Tuesday, December 30, 2008

best-looking spam of 2008

i had no idea my phone could display arabic.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

tilted and shifty

i like photography because there's a pretty good chance you'll get a good image with far less effort than drawing or painting. i dislike the iphone because it tends to take terrible photographs. i love the iphone because you can get cheap or free applications to make iphone photography really fun. today's shining example is tiltshift...

before:


and after (click to enlarge):


BOOM! super fun.
here are my favorite iphone photo apps at the moment:
tiltshift
camerabag
panolab
night camera
EDIT: almost forgot about juxtaposer!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

eye in the sky

traveling for work is pretty much the worst, but being 10 to 30 thousand feet in the air does provide the occasional photo opportunity.





tagged

melody made me do it:

five things to do before i die:
1. go to tokyo
2. make a piece of art so good i want to keep it
3. drive a ridiculously fast car ridiculously fast
4. make a movie
5. fire a sniper rifle

five things i can do
1. draw
2. fix your mac
3. see color
4. yell really loud
5. get overly enthusiastic about something

five things i can not do
1. swim
2. endure stupid people quietly
3. watch musicals
4. sing
5. fix your windoze PC

five things that attract me to my wife
1. her
2. her eyes
3. (unfit for print)
4. her creativity
5. she's constantly surprising me

five things i say most often
1. awesome
2. HAHAHAHAHAHA!
3. that's nuts
4. i don't care
5. (unfit for print)

five celebrity crushes
1. anne hathaway
2. wata (she's on the left in the video)

3. tim gunn
4. liv tyler
5. natalie portman zooey deschanel

i tag
1. you

Sunday, December 07, 2008

bleep bleep blip bloop

check out these 3D renderings inspired by 8-bit games. super cool, excellent extrapolation from the 2D worlds we know and love...

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Monday, December 01, 2008

commuting by bicycle without any dignity

BikeSnobNYC has a recurring piece on the indignities of commuting by bicycle. in honor of the snob's fantastic coverage of that harsh reality, i offer up the following anecdote regarding a cyclist commuter who is A: doing it wrong and B: blowing it for the rest of us.

the Bay Area Rapid Transit system has a reasonable set of rules for cyclists that is clearly communicated to the ridership via their website, signs in the station, signs in the trains and regular announcements over the PA. while the following gentleman wasn't technically breaking any rules, he was trampling rather heavily on generally accepted "bikes on BART" etiquette.



most cyclists hang back and let the pedestrian riders board first, he clearly chose not to. to exacerbate matters, he also chose to line up for a car that i had already been waiting at for several minutes, not exactly the most generous of gestures. you may be wondering why i'm taking such offense, as this picture obviously shows it was not a very busy day on BART anyway. you'll have to trust me when i say that there was a fair number of other commuters that simply wanted to go nowhere near him. i can only posit that this was due to A: his blatant disregard for "bikes on BART" etiquette singling him out as a weird guy and/or B: the fact that his gnarly long hair was still dripping from his shower (i hope). or perhaps it was C: the part where he pulled out his norelco and started freaking shaving right on the platform...

Thursday, November 20, 2008

flim flam

all praise for "bike hero" is hereby RESCINDED.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

avatar

in the NXE, one can customize an avatar to appear in various games and other xbox live arenas. steph was home when the NXE became available, i was not. thus, my gamertag is now represented by this alluring fellow on my shoulder:



the word "avatar" is hindu in origin and describes "the descent and presence on earth of a deity in corporeal form (animal or human)." i wonder what mythos could be embodied in an avatar such as that....

UPDATE: we made the avatar look-a-like contest gallery. well done, stephanie.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

bike hero


tip of the hat to patoflowerwaddel.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

juxt do it

if you don't have juxtaposer for your iphone, go get it.

