Zorba The Greek

Recycle Your Car Seat In Seattle

2011-09-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

When it was time for us to recycle a car seat here in Seattle, we found it especially tough. Neither the fire department nor the police were willing to take it, and all we could find on the web was a single collection event a few years ago at IKEA. Not willing to just trash the seat, we kept searching for a better option.

Fortunately, I ran across the Washington State Safety Restraint Coalition. A quick email to them led me to Goods For The Planet, a store in Seattle that not only sells green goods but also recycles a variety of different items. A quick trip to the store and $8 later, and the seat was gone.

Goods recycles many things for free, including laptops, monitors, and computers, and the rest costs somewhere between $1 and $20. The staff was friendly and quick with the transaction. They're centrally located on Dexter Avenue.

My Office Door Made It On "There I Fixed It"

2011-06-17T20:49:00.001-07:00

The door to my office doesn't want to stay open. It's as if the building leans slightly, causing the door to close ever so slowly.

With the help of a colleague, I rigged up something to keep it open. And, apparently There I Fixed It found it funny enough to post.

see more There I Fixed It

Costco vs. Amazon: Who Has The Best Deals?

2011-01-09T09:12:00.000-08:00

As both a Costco and an Amazon Prime member, I've been wondering who has the best deals on the stuff we regularly buy. Costco is well-known for its bulk sizing and Kirkland-brand private label products, while Amazon has Prime 2-day shipping and multi-unit, brand-name offers at prices that often undercut what you can get at physical stores.

I went to Costco yesterday and inventoried the stuff we usually buy.

Glide floss, 6 count	$12.99
Pacific Natural Foods Chicken Broth, 6 units of 32oz each	$9.79
Dave's Killer Bread, 2 loaves	$6.99
Kirkland Organic Peanut butter, 2 jars of 28oz each	$7.89
Fage 0% Greek Yogurt, 35.2 oz	$5.79
Cascade Dishwasher Gel, 125oz	$8.99
Kirkland Paper towels, 12 rolls of 80 sheets each	$14.99
Kleenex square boxes, 12 boxes of 85 sheets each	$15.49
Kirkland baby wipes, 900 total	$18.99
Ziplock quart freezer bags, 4 boxes of 54 each	$9.69
Ziplock gallon freezer bags, 4 boxes of 38 each	$10.79
Kirkland diapers, size 5, 168 total	$37.99
Kirkland toilet paper, 36 rolls at 425 sheets per roll (1912 sq ft)	$17.99
Laughing cow cheese, 4 wheels	$8.35
Total	$186.72

Next, I looked for comparables at Amazon. Here's what I did:

I looked for the exact same brand and product. When it wasn't available, I went for something comparable.
When the amount of product on Amazon differed from Costco, I went with a per-unit pricing (ounces for the yogurt, square feet for the toilet paper).
I always went for Amazon Prime products.
When the product wasn't available at Amazon, I priced it at AmazonFresh (as in the case of the yogurt).

Here's the comparison chart:

	Costco	Amazon	AmazonFresh	Notes
Glide floss, 6 count	$12.99	$20.28
Pacific Natural Foods Chicken Broth, 6 units of 32oz each	$9.79	$18.66
Dave's Killer Bread, 2 loaves	$6.99		$10.98
Kirkland Organic Peanut butter, 2 jars of 28oz each	$7.89	$8.82		Substituted O Organics
Fage 0% Greek Yogurt, 35.2 oz	$5.79		$9.18
Cascade Dishwasher Gel, 125oz	$8.99	$12.49
Kirkland Paper towels, 12 rolls of 80 sheets each	$14.99	$22.15		Substituted Bounty
Kleenex square boxes, 12 boxes of 85 sheets each	$15.49	$28.79
Kirkland baby wipes, 900 total	$18.99	$25.00		Substituted Earth's Best
Ziplock quart freezer bags, 4 boxes of 54 each	$9.69	$16.49
Ziplock gallon freezer bags, 4 boxes of 38 each	$10.79	$26.94
Kirkland diapers, size 5, 168 total	$37.99	$41.28		Substituted Earth's Best
Kirkland toilet paper, 36 rolls at 425 sheets per roll (1912 sq ft)	$17.99	$31.39		Substituted Cottonelle
Laughing cow cheese, 4 wheels	$8.35		$19.56
Total	$186.72	$292.01

As you can see, Amazon comes out to over a 50% premium to Costco. In fact, I found not one product that was cheaper via Amazon. Add to that the $79 Prime membership versus the $50 Costco membership, and the disparity grows.

Am I going to give up Amazon Prime? Nope. Amazon has plenty of stuff that Costco doesn't have, and at good prices compared to traditional retailers. But for many things, Costco's combination of private-label products and bulk sizing yields way lower prices. So, I'm sticking with both.

