snow covered peak neighbor to my arch nemisis Mt. Washington. But by the end of the day I had prevailed. Sweaty and tired I returned home as the glorious victor. Verbose prose aside - I had a great time. It was cold and windy but well worth the trip. I hope to go at least a few more times before things warm up too much. Also, just doin a road-trip with Alex was classic old school good times. Note: making the cross-over back to skiing was crucial. After one run I felt confident in my turning and control. By the end of the day I was much improved and really only felt a tad shaky when exhaustion set in. Neither Alex or I fell but that isn't really the point of skiing - sometimes a good crash- and-burn can result in a more care-free approach. ("that didn't hurt! I can go a lot faster!") Also, when at Loon be sure to grab lunch at the Camp III lodge on the eastern side of the mountain. Great cheese burgers made-to-order and an outdoor fire pit to warm you up.

Learning to Love Baseball

I don't know how it happened but I have never really cared about professiomal baseball. Thats a tough thing to do growng up in Boston. I didn't play little league as a kid (I got too stressed standing up to bat looking out at the pitcher and the rest of the fields - it was like one vs all) but that doesn't fully explain it. I played soccer as a kid but I never followed professional soccer (maybe because it didn't exsist in the US then). I did follow professional basketball though and I'm not sure when I started collecting basketball cards (maybe around '92 or '93) but the cards really solidified my knowedge of the NBA players. The questions remains: why did I collect basketball cards and not baseball cards? Kinda strange for a suburban white kid to collect basketball cards exclusivly - right? I guess Boston was still transfixed with Larry Lenged but he was winding down his carrer. Jordan was just about his peak and I guess he made the NBA really special. Anyway, past aside I need to learn baseball. Football season is over (and I don't expect the pats to get better next season) and I don't really care about the nba (until the playoffs)

Learn to Fuckin' Que!

God damn it. People in this country dont know how to form a line. Its simple really: FIFO. First in first out. Not some ungodly swarm of every man for himself. Is it a lack of etiquett or a lack of logic? Either way - its stupid.

Mike vs. The Mountain

Truth be told I got my ass kicked by mother nature. I was pysicahally ehausted beyond repair. Prahbakar had to massage my inner thighs. I was moaning and whaleing like a bitch. The mountain beat me - the very out-of-shape me. Ever since that hiking trip (mt washington?) I've been psyched out - intimidated even. But now, now I have a chance to exact my revenge. I'm gonna carve and slice and rip up that bitch (Loon mountain) so bad she's gonna need intensive care. Oh yeah! I've gone spousal abuse on this mofo - fo real.

A Promise to Myself

Back in 1999 when I discovered Napster I vowed to make up for my piracy by going to more live concerts. I rationalized it by asserting that bands make most of their money going on tour and selling tickets not thru CD sales. Since then I have gradually gone to less and less shows. Now I'm determined to make up for lost time. I've got way too much disposible income and limited free time which isn't a great combination unless you have a "buy first think later" attitude. Thanks to the site tourfilter.com I'm able to find out about Boston tour dates right as they're announced and this gives me the ability to buy tickets the day they go on sale and give all my friends very advanced notice. So far I've seen Matisyahu and I've already got tickets to go see Bloc Party and John Brown's Body. I'm looking forward to going to more and more shows and bringing friends with me every time.

Pancake Man and Challah-bread Woman

Ever experience something subtley (on the periphery of you sensoral ability) that has a strange yet lasting impression? A while back I was doing my normal work commute and I walked passed a guy that smelled just like pancakes and syrup. It was amazing! And powerful. I was transported to the diner in my mind - sitting, fork and knife in hand, watching a watress approach and lay down a steaming pile of pancakes right under my nose. For nights after the encounter I had dreams of floating down a syrup river riding a big buyount flap-jack.

The "Cute" Co-Worker Dilemma

Like a glass of water in the desert - the new female co-worker. Traditional mesuars of attractiveness need to be abonded as this is a new territoy with different rules. 1) No such thing as a one-night stand. If you wanna "hit-it-and-quit-it" thnik again. Its a very bad thing if you end up not wanting to go to work simply to avoid her. 2) The "convience factor": Take what you can get. In some ways going to work could constistute "quality time" together thus negating really needing to each other outside of work. This approach would have a high "sex-to-free-time" return on investment. 3) The "attrativeness differential". How far off the normalized curve is she? Consider a much larger standard deviation as this is a work girl. And, in considering this differential, determine if you would be embarassed to introduce her to your friends.

Grindin'

Gridin' - verb - def: The life of a working stiff (i.e. me). Oddly enough I find it is the consistency of it that makes it bearable. If things vary too much from day to day it is dificult to feel a sennse of completion. I find comfort in having done what needed to be done for the day. I enjoy having some sense of what tomorrow's challenges entail.