Friday, November 07, 2008

etiquette

now that the election is over, the real work begins. namely, figuring out when is the appropriate time to stop following obama on twitter and facebook, delete his iphone app and take the spoke card off my bike... is it like christmas? am i good for another month? or more like an office birthday - any more than two days and people start discussing your mental deficiencies behind your back. hmmmm, something to ponder during the next powerpoint presentation one is "invited" to endure.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

meow

this is a blurry picture of rachel. today was her last day at WS. i worked with her for seven years and she likes cats. i like her.



bye, ray.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

election highlight

for me, the best thing that happened last night was john mccain's concession speech. his grace in defeat was immense and his sincere endorsement of obama as president-elect was moving. his demeanor spoke volumes about his character, his history as a leader and his passion for this country.

that speech gave me more hope for the future than anything else that happened last night and i hope all americans take the message to heart.

Friday, October 31, 2008

happy halloween

steph made me watch The Worst Witch tonight. all i have to say about it is the following:

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

you can vote however you like



and that is why america is still an awesome place to live.

Monday, October 27, 2008

oh, look

additional pointless weblog postings can be found here.

please note my first contribution, regarding numbers.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

pro tip:

the burger king oreo sundae shake is NOT an acceptable alternative to real ice cream.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

the best bottle of all time



i got mine at BevMo.



more on crystal head vodka. big up george of the colburns for awakening my consciousness to this opportunity.

Friday, October 10, 2008

aaaaaaawwwww...

i love you too, spambot...

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

ZIP IT!

watching the latest presidential debate i was struck by two things:

thing the first: politicians can't stand restrictions being placed on how long they are allowed to disgorge words from their mouths. neither of them could even answer the "yes or no" question with fewer than 74 trillion words.

thing the second: my friends, senator mccain, my friends, exhibits an exotic and new, my friends, type of tourette syndrome, my friends.

Monday, September 29, 2008

creepy

matt: hey joel, shouldn't



be a cross or something?

joel: *wipes tears* aw, heck no, matt! *sniff* how would all the followers find Jesus if they couldn't find me first? *huge, tear-streaked, toothy grin*

Saturday, September 27, 2008

look what i made



andimals. 2008.
spray paint on clay board.
"thank you" gift for andi bakos. all rights reserved.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

notes from the land of sleep deprivation

RIP preston newby, you will be dearly missed and never forgotten.

seeing the first post-mortem declaration by a friend on facebook was a jarring experience but one that will only increase in frequency, i suppose.

i support the intentions of the Latinos for Obama BBQing outside my hotel but i do not support their compatriots honking in solidarity and waking me from the first sleep longer than three hours i've had since monday night. i actually went outside meaning to read the riot act to the idiot holding a "honk for..." sign but had a change of heart upon discovering the idiots numbered around 50 and didn't actually have any "honk for..." signs.

working out during a press check is one of life's little double-edged swords. one edge cuts away at your fatness and releases endorphins; the other edge requires sleep for recovery and will unleash all manner of tweaks, twinges and pains when deprived.


view from lancaster arts hotel room 310, 7:07pm.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

MOM WAS RIGHT

the baldwin in Hunt For Red October was alec.

that is all.

Saturday, September 06, 2008

my new favorite band this week

sounds like zz top X ac/dc...

javascript:void(0)

Friday, September 05, 2008

i hate politics

because my comment on whitney's blog formatted so weird (fix that, blogger!):

diversion

it's like they say over at ezinearticles.com: "Unlike passive activities like television viewing, a hobby provides intellectual stimulation while simultaneously relaxing you."

that's why i've taken up, maybe even invented, a new hobby. it involves opening every piece of junk mail i receive IRL and then taking the following actions:

• scribbling over the application area for whatever credit card or other service is being offered.

• writing "STOP" in large, meaningful script on one surface.

• carefully folding anything (including the envelope it was sent in) to fit the included business-reply envelope.

• placing all the contents, "STOP" message facing opening, into the included business-reply envelope.