Amazon Prime Has Completely Changed My Shopping Habits

2010-12-12T10:12:00.000-08:00

I remember Neil at work telling me about Prime. "Your recycle bin will be overflowing," he said, as he described the free 2-day shipping offer from Amazon and the number of items he purchased from it. At the time I didn't think paying $79 a year for the privilege of shipping was worth it. Then, last holiday season we had a bunch of presents to ship across the country, so we decided to give the free trial a shot. And we haven't looked back since.

Why is Amazon Prime such a hit? Two reasons:

Shipping speed

When I need something, I can categorize that need in terms of time as follows:

Right now!
Today-ish
Soon
Sometime this month, maybe?
Eventually, when I get around to it

Amazon Prime succeeds because it hits on all but the first bullet point. Need a whisk? Or some granola? How about some toilet bowl cleaner? If you need this stuff RIGHT NOW then Amazon Prime isn't for you. But if you can wait a day or two, then it's a great fit.

Prices

Amazon has some pretty competitive prices on a variety of goods. These are usually name-brand products in multi-packs (6 bags of granola, 4 packs of toothpaste) that come out to less than what you pay for a single unit at a retail store. Amazon doesn't ALWAYS have the best prices (nearly 7 bucks for Bon Ami?) and doesn't ship EVERYTHING as Prime. But its hit rate for us is a solid 70-80%.

Indeed my recycle bin is overflowing with cardboard boxes, Neil. Amazon's getting a fair amount of my coin these days. Prices and shipping speed together result in a convenient way to buy all but the most urgent of things.

This blog has moved

2010-04-16T21:52:00.001-07:00

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Henry Blodget Is A Whiner: The IPhone Is A Dream To Use

2009-07-17T21:46:00.001-07:00

I just read Henry Blodget's first impressions of the iPhone, after he switched to it from his Blackberry. While it's good to hear that he's overall happy with the phone, I pretty much disagree on everything he thought was faulty with the phone. Perhaps I'm not as sensitive as he because I'm not cybernetically linked to my mobile device 24/7/365. Here's a quick run-down of my opinions based on his:

Battery life. It's fine. Come on, it'll last you a day, and you plug it up at night. Turn off push may help. If you run out after 5 hours maybe you should spend a portion of those 5 hours doing something other than fiddling with a phone.
Speed. It's fine. It's fast enough. Really, do you need blazing quad proc speed to check your twitter status updates?
Setting up email. I got all 3 accounts (including Exchange) on my first try.
Typing. Indeed it's great. I was worried about my ramp-up and speed but both are awesome. The autocorrect is about 90% accurate for me.
Email. No syncing? What? When I delete a mail from my iPhone it's gone from my Inbox. Not sure what problem he is having.
Orientation. A quick turn of the wrist fixes this when it happens. If it happens.
Video. Awesome indeed.
Popups. Yeah these can be annoying. I've been conditioned to dismiss them quickly. But I agree on this one.

I predict Henry will get used to some of these minor problems after a week or two. After installing and playing with some great apps, he'll wonder why he didn't switch earlier.

Advertising Experiment: Results

2009-03-05T00:58:00.001-08:00

OK, so I more or less did the (work)-week advertising experiment. What did I learn?

I perceive a lot of ads. Radio and TV are the main sources. Print is moderate. Some billboards. Backs of cars were a surprising blip (license plate frames, bumper stickers). I rarely perceive ads on the web.
I see or hear a lot of the same ads over and over. Same time of day, same medium (drive into work, watch the evening news).
Most of the ads were for things I don't buy or use. So it was easy to live by the "don't buy or use it if you see it advertised" rule. I took some exceptions near the end here, though: NBC advertised 30 rock and I was not about to go sit in another room while it was on.
Once you pay attention to ads, you realize how many you are exposed to. You also realize how many you are likely to perceive subconsciously. It's one thing to be made aware of a product or service. It's another to be inundated by relentless messaging.

Could I take this experiment forward for longer than a week? No way. I would eventually be unable to buy or use more and more things I want or need to buy or use. The critical mass started to build near the end of my week (see 30 rock) so I'm glad I stopped when I did.

Any changes moving forward? I'm going to mute the TV more often and stop looking at billboards, that's for sure.

An Advertising Experiment

2009-02-22T09:18:00.000-08:00

I'm going to try an experiment with advertising over the next week.

I'm going to record every advertisement that I consciously perceive.
I'm not going to purchase any product or service advertised in the list above.

Now, the caveats:

I'm not going to stop purchasing or using products and services I'm already using. For example, if I see a Netflix ad, I won't cancel my Netflix subscription.
I'm not going to count advertisements that I see at the place of business. A Shell station advertising Shell gas via its signage does not count.
I'm going to focus on perceived advertisements. Yes, I realize that the subconscious plays a part, but I'm not going to count those ads. This will be especially true in the Internet ad space.

Why am I doing this? Two reasons: I want to see how many advertisements I perceive over the course of a week, and I want to see how it changes my habits, if at all. I'll post updates as I go.

Conversion Of An Email Junkie

2009-01-25T11:54:00.000-08:00

I've always been a fan of mail. I get excited when the postperson arrives and drops off letters at my house. It's a surprise of sorts: what will I get today? Sure, some of it is junk, some of it I was expecting (like bills), but some is a true unexpected delivery of news, a letter, a card, or the like.

