You Just Have to See Her

The Airborne Toxic Event, 'Sometime Around Midnight'... this is one of my favorite songs which holds a very special meaning to me. Here are some links to a few different versions on YouTube.

Official Video

Acoustic Version

On Carson Daily Show

South by Southwest Music Festival

Real Life HSX?

Box Office Futures to be traded on Wall Street

Happy Holidays

Wizards of Winter light show

Puppies

Puppy Cam

Salted Caramel Ice Cream

One of my favorites now.

Taste test

Williams Sonoma Recipe

Another recipe #1

Yet another recipe #2

Still another recipe #3

Moxie

From Wikipedia:

In the episode of The Simpsons, "Homer's Phobia", a DRINK MOXIE sign can be seen behind the cash register.

In the Futurama episode That's Lobstertainment!, the credits in Zoid's clip says "Buy Moxie".

In the episode "Return to Spider-Skull Island" of the Cartoon Network Adult Swim show The Venture Bros., necromancer Dr. Orpheus asks for a "tonic", and specifically requests Moxie.

"Moxie" has come to mean "energy", or "pep", in common usage, and is included in standard dictionaries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moxie

http://www.moxie.info/

Oysters

I never knew how good oysters could be until I had some from the Hog Island Oyster Co. in the Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco.

http://www.hogislandoysters.com/

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Trivia

40 squirrels were trained for the scene where they pounce upon the character Veruca Salt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn1EAl7jdIk&feature=related

Here Now Again

I really enjoy blogging, and it's been awhile. I would like to start posting things I think about or find interesting, and as always appreciate comments.

Favorite Foreign Movie

I recently rented 'Abre Los Ojos' again from Netflix and was just amazed at how well done this story of love, loss, dreams vs. reality and the nature of perception was done. The film was remade into the Tom Cruise vehicle 'Vanilla Sky', but despite being a nearly scene for scene copy of the Spanish film, something was lost in the translation and the original just seems to be much more powerful and involving to me.

Favorite Magazine

Wired.

It just has the best combination of in-depth articles about serious subjects and short, snarky features to make for a really interesting read for both the times when I want to invest in some serious reading time and times when I just feel like browsing a few quick short features.

Reschutti Chocolates

I've blogged about this before, but I thought it was worth mentioning again that I think the best chocolates I have ever had are Reschutti Chocolates, who are based out of San Francisco and make specialty chocolates in flavors such as Mint Tea, Lemon Verbana, Kona Coffee, Fleur del Sel, Star Anise and Pink Peppercorn, Tarragon Grapefruit, Cardomom Nougat, and varietals such as Columbian, Venezuelan, and Ecuadorian. They are truly gourmet delights and worth the premium prices.

Pirates

I've really enjoyed the Pirates of the Carribean trilogy. I intend to see At World's End again soon, as I've heard it's even better on repeat viewings.

Here's an interesting music video, which I got from Eschaton:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCVvtDcoWw0

Happy Foods

Top 10 foods to elevate your mood, according to a story from Yahoo:

1. Wild salmon (rich in omega 3 fats and vitamin D)
2. Spinach - (rich in folic acid and soluble fiber)
3. Skim milk - (rich in Vitamin D and B12)
4. Ground flaxseeds (rich soluble fiber, omega 3 fats and folic acid)
5. Blackberries (rich in soluble fiber and folic acid)
6. Omega 3 fortified eggs - (rich in omega 3 fats, Vitamin D and B12)
7. Sardines ( rich in omega 3 fats and Vitamin D)
8. Soybeans - (rich in soluble fiber, folic acid and omega 3 fats)
9. Beans (rich in soluble fiber and folic acid)
10. Brussels sprouts (soluble fiber and folic acid)

I don't know how happy I would be to actually eat some of these -- flaxseeds, anyone? Yum. Sounds healthy, though.

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/joybauernutrition/11481/top-ten-happy-foods

Internet Ads

When I clicked on a link from Yahoo's main page just now, I had a very interesting pop-up ad come up -- the darn thing kept moving, and trying to close it was like trying to play a video game. These guys are getting very clever, I'll give them that...

Boomshine

This is a simple game to play -- you are just allowed one click to set off a chain reaction of boomlets to blow up balls moving at various velocities and trajectories. If there is some strategy to it I haven't figured it out yet, but I've been playing the game for hours over the past few days (best score = 277). The relaxing background music is soothing, and the balls make their own music as they go boom in a scale of musical tones.
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/games/boomshine

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to everyone, courtesy Donnie Darko.