• delivering the finished parcel to the US postal service that it might return from whence it came.

i find this activity satisfying on several levels and encourage everyone on the entire planet to participate.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

two stupid things

the long weekend afforded opportunity to witness a pair of events whose stupidity shall not pass unmarked. the first was performed by none other than myself, in underpants, for 13 hours. i woke up saturday morning thinking i'd put in an hour or two with BioShock to see what could be accomplished and ended up moving from the middle of our couch only to evacuate and/or make another peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

seriously though, it's a great game.

the second occurred at whole foods on monday morning. i watched a woman walk away from her sparsely loaded cart and to the opposite end of the aisle while her very large, very visible keychain (including late model BMW car key fob) sat unprotected in the small stuff/babyseat compartment. i was of a mind to take those keys and give them to lost and found but spousal admonition prevented that object lesson in responsibility from bearing fruit in the subject's life.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

confession

most of my friends and family know of my attitude towards cleanliness. i'm famous for sleeping in my clothes when visiting other people's homes. it isn't related directly to dirt itself, i have no trouble heading off on a muddy trail or getting grimy while repairing a bike or something. it's more about human residue. i can't stand thrift stores much longer than two minutes and seeing steph try on unwashed thrift items deeply disturbs me.

it also has nothing to do with maintaining order. a person's belongings may be strewn willy-nilly around the house and as long as they look new and don't smell funny, i could eat off of them. on the other hand, if the most meticulously organized space in the world feels overused and unkempt, it will give me the heebie-jeebies somethin' fierce. couches, beds, carpets, pillows and (strangely enough) dishes appear in my mind as sponges for the hideous slime of human beings.

here comes the confession: i have recently gotten into the habit of cleaning up public restrooms. certainly not washing the facilities or anything like that, but picking up paper towels strewn about the place and wiping up counters.

i wash my hands when i'm done, of course...

Monday, August 25, 2008

hooked

the five previous posts were sent during the race. i thought they had been lost in the ether forever but they suddenly appeared today, hooray technology.

as the title of this post suggests, i am now rather keen on competitive running races. for more on these developments, we go to an excerpt from an email sent out to the team i ran with:
i had myself so psyched out about leg 20 that the experience of finally running it was nearly mystical. starting in pitch black, no one ahead, no one behind for at least the first mile - just the sound of my feet and the sight of the fog of my own breath in the headlight - gives one a moment to clear one's head... then, as the sun cracks the sky, turning up a gravel road and starting to make a few roadkills. finally, full sunlight, barreling downhill into the mayhem of the exchange point to pass it off to my little brother (i say "little," is anyone else blessed with two younger brothers nearly twice their size?). that was one run i will never forget.
it's goofy, but HTC was truly a life-changing experience, i'm pretty sure i'll be running in a marathon sooner rather than later. you may now click on the images below in order to view:

scenes from a relay race:



and my niece susannah:

Saturday, August 23, 2008

finish well

Just had the best beer of my entire life after completing my first
competitive running race. Aside from the overwhelming pain, all is
right in the world.

2/3 done

Jon and I smoked our second legs, feeling pretty strong!

Friday, August 22, 2008

1 down

First leg down, 6 minutes under expected. Waiting for Jon to pass it
off.

more sweet van decoration

HTC

The all-important van decoration.

hood to coasting

it is upon us: my first race. updates to follow periodically from the road.



click here for a course map. i have legs 8, 20 and 32. my brother jonathan has 9, 21 and 33.

¡VAMONOS!

Monday, August 18, 2008

see-saw

DOWN: waking up at 6:30AM on sunday to go on a business trip.

UP: upgrade to business class on the first leg.

DOWN: no air conditioning on the second plane with a good, long wait on the tarmac after they bent the tow bar during push back.

UP: lady at the rental car counter hooking me up with a red mustang.

FINAL SCORE: pretty close to equilibrium.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

last night a DJ went to church

i think andrew will be moved to tears by this one:



as seen on: hungry eyes.

Thursday, August 07, 2008

fun fact

according to my sources (press dudes), the amish around lancaster, PA are somewhat famous for running puppy mills and selling cocaine to the pagans. who knew?

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

what the heck?

seen in Lancaster, PA New Era.