For a long time, I've felt the same way about email. I remember when I first got an email address (through a BBS, before the web), and found it way cool that my friends and I could leave messages for each other without picking up the phone or writing a letter. I would share my email address out, which would result in more people sending me email. More letters appeared in the virtual mailbox for me to open, as a result.

As I moved from BBSes to ISP-provided email to web-based email, my virtual mailbox became much more than a way to exchange messages with friends. E-retailers used it to help me track the status of my order. Newsletters sent me digests of information. And, yes, junk mail started pouring in from faceless people I'd never met.

For a while, I put up with it, as the ratio of letters-from-friends to all of this other stuff remained high. But slowly it waned. The spam piled up, the automatically-generated news and alerts piled up, and my email address became much less personal. The email I received was broadcast at people like me, but not actually penned to me.

Like many others I started trying out social tools like Facebook and Twitter. Slowly, I found myself spending more and more time reading up on what people were doing via these tools, as well as posting and sharing what I was up to. Daily status, pictures, interesting stuff on the web, news...these are all things I used to use email for. But now, here's this web site or app that has all of the people I would email on it anyway, where I can share this stuff. And, I get the side benefit of others being able to look over my shoulders and comment on what I'm doing, which email doesn't easily allow for.

With the arrival of our little one, there was a lot of electronic communication happening last week. The sharing of pictures, status, and congrats was done either over the phone (family, some friends) or on Facebook (family, friends, coworkers, acquaintances) or Twitter (friends, coworkers). Reflecting on that event and the amount of stuff that was communicated about it, email was used very little. I rarely checked my email address during the past week. I was instead primarily using Facebook and Twitter, and occasionally our parents blog.

Truth be told, we did send two emails: one from my wife's personal email account to friends & fam, and one from my work email to coworkers. But there was a fair bit of overlap between these two emails' recipients and the Facebook/Twitter crowd above. And the reason we sent those emails is because not everyone is on Facebook or Twitter. At least, not yet.

So, I think I'm done getting my kicks from email. Sure, I'll still have email addresses to communicate with those not on Facebook, Twitter, or whatever the next social app comes around may be. But as long as my email address resembles my post box (mostly junk, occasional news, once-in-a-blue-moon letter), it's just not doing it for me.

A New Parents Blog

2009-01-11T16:57:00.001-08:00

In case you haven't heard, we're going to be parents soon! I've heard from many that they don't necessarily like to read about changing diapers among non-parenting posts, so we decided to start a parents blog to capture our adventures on that front: The Adventures of Baby P. I'll keep this blog baby- and kid-free as a result.

+1 To Procter & Gamble For Replacing My Broken Razor

2009-01-03T11:10:00.000-08:00

About a week ago my Gillette razor broke while I was using it: a little piece holding the razor blade to the razor gave way, rendering the razor useless. I emailed this info to Gillette via their web site contact form. 2 days later, I get a response from them, apologizing and asking me to wait to get something in the mail. Yesterday, I open a package from Procter & Gamble that contained a new razor. Thanks, P&G!

Talk about great customer service: quick reply on the complaint, quick resolution of complaint. I'm a continued customer, and I'm blogging about my positive experience which propagates P&G's investment in resolving said complaint.

Take note, other companies. If only 1/2 of you were this responsive to your customers' needs.

The South Earns Low Scores On America's Health Index

2008-12-26T11:50:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a tweet from my county's executive, I took a gander at the state-by-state rankings of overall health. Guess where most of the low rankings exist? That's right: the southeast.

Why? Check out some of what these states were penalized for: obesity, childhood poverty, low graduation rates from high school, high rates of the uninsured, and violent crime. And there are reasons why these issues are more prevalent in these states than others (that's a whole other post).

I know the incoming Obama administration has promised to focus its energies closer to home as compared to the prior administration. I do hope they take a hard look at what parts of the country are suffering the most, why they're the way they ware, and target some novel solutions to them. Blanket solutions like tax cuts for the middle class won't hurt, but we need something more specific to cure these states' ills.

Southern Vodka?

2008-12-24T20:20:00.000-08:00

Not sure if this product came to be because the South was naughty or nice, but there's apparently Sweet Tea and Muscadine Vodka available from a place called Firefly Distillery. This could either be very good or very bad. I'm hoping for the former. Who wants to send me a bottle (I doubt I can get it in WA)?

Washington Mutual Can't Compete With Online Savings Rates

2008-12-20T13:52:00.001-08:00

Funny story today: I went to make a deposit at my local WaMu (now WaMuChase or whatever they're calling it). While in line, the teller asked me if I'd ever done an "account review" for potentially better savings rates. I said no, and asked for more info. She was very vague, and said she didn't want to "say something that wasn't right" and that this other person "could sit down with me and tell me what the latest rates are".

"Surely you can give me a summary?" I ask.

"No, I really can't - but TL over here can sit down with you and give you all the info."