Jelly Beans and Astrological Signs

An unusual post to the Astrology section of AOL, which seems to fit in with at least one of my favorite Jelly Belly flavors:

"Leo (July 23 to Aug. 22)Like your Aries cousins, you're fire, ruled by the fieriest heavenly body of all: the Sun. So you're also quite fond of anything that gets the adrenaline running full speed through your veins. That applies to jellybeans in the equally fiery flavors you adore. Try cinnamon and Sizzling Cinnamon, both as hot as your planet. But since you're also a big fan of the movies, the scent and taste of Buttered Popcorn jellybeans certainly won't disagree with you."

I love Buttered Popcorn Jelly Bellies.

Ugh

Tax time...

(for those of us who like to procrastinate at least)

Not Another Case of Censorship

I'm watching 'Not Another Teen Movie' (one of my guilty pleasure favorites) on Comedy Central right now, and they are butchering it by blanking out any off color line or phrase. They aren't cutting the entire scene, so you just get the occasional moment where the audio drops out and you're forced to use your imagination to fill in the gaps. Having seen the movie on DVD, I know what is being cut, but it must be frustrating for people seeing the movie for the first time to just have the soundtrack go silent from time to time. I've heard much worse things on South Park, so I don't know what merits censorship in the eyes of the powers that be at Comedy Central.

Isn't it Ironic, Yeah I Really Do Think

Another entry from 'Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life':
(quote)
LUCKY
In an online column I was writing, I devised a sort of cyber scavenger hunt. One of the instructions was for readers to go to google.com, plug in Lucky Charms, and tell me the first listing that pops up.... It was only when I started hearing back from readers who had proudly found all the scavenger hunt items that I learned what the search coughed up. The first listing was a link to CNN.com, reporting on the gentleman who invented Lucky Charms. He had recently been killed in a car accident, along with his wife, on their way to visit their daughter, who, horrifically enough, was in a coma and dying in the hospital.... That such an ending would come to the creator of a cereal named Lucky Charms seemed to be yet another glaring example of how curiously beautiful-tragic-ridiculous-poignant-dreadful-happy-sad it all is.
(endquote)

Strangest Movie I Have Ever Seen

This movie had received critical raves as a groundbreaking feat in the field of traditional hand-drawn animation. Sufficiently curious, I rented the film from Netflix and sat down, ready to be blown away. Some of the visuals were indeed quite incredible, and the care taken in the production was obvious, but I was not only bewildered by the plot but actually felt as though I had entered a strange dream. I felt as though someone had slipped some strange mind-altering drug into my food, as my mind had trouble keeping up with the unusual visuals and dreamy plotline.

For what it's worth, the movie scored an astounding 97% on the Rotten Tomatoes scale, so the critics either enjoyed the dreamy aura of the film or I am really missing something. It definitely has my vote as the most unusual film I have ever seen.

(Close runner-up: Waking Life, which also induced a feeling of having taken some strange mind-altering substance.)

Basketball Schools and Football Schools

It's possible at this point for the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship game to feature the two schools whose football teams were in the BCS Championship game. Kudos to these schools athletic programs for being so strong in the two most visible and high-profile sports that they both could be down to the final two teams.

Girl Scout Cookies

Ranked from my most favorite to least favorite:

Do-Si-Dos
Samoas
Tagalongs
Cafe Cookies
Lemonades
Cartwheels
All Abouts
Thanks-a-lot
Little Brownies
Thin Mints

I realize that Thin Mints have their fans, but for some reason I've never been a fan of the combination of chocolate and mint -- I think mint belongs in breath mints, toothpaste and mouthwash and can't fathom the idea of eating it in food. Do-Si-Dos are basically a round version of my favorite store-bought cookie, Nutter Butters, but they seem even better -- probably due to their relatively scarce nature, being available only at girl scout cookie time. Samoas are rich and coconutty and delicious, but I usually have to stop at one (too much of a good thing, etc.).

Now That's a Way to Play a Wii

Milestone

I missed it, but one of the last few posts was my 100th post. I assume this doesn't count the posts I have deleted now and then. Enjoy a piece of virtual cake.

Gratuitous Post

I enjoy reading the newsgroup rec.sport.football.college, as much for the unique style and sense of humor of the postings as for the discussion of college football. One trademark running gags they have is the so-called gratuitous post, where the point and entire message of the post is captured in the title. The body will then just contain the text "". The idea is that the post's author didn't need to post anything, and it isn't of much substance, so it's gratuitous.

Consider this a gratuitous post.

March Madness

Down to Four...

Google Blogger

Blogger added an extra layer of password protection when I logged in today, where I had to type in letters as they appeared in a little box. I've had to do this when ordering concert tickets and on a few other e-commerce sites, but I haven't had to do it for Blogger or Hotmail or anything like that before. Either it's a funny random coincidence or someone has a sense of humor, but the word made up by the letters spelled 'crudpi'. I read this as "Crud Pie".

My Favorite Band from Iceland

They do the light/heavy thing really well

Sigur Ros - Saeglopur

Sigur Ros - Glosoli