Saturday, August 02, 2008

redemption song

steph and i popped over to the apple store in emeryville at 8am yesterday to see about acquiring a couple of those newfangled iPhones 3G. now that we've had them for a day, some quick impressions:

3G destroys EDGE, the fact that they didn't launch the dumb thing on the 3G network is mind-bottling.

size matters; i find it somewhat easier to grip the larger form factor.

the flush headphone jack means i can finally use my good headphones on-the-go again. here is another case of "WHY WASN'T THIS ON THE FIRST ONE?!" i feel strongly that jonathan ive's design awards for the first iPhone should be revoked. or at least asterisked.



MobileMe redeemed itself. i didn't have time to go home and sync before work, so i simply entered my account info on the phone and WHAM! CONTACTS! EMAIL! BOOKMARKS! no work calendars however, since you can't sync calendars you subscribe to over the air. for unexplained reasons. jerks.

GPS is really neat, now i get why GPS nerds are always trying to show off their devices. steph tried out "current location" while we drove over the bay bridge and as it zoomed in and actively tracked our movement on the map she began laughing maniacally. that is not hyperbole, i dearly wish i had a video clip of that moment to share.

the app store is a little weird if you have a shared iTunes library with multiple iTunes accounts, some apps have to be revalidated for each phone and some don't. i *really* wish they'd just ditch the DRM, at least on free apps.

still no MMS? really, Apple? this thing does almost everything else, why the heck can't i send and receive picture messages?

well, there you have them, a few brief thoughts regarding iPhone 3G, aren't you glad you read them all? now be a good american and go buy one.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

failPhone

i love my iphone to pieces, but man this MobileMe thing just isn't working out. first i had NOTHING AT ALL on my phone after "upgrading." that was resolved by restoring the phone later that night but then i had everything on the phone and NO CONTACTS AT ALL on MobileMe. just last night i finally got my mac at home to sync all my contacts up to MobileMe but, of course, this morning i had DUPLICATES OF ALL MY CONTACTS on the phone.

yeesh.

i figured out i could kill the dupes on the phone by editing something online (added "keep" to everyone's first name) but that meant going back through and deleting all those edits when i was done.

triple yeesh.

oh well, that's the price you pay for being the dumb jerk that wants to have neat stuff first - you basically pay to be their bug tester. the good news is, steve jobs still works for apple, so the beatings will continue until it works perfectly, down in the mythical lands of Cupertino. for now, though, i have to agree with these guys:


failmeismorelikeit.com

Sunday, July 27, 2008

alaskan

everything is really big in alaska. really big mountains, really big trees, really big fish, really big clouds, really big coldness... if you're ever in juneau, throw down for a helicopter tour of the glaciers, especially one where you get out and walk, it was hands-down one of the coolest experiences of my life.

not a lot of crazy stories, things are pretty well planned-out on a cruise, so i'll let the pictures and video do the talking:

FLICKR!

VIMEO!

YOUTUBE! (BECAUSE VIMEO HAS A WEEKLY UPLOAD LIMIT AND I CAN'T WAIT TO SHOW THIS ONE!)

Monday, July 21, 2008

waiting to leave skagway

The winds in the channel are too strong for the captain's liking.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

hiking

Mt Roberts trail, Juneau.

juneau

Saw a bald eagle fly by while we were running on the treadmills in the boat this morning.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

first stop

Ketchikan. I bought a knife.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

adieu for now

last post before we go get on a big boat pointed at alaska for ten days. things of note:

i had some fun birthday times as evidenced by this photographic record:



i received a canon powershot G9 as a birthday gift and am already enthralled with the dense feature set packed into its relatively compact body. today i snagged the wide angle lense and adapter, boy, they aren't kidding when they say WIDE:



stunning glacial vistas, here we come!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

unclear

as we drove home last night, discussing our disappointment in the film we had just seen, i commented that it didn't help matters when the projector kept going out of focus.

in the pregnant pause that followed, i realized that it may be in my best interest to visit the optometrist...

Thursday, July 10, 2008

OG fixies

i wanna ride one of these around SF:

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

things i saw tonight

• the orange waxing-crescent moon

• a rat running across broadway, silhouetted in headlights

• high school kids on a date trying desperately to act as though they weren't

• my bike, upside-down

• stephanie sewing