I know WaMu's published rates. The teller made it seem like they had something special going on. Having a few minutes to spare, I agreed to consult with this TL person.

After a few minutes, TL (who is another one of the tellers) comes by, asks for ID, finds my info, and then starts to ask me a few things.

"So, are you looking for something more liquid or something like a CD?" he asks.

"It depends," I reply. "What are your rates?"

"Well," he says, after typing on his keyboard for a few moments. "We have a CD rate around 2.75 right now."

"No thanks," I say, "I'm getting 4% savings online, through another bank. And that's liquid."

"Ah," he says. More typing. Then, "we have a long term CD at 5%. What about that?"

"No, I can beat that online, too."

"OK, then," he concludes. "That's all I can offer."

OK, so just to summarize, these people asked me to take extra time out of my day so they could quote me their published (and somewhat sad) savings and CD rates? Give me a break.

Look up yields for CDs and for savings/money market accounts, and then compare with what WaMu offers. Then laugh. Then wonder how they're going to attract retail customers now that their thrift business has evaporated, and the competition is getting tougher.

The Big Picture's 2008 In Review

2008-12-19T13:45:00.000-08:00

The Big Picture has published an excellent compilation of photojournalists' work over the past year. I found the compilation to be a reminder of stories that were glossed over by some news sources, yet still reflect a significant part of the year's events.

Here's part 1, part 2, and part 3.

Seattle Drivers Lose All Driving Experience When Snow Hits

2008-12-18T09:36:00.000-08:00

I have proof!

Signs There's A Snowstorm In Seattle

2008-12-18T08:26:00.000-08:00

From the WSDOT Incidents report:

Seattle Area Incidents

Seattle Area - Thursday Dec 18, 2008 - 07:53:25

INCIDENT INFORMATION ( * = New Incident / Update )

Current Operator: Peter L. , WSDOT

I-5 NORTHBOUND AT MID BOEING FIELD MILTI DISABLED VEHICLE BLOCKING ROADWAY VERIFIED WITH CAMERA 6:11 AM

I-405 NORTHBOUND AT I-90 MULTI DISABLED VEHICLE BLOCKING ROADWAY VERIFIED WITH CAMERA 6:08 AM

SR-520 WESTBOUND AT MARYMOOR PARK MULTI DISABLED VEHICLE BLOCKING ROADWAY VERIFIED WITH CAMERA 5:41 AM

** SR-169 AT KUMMER BRIDGE CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Foot Detox Pads Are A Bunch Of BS

2008-12-14T10:50:00.000-08:00

I'm surprised I still see foot detox pads being sold in stores and online. These things claim to pull toxins from your feet when you wear them, and brown stains on them is the supposed proof.

There are plenty of sources that refute this product's claims. Yet people keep trying to support them; check out some of the comments on this post.

Steer clear of this snake oil. Unless you really like to spend money on expensive placebos.

Why Do Local News Shows Advertise?

2008-11-20T20:30:00.001-08:00

I find it amusing to watch local news shows advertise themselves on TV. Sure, they need ratings like every other show. But come on, it's local news.

It's all pretty much the same. There's hardly any qualitative difference in the reporting they do. A bit of national and local "hard" news at the beginning, followed by a softer or investigative story, weather, sports, and we're done. The same formula, everywhere.
I don't care how many Doppler radars you have or how many times you do on location live reports. It doesn't make me want to watch one show over another.
You can get all this news and more, on demand, with video and audio if you choose, on the Internet.

I love it when they tout themselves and their resources, with that triumphant music in the background, as they spring into action to report the latest stories. Lame.

Photo: No stabbing area

2008-11-18T22:43:00.001-08:00

The employees at Pike Place Fish at the Market have it right: the employee health center, by definition, should NOT be a stabbing area.

Deathcake Royale - One Day Only

2008-11-11T19:57:00.000-08:00

This crossed my in-box today, and I may not be able to pass it up:

For one very special day only...let us give thanks for Deathcake!
This deadly dark chocolate concoction is BACK for one day only! Made with Theo Chocolate and Stumptown espresso, Deathcake Royale is truly the ultimate cupcake indulgence.

NOVEMBER 26th, 2008
Available for one day by special order only - Call to order yours today!

Ballard 206.782.9557 | Madrona 206.709.4497 | West Seattle 206.932.2971

* All orders must be received by NOON on Tuesday, November 25th *

If you haven't had a Deathcake yet, this is your chance!

Photo: Gus Face

2008-10-04T17:23:00.001-07:00

Trying out our new 55-250 IS lens. Makes grabbing a sharp shot of the quick-moving Gus much easier.

Remix

2008-09-30T19:55:00.000-07:00

FL Studio recently announced a remix contest. The original song is "One Day" by David Latour, a bouncy dance song. My remix of it changes several things up and makes the song a fair bit darker. I submitted my remix yesterday, but I thought I'd share it here for folks to listen to. Feel free to download and listen, and let me know what you think.