The (not so) Wonderful World of JDate

So after some initial resistance I signd up for a JDate account today. Inital thougts 1) I'm a superficial bastard and 2) there are slim pickins'! Anyway, geting back out there and scrapin around with some new friends might be a really fun new thing... we'll see...I'm finding that i'm more interested in women who are a lot younger than I am but at the same time i'm very concerned with seemingly like that "creepy old guy". I think what it is is that my "emotional age" is a lot younger than my actaul age. I don't wanna put up with the ignorance and immaturity of a woman still in college but older women closer to my age seem to have shit too together. I guess i don't want to be with someone who "world weary" and old but at the same time someone who is my age. I guess I want someone like me - a person with a retarded emotional core.

I have no Gay-dar

Its official - I have no mechanism to identify gay people. After one false-positive and one case of complte oblivioun i am totally sure of this. More to this . . .

Personal Hygiene

Hygiene. What is it? Staying clean. True. But in my mind there are a short list of "rules" regarding the matter.

Shaving. Important, yes. More important though - removing hair from places it shouldn't be but are plainly visible (Ears, nose, back, etc). So being clean shaven is good but, more importantly, get rid of that rouge hair on your forehaed or that long one coming out of your nostril. Point: out of place hairs can be very distracting to those around you.

Smell. Fragrence vs. odor. Be careful with this - perfume or colonge can be your worst enemy. Use very sparingly. Smelling too much of anything (even if it is a "good" smell) is disasterous. Point: shower frequently but don't freak out and feel compelled to use colonge to mask your smell between the gym and the bathroom.

Physical Health Cycle

I've always viewed my physical health as having an intrinsic cycle. Not just the typical seasonal cold and allergy symptoms but also exercise and diet. Being accutley aware of this cyclical trend has helped me stay healthy, avoid injury, and at times lose weigh. For example, recently I started to feel a little run-down and I decided to stop daily going to the gym for a little more than a week. In a way I could tell this was one of my cyclical changes in my body. Going from "fat" to "thin" isn't a straight line and along the way progess can seem to vary from very slow to very fast. Maybe there are just a series of psyilogical thersholds that need to be individually reached to get to a piont where you can actaully see a change in physique... i dunno.

Dateline's "House of Pervs"

Recently the quasi-news show Dateline (ABC) has been broadcasting a series on"Internet Pervs". The series highblights the interrogation and capture of the men that chat online with underage girls (fall into the trap of wanting to meet them in person) and end up going to their homes'. When the unsuspecting man gets the house (which is rigged with cameras at every imaginable angle) he is confroted by the correrspondent from Dateline and basically told "you're busted". Seeing these pathetic men shrivil in disbelief is only trumped by watching them try to phbysicsally escape the setup house only to be aprehended by the waiting police (who hide long enough so the news guy can verbally abuse the crying pervs).

My fasination with the Nintendo Wii

I can't really expalin why but I've fallen in love with the Wii. I guess I've been swept up in the hype. There are many reasons why I like the Wii (ie low price, unique controlls, good launch titles) but I feel an urgency to be part of something bigger - what I believe will be "the future of entertainment". So why the Wii and not the Xbox 360 or the PS3? I think the Wii is a "tweener" device as it complements the other video game options and does not really compete directly. Aside from the reasons above I guess I have a "things to buy" queue in my subconcious and buying a good HDTV ranks higher than buying a high-end game console. Also having just hooked up my 24'' Dell flatpanel as my primary TV I dont feel an urgent need to replace it. The Wii is something I can buy before the expensive TV becuase a) it isn't that expensive so i'll still have money for the TV and more importantly b) I wont lose any of the Wii's graphical experience on a non-HD tv.

"My shit looks like . . . " blog

Well, as you can guess from the title, I'm in the mood for some mundane personal reflection. For example, today I tried somehing new for lunch! I got a "falaffel wrap" from the wrap place in the Longwood food court and it was pretty damn tasty. I'm probably gonna keep eating from this place untill I get sick of it (like I did wth Subway) and then I'll move onto something new. I like the "wrap" concept - its one of my favorite forms of food spanning several ethnicities. Of course there's the burrito, representing Mexico, and the Fallafle or Shwarma wrap representing the middle east and also the crepe a more designer chic wrap representing French cuisine. Alex and I once theorized of an "Indian burrito"- just Imagine chicken tika masala and rice wraped in a nan bread envelope - genius!

Blogging via Mobile Phone

Is this where you enter text? Sweet! My first cell phone blogg entry! (Please excuse all the typos - I may wait to go back and edit these entries via computer) Anyway, this "bus to bus" commute is a bitch - about an hour each way. (I gotta see if taking the green line train is faster.) At least now I can do something constructive with the time. Today I did my first "double lunch" and ate an extra time in the late afternoon (around 2:30ish) - I feel much better! I think it should be noted that Ive been eating the same Subway sandwich (Subway-melt on wheat bread) every day for the past two months and it still tastes good! Normally that would make me wonder what sort of secrect addicting stuff goes into the sandwich but I see them making it fresh in front of me. Simply amazing! Ive been trying to get over this linger cold but with my new schedule (going to class at Bently late Monday night and then having an early Tuesday morning meeting) it seems like Im always sleep deprived. When I dont feel good the first thing to go is the gym - which normally id feel guilty about but if I did end up getting really sick - from trying to work out when im not totally healthy Id feel like an idiot.

