LInk of the Day [6.03.08]
What a strange culture Japan is. They took a fetish from the anime geeks and parlayed it into an actual business.
Maid cafes!
Imagine if they did that in the US. Furry cafes! That would be a site to behold.
Link of the Day [6.15.08]
A while back, my cousin came back home for a couple days. He tells me that he’s now commuting to work on a bike. He’s also looking to get a junker to convert into a cargo bike. Here’s a company that makes just that.
Quote of the Day [5.22.08]
“So once again, Jones, what was briefly yours is now mine.”
Belloq, The Raiders of the Lost Ark
1st Annual BrowserMetrics Oscar Pool Official Thread
Read the rules. Please post your predictions in the comments to this thread only. Here’s the list. If you want to see an official looking one with actual people’s names, try here or here. Don’t forget that some predications account for more points!
- Best Picture: (3) Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood
- Actor: (3) George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Johnny Depp, Tommy Lee Jones, Viggo Mortensen
- Actress: (3) Cate Blanchett, Julie Christie, Marion Cotillard, Laura Linney, Ellen Page
- Supporting Actor: (3) Casey Affleck, Javier Bardem, Hal Holbrook, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tom Wilkinson
- Supporting Actress: (3) Cate Blanchett, Ruby Dee, Saoirse Ronan, Amy Ryan, Tilda Swinton
- Director: (2) Julian Schnabel, Jason Reitman, Tony Gilroy, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Paul Thomas Anderson
- Foreign Film: Beaufort, The Counterfeiters, Katyn, Mongol, 12
- Adapted Screenplay: (2) Christopher Hampton, Sarah Polley, Ronald Harwood, Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, Paul Thomas Anderson
- Original Screenplay: (2) Diablo Cody, Nancy Oliver, Tony Gilroy, Brad Bird et. al., Tamara Jenkins
- Animated Feature Film: (2) Persepolis, Ratatouille, Surfs Up
- Art Direction: (2) American Gangster, Atonement, The Golden Compass, Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, There Will Be Blood
- Cinematography: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Atonement, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood
- Sound Mixing: The Bourne Ultimatum, No Country for Old Men, Ratatouille, 3:10 to Yuma, Transformers
- Sound Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum, No Country for Old Men, Ratatouille, There Will Be Blood, Transformers
- Original Score: Atonement, The Kite Runner, Michael Clayton, Ratatouille, 3:10 to Yuma
- Original Song: Falling Slowly from Once, Happy Working Song from Enchanted, Raise It Up from August Rush, So Close from Enchanted, Thats How You Know from Enchanted
- Costume: Across the Universe, Atonement, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, La Vie en Rose, Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
- Documentary Feature: No End in Sight, Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, Sicko, Taxi to the Dark Side, War/Dance
- Documentary (short subject): Freeheld, La Corona (The Crown), Salim Baba, Saris Mother
- Film Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Into the Wild, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood
- Makeup: La Vie en Rose, Norbit, Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End
- Animated Short Film: I Met the Walrus, Madame Tutli-Putli, Meme Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven), My Love (Moya Lyubov), Peter & the Wolf
- Live Action Short Film: At Night, Il Supplente (The Substitute), Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets), Tanghi Argentini, The Tonto Woman
- Visual Effects: The Golden Compass, Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End, Transformers
TIE BREAKER: The official number of people watching the telecast in the US. Get as close to, but not over that number!
Good luck.
Best Buy
Stopped by Best Buy on the way home, because I wanted to burn the gift cards I had received from WaterLili for the last two Christmases. This is my third time in the new Best Buy just down the street from me, but it’s my first time walking away with some product.
Of course, I looked at the DVDs. Bought a three. Went to pay for it. Find out that I had a total of $45.00, so that I have some money still left on it.
Dang!
I hate getting DVDs at Best Buy. It’s only good when you know exactly what you want, and what you want is a very popular release like Dumb and Dumber the Dumbest edition or Ants in your Plants of 2006. If you want something off the beaten path, you’re SOL (for the kids!).
Plus browsing is plain hideous. Perhaps, I am used to web where I can follow any path through Amazon. I can start at one link and take another link upon my choosing. I am not boxed in by categories. I can easily search for something that pops into my head. If an idea develops, I can follow it until I find the movie that I know will compliment my DVD collection.
Best Buy is so analog.
At Amazon I can find almost any DVD.
Buying it from there is another blog post
Shopping for a digital camera
My old one had died sometime last autumn. I’m thinking about getting a dSLR, but I really like to have a small one so as to keep it upon me at all times.
Can’t really figure out what I should do. Or get.
Perhaps a cheap micro one, and a really nice dSLR.
Anyway, check out the reviews at this site.
Christmas Wish List ’06
Since it is the Holiday Season, and friends and relatives don’t know how to shop for me, here’s my wish list. These items would be nice to have. If you did take my advice for shopping, you’ll notice that these things are related to activities like doing.
Oakley Half Jacket Lenses. For riding, I’ve been looking to get a pair of the yellow or persimmon for the low light levels of the winter.
Carbon Water Bottle Cages. I’m bulking out this winter so my bike needs to be lighter.
TV on DVD. I’m currently have almost the full collection of these television series. I’m short by a few seasons as listed. Futurama (3,4,5). The X-Files (7,8,9). Northern Exposure (4,5), The Simpsons (7,8,9).
I don’t like to play video games anymore, but I do like Chess Master 10000 or whatever it’s called nowadays.
Books. I’m collecting the Peanuts which I’ve gotten the first two books.
Peace On Earth. Goodwill to men. Amazon probably doesn’t have this.
Clothes for cycling? I’m a 42 regular which is large for US, but may not be for other countries. A new team jersey would be cool.
Free Software for the Mac Community
The fine folks at MacZOT and TheCodingMonkeys will award $105,000 in Mac Software. The free software they’re giving out is the wonderful text editor, SubEthaEdit from CodingMonkeys. You must participate in BLOGZOT 2.0 on MacZOT.com to join in on the fun.
SubEthaEdit is a collaborative text editor. You and you’re coding friends can practice pair programming using this text editor. I’ve always wanted to give it a try, so go over there, help the Mac community get some free software, and participate in BLOGZOT 2.0.
What to do with my tax refund?
I got plenty back from the government. I don’t know what to do with it. I have already spent it on some stuff which I don’t really need or want, but its burning a hole in my wallet. Let me list some stuff I would like.
- A new mountain bike
- A new Mac
- A new exhaust
- Furniture
It may sound like gloating, but really I need to spend this money because I don’t need to save it.
PS. And, no, I don’t think I want to give to you either.
Won on ebay
I won a Shag print on ebay. Did I really mean to do it? I just showed up at the last minute and sniped it not thinking that I would actually be the highest bidder. Lucky me, I won. I was expecting to be outbidded or sniped before the end. I like the print, but it wasn’t the top one on my list. Now I’ve got to pay for it and get it nicely framed. Where should I hang it?