Election Zeitgeist, Courtesy Of Twitter

2008-09-28T18:33:00.000-07:00

Want to get a sense of how the (technologically-inclined, Twitter-using) electorate is feeling about the election? Head on over to Election 2008 and see what people are tweeting about.

Honestly, this is scary stuff. A 5 minute sample (actual tweets, not in the conversation per se, all said in context & uncorrected):

Is Biden going to live longer - he has gotten senile - old folks home in his next view - but will my taxes pay
under Obama, small business will have to raise their prices
dude my cat saw a picter of Obama and he hid for a week
Obama is an American terriorist
Because Obama is like communism great on paper
Joe Biden is such an utter d-bag. Also, he's entirely too bald to run this country.
This just in Obama, tells mainstream media he knows a Champion Snow Machiner too..

Honestly, this is like listening to gossip about a couple of kids on the grade-school playground. Why are people so flippant and shallow about their potential world leaders, especially during such a pivotal time?

The Corn Lobby Is Fighting Back

2008-09-07T12:46:00.000-07:00

Seen this ad? It's from the High-Fructose Corn Syrup people. They want to convince you that HFCS is equivalent to sugar. Nutritionally, it is. But it's certainly not "all natural" as some would like to claim.

Fact is, HFCS is a highly processed ingredient. It goes through a multi-step enzymatic process. Its processing involves, according to the CSPI, "centrifuges, hydroclones, ion-exchange columns, and buckets of enzymes." Certainly not something you can do at home with an ear of corn and a pot on the stove.

SweetSurprise.com really wants you to think otherwise. To be fair, they do summarize the process on their site. But how can this process be called "natural"? Beats me.

Straight Man Soap

2008-09-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, independent retailers are the coolest. Sure, they may not have the best prices or the best availability like some big-box retailers do. But they shine in personality and novelty where the Wal-Gets and Lowe-Depots of the world don't. Here's one example.

Bliss Soaps is a small shop on Capitol Hill's Broadway strip specializing in handmade soaps and other bath & body products. We've been a couple of times before, and stopped in not too long ago because our supply of soap was getting low.

As we were meandering through the small store, picking up and sniffing literally dozens of soaps, I came upon a turquoise blue block with a sea-foam edge to it. Intrigued by the color, I picked it up and smelled it. "Wow," I proclaim, "this smells pretty good!" It didn't have a distinct aroma like a fruit or a spice, but was rather a blend of scents, kind of like a cologne. I decide to add the block to our basket.

Upon checkout, the owner sorts our selections and starts ringing them up. When he arrives at my choice, he says, "Ah! Straight man soap."

I smile, cock my head, and ask, "that's not what it's called, is it?" I hadn't noticed any name to this soap, unlike many of the others in the store.

"No, it is! Look," he says, and he punches in the product code on the sticker. The register display soon scrolls, in block letters: STRAIGHT MAN SOAP.

"Huh..." I say.

"And you like it, right?" the owner asks.

"Sure, yeah, it smells good. I'm going to use it in the shower."

"And, you're straight, right?" he says, looking over at my wife.

"Sure" I smile.

"See!" he concludes, "I know it every time. Every time a guy picks up one of these and buys it, I know they're straight. That's why I call it straight man soap!"

To which we all start laughing. We wrap up our purchases and head out, still giggling over the encounter.

I can't imagine buying soap anywhere else now. And I bet no one else has my straight man soap, for that matter.

Cupcake Royale Reveals A "Royale With Cheese"

2008-09-05T14:17:00.000-07:00

The cupcake mavens over at Cupcake Royale have released a new cake of the month: the Royale with Cheese. In their words:

A seriously rich swirl of [cream cheese] pile high on our deliciously dark new chocolate cake Royale. Finished with a sweet sprinkling of dark chocolate curls...

Why, why is there not a Cupcake Royale near work?!

Seattle's Wet Summer Of 2008

2008-08-29T09:44:00.000-07:00

Yeah, we know, it rains in Seattle, blah blah. Most locals will tell you that the summers are the counterexample: it gets warm (in the 80s) and a fair bit drier, myself included. Enter August 2008. According to Steven's Weather Vortex, this has been the 5th wettest Seattle August on record.

Normally we get around an inch of August rain. So far, we've gotten 2.86 inches. That's right, over 200% of normal. Add to that the cooling effect of the rain and the darkening effect of the clouds, and it's been hard to look out the window lately and call it Summer, at least with a straight face.

Like true Seattlelites, though, we maintain hope and resolve. Take, for example, the forecast of decreasing rain by this weekend, with a high of 70 degrees and sun by Labor Day! Sound cold, Phoenixites, what with your 95-100 degree days? Hey, it's all relative.

Gus Vs. Elastic

2008-08-25T21:42:00.001-07:00

This is Gus, moments before pouncing on an elastic being dangled above his head. Yes, we buy him those fancy pet store toys. But he loves the simple, cheap, 50-to-a-pack hair elastics the best. So much so that he gets up on the bathroom counter every morning after breakfast and practically begs us to give him his toy.