Story Idea

A child, to be coronated king of his clan realizes that up to this moment in his short life he had been deceived about the evil nature of his own people. Now, with much adulation, the boy is to transcend into a god-like figure as he assumes rule and the throne. But, the boy, with his new-found knowledge denounces his kingdom and its people. Ostracized and chased out of his land the boy wanders into enemy territory - his only refuge. In time this new home will claim his love and loyalty as he eventually ascends the royal warrior ranks.

The Existential comedy

I guess the new vogue in comedy is existentialism. Both "Stranger than Fiction" and "Click" try to tackle the big questions like: "Why are we here", "what's the point", and "Do we have any choice". Both movies seem to say that love is the meaning or rather, love transcends. I found "Stranger than Fiction" very poignant in the way the protagonist (Will Ferrell) knowingly submits to fate yet in doing so finds redemption. The all powerful (in this world of "Stranger than Fiction") judges Ferrell as "The kind of person that confronts death without fear" and "This is the kind of person you don't want to die" - thus the protagonist prevails. He accepted the hand of fate and was lucky enough to exists in a universe with a benign force. "Click" varied in on this existential theme focusing more on the impact of one's freedom of choice. It seemed to suggest that a person has freedom to dictate certain parts of our own existence but these few, very important choices, create overriding themes (or decision types) that would perpetuate beyond our sphere of control. It seems to suggest that the way we begin life (choosing good vs evil, good vs bad) correlates to where we end-up in the spectrum of willingly accepting death (for the good) or vehemently rejecting it (for the bad).

Comic Round-Up

I've been keeping busy lately but I always try to save time for comic book reading. Recently I've been in an "exploratory phase" as I hunt for good reading while I await my favorites' to produce more volumes (i.e. Y: Last Man - Nov 2006, Walking Dead vol. 6 - Feb 2007, Invincible hardcover vol. 3 - Feb 2007, Ex Machina vol 4. - Dec 2006). Anyway, I've done well to find at least a few good graphic novels. Here they are in no particular order:

Pride of Baghdad
From the author of "Y: Last Man" this is an interesting self contained story that is beautifully illustrated. I'm not a huge fan of the "talking animal" genre (i.e. I though M3 was just "ok" but critics loved it) but this story is still worth a read. I'm happy that this isn't in a series format becuase it benifits from being concise.

Girls Vol 1: Conception
Girls Vol 2: Emergence

Girls is a really unique comic that kinda reminded me of "Walking Dead" in terms of pacing and character progression. Some may think that the story is too protracted but it held my attention. And this story is so bizzare it actually makes the drawn out story arc really very enjoyable. I' m eagerly waiting for volume 3!

SuperMarket

I haven't even finished reading Super Market and I know already that its worthy of recommendation. The art work is amazing- beautiful pastel colors and impressionistic imagary. (It is so good I found myself lingering on pages just staring at the images.) And don't foreget the story teller - Brain Wood (of DMZ) does a great job at quickly pacing the plot (with a requisite dose of social commentary provided by the hipster progtagonist)


Torso
Powers Vol 1: Who Killed Retro Girl
Powers Vol 2: RolePlay


I'm sorta on the fence when it comes to Brain Bendis' work. I really liked Torso (the "true crime" comic following "post-Al Capone" Elliot Ness as he chases a serial killer) so I decided to try reading a few volumes of the Powers series (note: All of Bendis' stuff I've read I was able to get from my local library so its hard to hate on free reading). But I can't really recommend any of his work though, which is a shame. This is because he chooses to brake one rule about graphic novels that I ascribe to: no matter how beautiful or well told a story is, you can't mess with the visual narrative to the point where that the reader can't find the next cell to read. I'll give him credit for being one of the best story tellers out there but he always messes up his stories by trying to be too clever about cell spacing or placment of the text and illustrations. It is so furstrating not knowing where on the page to look and reading text out of sequence or in the wrong order. Hey, Bendis, stop trying to be a smart guy and stick to the convention of left to rigth top to bottom. Jesus...

Moto Q and Comcast DVR

So, after much anticipation the Aver Media Box (see blog entry: TV, Tivo, Media Center and LCD monitors) turned out to be a big piece of crap. The thing was completly unusable and seemed like it was broken even before it left the manufacturer. Luckily, I was able to return it to Amazon no questions asked. So, I'm not out $160 bucks but still peeved about the waste of time. Tangentally related, I've decided to order the new DVR from Comcast. The hardware is installed by Comcast (for a once time $30 fee) and its relativly cheap at an extra $15 per month (on top of the other cable fees). The unit they supply is a Motorola dual tuner that allows two shows to be simultaneously recorded while you watch a third channel. I think the dvr also has about 80gigs of space which is a lot of tv time (cuz i'm not recording any HD). Anyway, this is related to the piece of crap Aver thing becuase the DVR has a DVI output which means I should be able to hook up my flat panel through the DVR- Sweet! Also, the big tech thing in my life now is my new phone: the Motorola Q. This thing kicks so much ass its crazy. The first money I spent, from my new job, was on a set of bluetooth headphones and a 2 gig minSD stick. Now, the commute to and from work is a lot easier since I can listen to music the entire way. And, as soon as I apply the new firmware upgrade, I can watch Ipod videos on it too!