Photo: Dosewallips

2008-08-12T07:41:00.001-07:00

Despite the serene look of this photo, it was really windy on the way to the beach at the Dosewallips State Park, and some dark rain clouds were gathering when we were heading back to our campsite.

Lies In Headlines

2008-08-07T07:48:00.000-07:00

I hate it when news mediums go the sensationalistic route. Take, for example, this article. The headline:

If trends continue, we’ll all be fat in 40 years

Whoa! And the subheadline:

Researchers: By 2048, every American could be at least slightly overweight

Whoa! Could that be true? Is it really possible that every single American could be at least a little overweight in 40 years? That's easy: no. And the article admits this:

“Genetically and physiologically, it should be impossible” for all U.S. adults to become overweight, said Dr. Lan Liang...However, she told Reuters Health, the data suggest that if the trends of the past 30 years persist, “that is the direction we’re going.”

Ah, so the headline should have been: American obesity rates are on the rise. But that wouldn't be as eye-catching or sensational, now, would it? And, it's not really news given recent reports on obesity rates, is it?

Twittering vs. Blogging

2008-07-28T18:51:00.000-07:00

I find myself twittering more and more and blogging less and less. Twitter is filling the gap in terms of short, to-the-point, and timely statements about what I'm doing or thinking about. Blogging is good for longer thoughts, or sharing media (pics).

I haven't had a whole lot of time lately to do the latter, but the former lends itself to just a moment or two of time. As such, if you care to follow me on twitter, I'm zorbadgreek.

Photo: Galileo with sheep

2008-07-22T22:39:00.001-07:00

Oh yes, Galileo loves his sheep. Really. Can't you see it in his eyes? That look of gleeful happiness and giddy joy?

Yeah, OK, so we put it on him and snapped a photo, and he wasn't that amused.

Photo: Gasworks

2008-07-06T19:19:00.001-07:00

Nighttime photos are cool. Depending on ambient light and shutter speed, you get some interesting effects. This was 15 seconds at 11pm, with an orange street lamp from the left hand side in the distance.

Photo: Lick

2008-07-04T16:24:00.001-07:00

Gus is growing, but he's still a kitten. We were playing with him on the bed not too long ago, and he was rearing to go. This shot caught him with his tongue licking his nose, in between pounces.

Ugly Web Site Alert: SeattleGrapeVine.com

2008-07-04T11:09:00.001-07:00

There's never a loss of ugly web sites. But some rise above others. Check out SeattleGrapeVine.com.

Immediately one sees the haphazard nature of the site. It approaches a ransom note: different fonts, colors, backgrounds, and effects as one goes from region to region on the page. As one clicks around, you see a ton of ads spread around a tiny bit of content: a few events here, a classified there.

Why would someone want to stick around on this site, much less use it? It hurts my eyes just to try.

Wait, it gets worse. There's apparently lots of Grapevine sites out there. Including ones worse that this one. Check out RochesterGrapeVine.com. Or don't. It crashed my browser a few times.

Why do sites have to be this ugly? And for those running these sites, why do they think this is an acceptable user interface?

I'm not saying web site design is easy. But that's no excuse for living with a bad design.

How The Music Industry Can Save Itself

2008-06-25T00:23:00.000-07:00

Ah, remember the good old days of music? The days when you’d eagerly await the release of your favorite band’s album, so that you can go back home and listen to the tape 10 times over? The days when you tuned in to your local radio station to hear the latest singles and then argue with your friends on which one’s the best? The days when record shops were veritable gold mines where you had to restrain yourself from buying as many albums as you really wanted.

Welcome to the 21st century, where the world of music has dramatically changed, and suffered for it. What we have now is an industry in a tailspin. Radio stations are playing the same old, tired popular genres so that they can try to sell the most ads. Labels are terrified of dwindling CD sales, and are striking deals with the likes of iTunes, who sell songs with restrictions. The RIAA is going on the offensive to try to stop music downloading by ironically prosecuting some of the industry’s most fervent customers. In a phrase, it’s all about how to protect the status quo, and Mr. Consumer, you better come along for the ride, because that’s the way it is.

I’ve never seen an industry hold fast to their old, tired ways with such irrational devotion as I have the major labels along with their associations like the RIAA. With every passing month, we hear of more artists going it alone, exploring ways to deliver and sell their music independently, because they’re tired of the status quo. I wonder why the music industry hasn’t at least started the process of reinventing itself in earnest, exploring new ways to deliver and monetize its product, and ultimately please its customers: people who like music and really, really want to listen to it.

So, how can the music industry save itself? Everyone has a hypothesis; here’s mine.

Distribution
Let’s face it, people are getting more and more adept at using their PCs, laptops and the Internet to get music. Downloading and sharing music without paying for it is becoming a more and more popular way of consuming music, especially in the teen-to-college age group, where demand is high and, well, cash isn’t. How do you compete with free downloads? Let’s start with a better distribution model. With downloads on the ‘Net, you have to seek out what you want and it takes a while. Popular music is pretty easy to find, but non-mainstream stuff is tougher. Even if you’re willing to pay, iTunes or Amazon still don’t have the enormous back catalogs that major labels have. And the problem grows if you’re talking minor labels. And, once you have the music, you own putting it where you need it. Forgot your iPod? Sorry. Don’t know how to setup your PC as a server so you can listen to your music at work? Oh well.