Work and Such

So I've started working at Children's Hospital as a "research developer" and I'm working with Dr. Steve Porter on a grant based project involving the use of a personal health care record system in the domain of patients with ADhA. The personal health care system we are using is called Indivio and was also developed at the hospital. Dr. Porter and I are trying to create a user interface (that uses Indivio as a back end) to cater to low literacy individuals who are using the system to enter patient information regarding ADHD. This project is really the third in a series of projects based on the best practices of collecting patient information in an electronic format (the "asthma kiosk" and "parentLink are the predecessors of this project). I'll try to keep the blog updated as I continue to work on this project!

TV, Tivo, Media Center and LCD monitors

So it seems my original idea of using my new dell as dual-screen Media Center tv recording box isn't gonna pan out. I actually had the system working for a few weeks before I some how killed the hardware on reinstalling windows. Anyway, Dell is sending someone out to replace the motherboard but once its fixed I don't think I'll be using the computer any more (dad wants it for his room). So now, to make good use of the sweet 21" wide screen LCD I have, I've purchased the AVer MEdia TVBox 9 - an external TV tuner. This box will let me feed cable tv directly to the monitor and also allow peripherals (i.e. xbox) to connect too. Maybe, if the setup is working wll, I'd even add a tivo. Should be wicked cool - I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Happy Weed PC Update

Quick update on whats happening with the game. As I mentioned before I've switched from DirectX to Java3D and I'm working my way through the Killer Game Programming book. And I just got Eclipse setup on my laptop so I'm ready to compile some Java code! Also I want to introduce the first version of the Bumble Bee character I've created. I tried to create the character to look similar to the weed character as they both inhabit the universe of the game (and I want it to have some visual uniformity) Enjoy!

Things I want v1.0

I've thought about doing this list in the past but I thought it was vulgar - especially when I had no money. A long time ago when I worked at Domania for a brief stint I had money and somehow I used it, quickly, but in a way that was tasteful. I say this because the two expensive purchases I made I still use very frequently. (My turntables and the flat panel NEC monitor.) Anyway, I'm hoping that if I put some thought into it, I can make a few tasteful purchases and save away the rest of my funds. Depending on the state of my "Media PC" (dell is sending someone to fix it) I may not need, immediately, a tv and/or tivo - two things I'd definitely like to purchase. An nice HD TV would be a good investment and an hd tivo would complement that very well. Of course there are other nice but more expensive investments like cars, condos and vacations. As for the new car concept I don't think I really need a new car or will I be using one that much as I can get to and from work taking the bus. Maybe down the line in a year or two I'll need to think about this more. I love the idea of buying real estate. I imagine that my dad could one day be my advisor as I make a foray into the world of real estate investment. Again, this isn't really an option now but will be maybe in a few years as I save more money. The vacation idea is a good one though. I'v never been on a self funded vacation. And, with my ample vacation time at work, I could really do something nice. I'd love to go to japan or paris... hmm. I have no experience planning (in advance) for something like this but I bet it isn't to hard. Look out for "Things I want v2.0" coming soon!

HOLY CRAP! I GOT A JOB!

Wow. And so it begins. Mike got himself a joby job. I couldn't be happier with how things worked out - the process was intense but it payed off (literally). After going on five interviews (one on the west coast) and fielding way too many phone calls over the last two months I've finally sealed the deal. And the winner is: Children's Hospital. I'm working in the Emergency Medicine Depatrment doing informatics work under Dr. Stephen Porter. The work place enviornment is amazingly laid back (read: academic style), the benifits are awesome, and I'm acutally doing work that will help people. But I've only got a few weeks of freedom left - I better enjoy 'em!

Video Game Olympics

Tonight was the first ever "official" video game olympics between Alex and myself. We have had a long time disputed rivalry over who is the better video game player. It goes back to an incident when we were in 5th or 6rh gradeknown as "Tecmo Gate". Already at this early age we fought over who was the better Tecmo Basketball player (SNES version I think) and to put the matter to rest we decided to start recording win/loss records (and high scorer info) for each game we played. After a while we amassed a pretty long list but one day when we were disputing who reigned as the dominate player and decided to go back to the list to resovle the issue we found out that the list was missing (it has been alleged that Alex's mom threw it away). The incident became dubbed "Tecmo Gate" because we still, to this day dissagre who had a winning record on that list. Fast forward fifteen years and we are still bitter rivals. Tonight was a big night for me as I walked away with the first Video Game olymips crown winning at Fifa Street, NCAA 07 Football, NBA Live o6. We tied at one game a piece at Madden 07 and Alex won at MLB Baseball. And now, this document, is a record of my dominace over Alex in video game sports forever - until we play again.

Summer of Mike

It seems like the "summer of mike" is at its end. The summer of '06 has been one of the best in recent years. Aside from the Sox imploding, this summer has been nothing short of spectacular. Highlights include attending SIGGRAPH, visiting Portland, and meeting the love of my life (still waiting on the last one). But in all seriousness over the last three months I've discovered an ability to concentrate and study in a self directed way. Whether its writing blog entries, working on sourceforge, or going through maya textbooks I've really taken my intellectual game to the next level. Also, I've rediscovered my confidence largely in part through simply working hard and being proud of what I accomplished at BU during the course of the year. So what's next? Well it seems like I'm gonna get a job sooner or later and that means I'll have to become adapt at life. The little things - washing dishes, goin to the grocery store, payin bills and other mundane shit like that. And so the "summer of mike" segues to the "year of the man-child ". To be continued...

Mike's Guide to the Job Interview

Here is a little advice on how to ace your next job interview. I bring you this info from the trenches on the front line as I have had much experience in this setting.

Rule 1: No matter how hot much of a hot shit you think you are when your in an interview the person interviewing you is GOD! Laugh at their jokes and think about their word's. Everyone likes to listen to themselves talk so let the interviewer ramble on and on - when appropriate ask a question to egg them on in their monologuing .

Being a good listener is an art - an art you need to perfect to ace an interview.

Rule 2: Have questions to ask. The interview format almost requires the employer to ask: "do, do you have any questions?" By faltering at this point you may offed the interviewer - good listening requires analysis of what you have heard. If you can't recall any points of interest in the interviewers monologue I've got a few sure fire questions that make you seem interested int he company:

a) Who would be my supervisor/boss?
b) what would be expected of me in the first six months on the job?
c) is there a system of employee accountability - a performance evaluation system?

Rule 3: Where a suit. There is no excuse to be wearing anything else and if you are wearing anything else you will look foolishly under-dressed.

Rule 4: Research the company before the interview. check the web site and look for your interviewer's profile on the corporate section of the web site. Know what the company does and what products or services they deploy. Also have a job description for the job you are applying before the interview so you know what skills they are looking for you to have.

Rule 5: Don't get stressed out. The thing to remember about an interview is that there is only an upside. By this I mean: you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Enjoy the fact that you got the interview and go in there with the confidence you deserve for having reached to this point in the process.

HappyWeed PC Edition

Happy Weed for the PC is gonna kick ass! I've switched from DirectX to Java 3D but no matter - this game is gonna rock! Check out the web site
and the source forge page. If anyone has cool feature requests or ideas please lemmie know asap!

Top 10 Favorite Graphic Novels

Honorable Mention:
11: Transmetropolitan - A meandering, plot-less story that only achieves in establishing the memorible anti-hero Spider Jeruselem. I do like the dark, Gibson-esq future these books inhabit and how this world is mostly communicated by the images not the print. Every frame has captivating images that tell the story beyond the words, fleshing out a unique and scary future.

Top 10:

10: Preacher/Fables: Both these titles are good but I'm not totally into them as I am with the higher ranked choices. Fables kinda meanders along and doesn't grab the reader (plot wise). To its credit though the author has no intention of ever ending the series so that means if I ever do get into it will be around forever. Preacher is well told and beautifully drawn but I think my reluctance to read it has to do with the story being way too dark and scary.

9: The Couriers - I like Brain Wood and I feel compelled to read everything he publishes. He is a cool indie comic hipster author and the characters he creates ooze coolness (even if they are all kinda the same in that way). This series wasn't beautifully drawn or even that engaging as as a story line but it was a fun read. Reading his stuff as it is released gives me the feeling of watching a young athlete emerge into a superstar but, unlike everyone else, I feel like I'm getting the goods before the entire world find out.

8: A History of Violence - One of the first graphic novels I ever read (and read to completion). This is a great story with wonderful pacing. Not a ton of action but enough emotion and dialogue to keep it entertaining. This comic is much better that its' movie adaptation (and the movie wasn't bad, just a little perverted thanks to Dir David Cronenberg)

7: Runaways - This comic totally surprised me and, for that, I will always love it. (Spoiler! Killing the main character EARLY in the story is a ballsy move) I didn't realize when I started reading this that the intended audience was teens (which makes sense cuz most of the characters are teens) but it reads like a very good "adult" story. It is the first and maybe only Marvel comic I've ever read but it gives me the impression that I might enjoy spending time in the Marvel Universe.

6: DMZ - The thing that makes DMZ so good is the premis: NY is a demilitarized zone in America's civil war and the protaginist is sent into NY as a photo journalist (intern) and gets strainded in the city. Beautifully illustrated and well told.

5: Demo - This is a collection of short stories about young men and women who are aflicted with power or knowledge, how this affliction affects them, and how it effects the one's they love. The books minimalistic black and white illustrations perfectly set the mood.

4: Ex Machina - This comic combines both a wonderful, unique story with a beautiful look. Nothing about this comic is formulaic or for that matter even similar to any of the other comics I've read. I love the way it weaves the events of 9/11 into the story and how real political senarios are delt with in this "super-hero" genre buster.