Instead, imagine a distribution system that was a virtual clearinghouse of music. Yes, we’re talking an integration among major and minor labels, domestic and international. Now, imagine a distribution scheme that leveraged the Internet, mobile phones, set-top devices, car radios, and other “direct-to-consumer” avenues. Finally, imagine an interface and model where you could, literally, ask for music from a particular artist or genre, or a particular song, or what your friends are listening to. And you get it. And you get it instantly.

And forget technology-laden prerequisites like knowing how to subscribe to podcasts or join a social network or know what Bittorrent is. The entry-level version of this technology has to be brain-dead simple. As simple as hooking in a TV in your living room, or turning on your satellite radio in your car. Mom, dad, and even grandma need to be able to use this service. Sure, offer more tweaks and experiences for people who want to geek out on the ‘Net, or download some special app on their mobile phone. But the super-simple approach needs to offer a rich experience without hardly any prior knowledge. Just like the CD, or the tape, or the record before it.

And, the device network has to work together, seamlessly, without setup. No more “I bought a CD but now I can’t listen to it on my phone because I forgot to rip it to my iTunes and then transfer it” business. Each device needs to be aware of others, and of the service in the “cloud”, and needs to be able to offer the same level of service and experience once people start using them. You listen to the Eagles on your phone? You can do the same in your house, or in your car, or on your computer. You paid money for the same Eagles tunes? Then the experience had better work flawlessly the first time, and every time thereafter.

Cost
OK, so we have a fancy distribution system. What do we charge for it, or for the devices? The answer is: zero to very little. For starters, to convince people to start using this stuff, you need to open up some back catalogs of music plus some parts of new releases and distribute them through this system for free. That’s right – zero, nada. You need to convince people this is a better way to get music, and the way to tear them off of their computers and into your system is to entice them with golden oldies and new hits for dirt cheap rates. Add some social networking and targeting for those inclined, and you start to attract people who would otherwise not be interested. Give away some devices, and sell some other ones at cost. Do some advertising. Most importantly, get people to try the system out.

When the system catches on, sell some devices or some services for additional fees. But those are add-ons: the basic experience needs to have a very low barrier to entry, and needs to have an immediate payback. What you’re looking for here is a “wow” as soon as someone plugs in. You get that when you realize what you can download from the ‘Net. You need even more of that when you plug in to this system. Lots more.

Upsell
OK, so you have a fancy distribution system and you’ve convinced people to jump on it. Maybe they’ve hooked their phones up to it. Or maybe they’ve paid a bit to get a set-top device for their TVs or stereos. They’re jamming to some tunes and they really like it. What’s next? Upsell them.

People dig music. But the audio itself is not the end-all of your industry, or at least shouldn’t be. Imagine giving away some tracks from an artist, but then selling an entire album and offering some sweet artwork or videos or preview songs to go along with it. Again, instantly available, high quality, and works right out of the box. Or, imagine selling a new box set of a popular artist, and offering one free concert ticket to the next local showing of that artist along with it. What about offering subscriptions to artists’ “portions” of this service (or web sites, if you’re thinking conventionally) where they can interact with artists and have conversations with fellow fans, if they pay a bit up-front (or monthly) along with their free music? How about selling some new tunes from an artist well before they hit the mainstream, at a small price? How about holding a remix contest where people download the mix components and the winner of the popular vote gets some free goods from the artist? And, finally, how about some ad-supported music for those who truly want to spend nothing and are willing to listen to some jingles to get that?

Music is so much more than just audio. Clothing, videos, concerts, communities, remixes, collectors’ items. I could go on. The point is: get people hooked on the music for next to nothing, and then charge them for stuff they really want on top.

In other words, give them what they want, and sell them what they don’t know yet they need.

Know your customer
There are many different types of music buyers and listeners out there. You have everything from the poor college student who’s tech-savvy and wants to listen to some new music on his or her portable music device. You have the serious collector who enjoys amassing and showing off a library and pays for high quality recordings. You have people who are casual listeners of music and want something “in the background” when they workout or when they have people over. You have kids who want entertainment and education (or at least that’s what their parents want).

The music industry needs to appeal to each of these types of consumers, and needs to mold their service and their upsells to each user. Yes, that means for some customers you continue to sell hardcopy albums with beautiful artwork and display cases. And yes, that also means you offer high quality digital-only downloads and digitized album art for others. The point is, a common service that is unified, cross-device, targeted, and wonderfully easy to use should be the common thread across all of these types of music listeners. You just tweak the offering and the experience for the specific type of customer.

But, but…
I know, I can hear you saying this already. Let me anticipate a few arguments off the bat. We can have more in the comments section of this post.