3: Invincible - Being a newbie to the comic world, I havent really embraced any well known super-hero comics - although I have tried (I'm still struggling through Crisis on Infinite Earths). Invincible introduced me to a new universe full of heros and villians. The story arc is one of the best i've read and this comic is home to my favorite comic book character of all time: Allen the Alien.

2. Y: Last Man - Starting with a great premis (all creatures on earth with a Y chromosone die except the protaginist and his pet monkey) this story goes in directions unimaginable. Constantly interesting and very funny this a must read series (and there are almost 50 issues published!) My only concern is that the movie adaptation will pale in comparison to the comic and ultimatley scare people away from reading it.

1. Walking Dead - This is the one that started it all for me. Reading this series is what got me addicted to graphic novels. Kirkman is a genius and this series is one of the best I'll ever read. The formula is simple: take ordinary people, put them in an extreme situation and watch what happens. The tension between the characters is palpable and the story never goes in directions where you think it will. Reading the Walking Dead is an experience, and a very fun one indeed.

Portland, yeah!

Flying cross country is no picnic. Aside from suffering the indignity of having to watch "8 Below", getting stuck in the back row where the seats don't recline, and staying awake during a 2pm - 5am final leg - I had a good trip. Portland is a nice 2nd-tier city and it has a really laid back, healthy, happy vibe. Working in Portland would be really fun but I don't think I could spend the rest of my life there. A few years though would be perfect. And I'd love to get Blazer's season tickets!

DirectX != Easy

Damn this directx stuff is haaaard. I'm using a book called "Ultimate Game Programming with Direct X" and its pretty good. I'm going slow so I can absorb it all and I'm having fun with it. I also found a good web site with some basic directX tutorials. Its cool cuz the book and the website cover the same programming problems but show different implementations... I can't wait to import models from Maya! That may be a month away though... oh well.
Leaving for Portland tomorrow. I hope things go well with that. Regardless, I'm gonna start looking for entry/junior software engineer work on monster/craiglist etc. I'm definitely ready to start making some money and I think I'm ready to program on a pro level.
Also, I submitted my application on SourceForge for project code name "Happy Weed". Hopefully it will be accepted. My only concern is that I don't own the website (happyweed.com) and don't really have consent from the original author. I'm pretty sure that even the guy running the site doesn't know the original author... If for some reason there is a copyright issue I'll just have to work on "Happie Weed". Its not a terrible variation on the name cuz it sorta alludes to "Hippie Weed"... hmm... I'm still on the fence with this one.

Game ON!

In an attempt to rekindle my love for writing code, I came to the realization that I need to work on a project. And not just a little project . I need a project that would allow collaboration and peer review - something fun too. Thus I was drawn to the world of source forge and the Open Source project. I knew early on I wanted to do a game but for my first project I wanted something manageable with a clear domain. Then I realized that there has always been pet project I've always wanted to do. I want to make Happy Weed for the PC! In the coming days I will document my efforts making the game and provide updates on my project at source forge!

Home Sweet Home

Its a strange thing living at home. That is, living at home well past the time you should be living there. Like a well oiled machine we move about in synchronization, vacating and occupying spaces in lock step. Communication consists of a few mumbled pleasantries and the occasional hug. The way my parents are living their life, in the privacy of their own home is no wildlife refugee - I don't want to play tourist. Yet as fate would have it I am not only an observer but a participant. As a young man, seeing what awaits me on the other side of mid-life is a curious discovery. I'm going to have to work for the rest of my adult life only to return to the life I currently have hoping that I don't have an adult child in my space.

Top 10 Comedic Movie Characters

Top 10 Comedic Movie Characters

This list is dedicated to honoring my top ten comedy movie characters. The key word here is "character". A character may be a franchise character (one who appear in more than one movie) or a mere cameo-character (not part of a movies main or supporting cast) or something in between. Warning: Some of the movies these characters are in are REALLY bad - BUT these character transcend the film and are (at best) cultural icons. Some actors on this list will only be known as their specific character while others are lucky (and talented) enough to have their character become just one of their many faces... This is a very loosely defined list but still an important one. Here we go:

10) Jeff Bridges, Jeffrey Lebowski - The Dude. Jeff Bridges (and the Cohen bros) beautifully create an alternate universe in which the dude exists. It seems though that this universe keeps colliding w/ the reality that we, the audience live in and this is what causes all the drama in the Dude's world. Ultimately I think we align with the Dude because the world he lives in is one of naive contentment and innocence that we would trade for our own. Movie analysis aside, the Dude is certainly the most completely fleshed-out comedic character on this list.

9) Mike Meyers, Austin Powers - The amazing thing about the Austin Powers movies is that Mike Meyers creates not one but TWO of the best comedic characters ever IN THE SAME MOVIE. Also to be able to create characters that can span three movies and still be funny is a feat in itself.

8) Jim Varney, Ernest P. Worrell (Ernest in the Army (1998), Ernest Goes to Africa (1997), Ernest Goes to School (1994), Ernest Rides Again (1993), Ernest Scared Stupid (1991), Ernest Goes to Jail (1990), Ernest Goes to Splash Mountain (1989), Ernest Saves Christmas (1988), Ernest Goes to Camp (1987)) A prolific actor indeed... I don't think I actually ever watched one of these films (and I never will).

7) Paul Reuben, Pee-wee Herman (as Pee-wee Herman) - I want a bumper sticker that says "What would Pee Wee do?" Its one thing to be a pervert but to be a pervert that does children's movies is extra creepy. In his defense I think pee wee as a character (on stage - prior to the movies and tv show) had an adult sense of humor (i.e. sexual innuendo).

6) Chris Farely, Tommy Boy - "Fat guy in a little coat!" This movie is constantly referenced by everyone and is really a classic. To think what Mr. Farley could have done if he were still alive....

5) Will Farell, Ron Burgendy - This movie has some of the best comedic dialogue ever. I get the feeling that most of the dialogue spawned from Will Ferell just wingin' it improvisational style. Definitely places him as one of the best comedians alive.

4) Rob Schnider, Duce Bigalo - "That's a HUGE bitch". The Duce Bigalow movies where bad - really bad. But sometimes when you give up on a movie and just enjoy it for what it is the movie can become really enjoyable and memorable. Also, don't forget Eddie Griffin is in these movies and he is absolutely hilarious as the pimp T.J..

3) Jim Carrey, Ace Ventura - Jim Carrey is the best physical comedian of our time. You can't take your eyes off him when he is on screen because everything he does is funny.

2) Jon Heder, Napoleon Dynamite - To think that a bunch of kids (right out of college) created such a cult phenomenon. I doubt that Mr. Heder will ever break free of Napoleon type-casting but that is just a testament to how memorable a character they created.

1) Peter Sellers, Dr. StrangeLove - This movie isn't just comedy it is high art. Cinema!


Notable Mentions:

Scott William, Old School - The cameo he makes is comedic gold.

Vince Vaughn, Swingers/Made

Adam Sandler, Bill Madison/Happy Gilmore/Wedding Singer

Bill Murry, Groundhog day/What About Bob/Rushmore/Lost in Translation

Top 10 Boston Food & Eatery List

I woke up in the middle of the night last with an epiphany - write a top 10 boston restaurant list. This morning after spending a few minutes reaching into my mind to pull that out i realized "Wow - my subconscious is really pathetic"... I do get excited about food though so I guess its par for the course....

Top 10 Boston Food & Eatery List

10) Ma Ma Goos, Cambridge - This place has a lot of history. Probably the origin of the first Steak & Cheese I ever eat. (courtesy of Gail Rivest) Also, neighbor to the now defunked "Hide Away Pub".

9) Sweet Chilis, Arlington - Best Thai food in the 'burbs. (Rivaled in Boston only by Brown Sugar.) The curries are near perfect.

8) RFO Sullivan, Summerville - Best burger in Boston and great pub atmosphere w/ TVs everywhere. Great place to catch an afternoon sox game.

7) Carl's, Waltham - Once you force yourself to accept how unhealthy the food is you can enjoy it. Really unique menu including the Aunt Terri (grilled chicken in cheese sauce) and Budster (fried chicken, bbq sauce, cheese, & bacon). Also HUGE portions so bring your appetite A-game.

6) Beijing Star, Waltham - Best Chinese food outside Boston. The chef at Beifjing Star treks into China Town every morning to buy fresh produce and ingredients. Inexpensive food that is very high quality.

5) Anna's Taqueria/Bocca Grande, Cambridge - After visiting Alex in Santa Barbra I fell in love with the Burrito. So many flavors and textures in a portable, edible container. It took a few years after that until the burrito arrived in boston but when it did it was gooood. Anna's and Bocca Grande are independent franchises that started as one unified effort (I think Bocca was first) by an Asain Brother and Sister team. After having a falling out the two went to war with each other seeking burrito suprememcy in Boston. Evidence of this is how near every Bocca there is Anna's and near every Anna's there is a Bocca. Not a coincidence - more like a burrito arms race. Good for boston though cuz no matter where you are you can always find a good burrito.

4) Delux Diner, WaterTown - You gotta love a place that seems like its own universe when you walk in the door. The vibe reminds me of an eatery in Portland Org, or Ithaca, Ny - totally laid back staff and healthy menu options. Hence the diner is lovingly referred to as "The Hippie Diner".

3) New Ginza, Watertown - Really amazing food. The only downside is that the resteraunt is small. Going to New Ginza when its busy is not a great experience.

2) Tango, Arlington - Unlike New Ginza, this resteraunt has a wonderful ambiance and beautiful decor. The steak here is really the best I have ever had. A must expereince resteraunt for anyone in Boston... and order the steak!

1) Fugakyu, Brookline - "Foogz" as we call it has the best sushi (and best overall food) in Boston. (I hear that Clio - near mass ave & newbury - is as good)

10 Reasons I love Scarlett (Part I)

This is part I of the list cuz I can't think of anymore reasons at the moment. This might just be an excuse to post the photo of her but umm.... yeah. Enjoy:

10) Ghost World was the first movie I remember seeing her in - I was impressed by her acting chops. Also any movie w/ steve bushemi basically playing himself is great! Note: S.J. too young in this movie to be "hot" but def cute...

9) Lost in Translation - one of my favorite movies of all time. Excellent acting all around and S.J. is certifiably hot.

8) S.J. did the voice of Mindy in Sponge Bob Squarepants movie - sweeet. Shows she has good taste and a sense of humor!

7) with no makeup - "al la natural" - S.J. is beautiful no question. Pictures of her on the runway though show that she can also look elegant if she wants. Some women look uncomfortable or strange w/ make-up on and done up but S.J. pulls it off. Also, she always has great taste in wardrobe choices. (red dress @ oscars)

6) Bad big buget movies the Island have no redeeming value and no draw until you consider that for $10 bucks you can look at S.J. on a big screen for two hours. Interesting to note that this is another S.J./bushemi collab (Notice how bushemi's girlfriend is so way too hot for him - even in fiction)

Comic book ideas ... v 1.0

My inner monologue posed a question to myself: "If I were to write a comic book, what would I write it about?" Initially, before even considering the individual characters, I pondered the story arch and themes. I really like Kirkman's "Waling Dead" because it is a story about internal and external transformation. The cause and effect relationship between a character's surroundings and the character's psychological evolution. Extreme situations creating extreme character responses etc etc. In terms of my comic's "universe" I don't really see myself writing something in world already populated by super heroes (i.e DC or Marvel) although my character's could have "powers" (but I'd pick a self-actualized character over one that can fly). Also, I'd like a character that is in "turmoil" due to physical or behavioral uniqueness (akin to characters from Brian Wood's "Demo"). That quality, while painful at times, propels the character forward and forces action.

Hungry politician

The following is a passage I jotted down after hearing some red-neck sports guy ramble on about victory. I actually think it is more appropriately seen as bit of "political gibberish" - something someone might say when speaking but really not saying anything at all (i.e. G. Bush when hungry...)

"we've tasted victory and it was sweet. But we are hungry for more. (As you know I have a big appetite.) I think there is something cookin. I can almost taste the next one. Take it from me, if you keep your eye's peeled you'll avoid a pickle. Stir the pot - dish out a simmering plate to mull over. Food for thought."

Things to do list... v.1.0

Here is a little insight into what I desire - a list of things I aspire to do and accomplish. I see this list as ever evolving with things being added or removed as I see fit. This list is in no particular order and I guess as I get older I'll start to check some of these things off.

1. Go to Japan (Eat sushi in Tokyo and visit moss gardens of Kyoto)
2. Go to Paris (see the Eiffel Tower & eat a good french cheese w/ baguet)
3. Drive cross country (explore Colarodo, Yellow Stone National Park, visit Texas)
4. Get into "great" shape
5. Do something brazenly romantic (for a woman I admire)
6. Live somewhere other than Boston
7. Learn to sail (and take a boat trip somewhere)
8. Dedicated a chunk of time to a philanthropic activity
9. Start a company

SIGGRAPH 2bOstOn6

Through the courtesy of the fine folks at LIKIA (props to Yona's boyfriend Eric!) I was able to attended this year's SIGGRAPH conference in Boston. This was my first SIGGRAPH experience (my first real "conference" experience at all...) and it was a blast. The event featured tons of cool booths showing off cutting edge technologies, an awesome experimental/tech high- art exhibition area, and a job fair. (Note to self: Attend next year's SIGGRAPH in San Diego and go to more conferences in general... I'd love to become a self-described "conference junky"... just think of all the cool conference opportunities there must be: car shows, FOOD fairs, comic book GEEKFESTS! ) The real thrill of SIGGRAPH for me was the few minutes I spent talking to peeps from some local companies I had recently set my resume too (and of course, either had gotten no reply or was stuck in some bureaucratic vortex). I spoke w/ peeps at Turbine, Mad Doc, Game Loft, Emergent Game Tech, Sony Online, Sony Imageworks and Lakia (pronounced "like ah"... not "la key ah"). When I went to the Sony booth I didn't realize it was for the booth for both Sony Online AND Sony Imageworks. So after introducing myself to the Imageworks guy I left and returned a few minutes later to speak with the Sony Online lady. When I introduced myself to her, I said that I had already met the guy for Sony Online (standing next to her). She then looked at him and said, "Are we gonna have to fight over him?" (and then to me) "It feels good to have people fighting over you, doesn't it!?" Fight over me! wow, certainly the highlight of my day... Ironically, after giving her my resume she said I should also fill out the application on their web site - kinda thing someone says when they are planning on forgetting about you and/or sending your resume to HR limbo... Anyway, just kinda wondering around the Boston Convention center w/ all of the other attendees (estimated at 25,000+) was a fun and unique experience...