But people will take the music they buy and share it with others.
Well, yes, they could. The system could prevent this by using DRM. But that would be suicide. Instead, why not make the service so brain-dead compelling that people don’t want to go to the hassle of copying content out of a device or the service and sharing it with their friends? “Wow, I just listened to (or bought) some music and it’s available everywhere I am, instantly!” Why would you go back to downloading after that? And, keep in mind, the upsell is where the money is, and the upsell shouldn’t be on the audio itself (which is the easiest to copy).

But this network of devices and this service you’re describing sounds expensive and hard to setup.
It could be, yes. I think the reality is the music industry has to setup some new infrastructure to drive this experience. That said, there are existing networks (cable, mobile, Internet) that could be tapped to offset some of the upfront costs. But, I agree, what I’m describing below isn’t cheap. But you can’t go cheap if you’re trying to reinvent yourself.

But you can’t make up the money in lost CD sales by upselling people to stuff alone.
Yes and no. If all you do is sell them a t-shirt along with some tracks, then yes, I agree. But the point here is that you have to reinvent the pricing as well as the products. There are so many dimensions to sell people on, including quality of music (super high quality, better than CD, surround), availability and timing (early releases, re-releases of “lost” stuff), scarcity (limited number of audio or products), interactivity (remixes, community, chats and forums), and so on. Each of these dimensions can be exercised, and I believe each can generate revenue that isn’t being generated today, simply because the distribution and the service haven’t been there to help people find, spend, and consume.

But people are stealing music!
This is the mindset that the music industry has to break free from. Imagine, your customers are so into your product that they’re willing to manually scour web sites and networks, wait lots of time to download, transfer the music to devices, just so they can listen to them. Now imagine if you built a great service that had all the music they could ever want and was light-years easier to use, and had a low-to-zero entry fee. Why wouldn’t they start using it?

Conclusion
I’m envious of the music industry. They have a product that I believe most of the human beings on this planet desire, and that is music. I’m also envious of their opportunity to build and deliver on a truly great service to let people consume what they want, where they want it. I’m also quite sad that this hasn’t happened yet, and it doesn’t look like the industry is interested in making it happen.

Admittedly the above is one view of how the industry could save itself. You may disagree on its viability or value. But I think most of us would agree with this: the industry has to make some changes now, or else artists and consumers will continue to be left to their own devices.

Photo: Yarn

2008-06-22T23:53:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, you encounter art that captures you.

Sometimes, an image just calls out and catches your attention.

And then, sometimes, you look over and see some big balls of yarn on the ends of poles and go, "Um...hmm?".

Microspotting Shows Microsofties Have Depth

2008-06-19T13:39:00.001-07:00

Microsoft is a faceless empire, and its people are nodes in a borg cube. Right? Not so fast. We're all people, with passion about software but also about other things in life.

Microspotting is a blog that profiles real Microsoft employees and shows that in fact they're not faceless drones, but interesting and well-rounded individuals. Don't believe me? Check out some of the profiles on the site.

And, hey, watch for me and a (hopefully) new t-shirt to help advertise the site on my chest.

Review: California Dreamin' (Endless) (SIFF 2008)

2008-06-01T14:50:00.000-07:00

California Dreamin' is a story of a culture clash, a colonial vs. native conflict that evokes humor among the bitter pain of the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia.

The story begins when a train full of American NATO soldiers carrying weapons gets stopped by a station agent in a small Romanian town. The agent claims he needs to see the appropriate customs papers to let the train pass. Neither the American Captain Jones on the train, nor his Romanian soldier counterparts, have such papers. The agent smugly shrugs his shoulders and offers an ultimatum: either they produce papers, or they don't pass.

So begins the slow acclimation of the NATO soldiers into Romanian village life, politics and all. At first, the NATO soldiers and Captain try to push back against what they see as podunk hillbillies. But soon, they realize that because of its remoteness, the village politics seem to win out over any will of theirs or any external help they may be trying to wrangle.

Soon, the NATO soldiers start intermingling with the locals, flirting with the women, drinking with the men, and partying thanks to the mayor's re-introduction of the village's anniversary celebration (despite the fact they had one just last month). And, as you watch the soldiers start to relate and empathize with the locals, you watch their will to leave trickle away.

One of the most delightful aspects of this movie is the candid way in which the actors and scenes are presented. All the major characters play their roles in an effortless, "I've lived this life for 10 years" sort of way. And the humor is mixed in at measured doses, never delving into camp or melodrama, and always keeping an eye at the painful backdrop of the historical setting of the movie.

Sadly, the director of the film, Cristian Nemescu, passed away before the completion of the movie. The only thing you really notice as a result of this is the film's length: at 2 hours and 30 minutes, it could have been edited down a bit more. But I respect the fact the producers left the film as is instead of wanting to finish editing it, and the film doesn't suffer at all because of this.

Overall rating: 8.5/10.0

Details:
Runtime: 155m
Country: Romania
Languages: Romanian, English, Spanish, Italian

Review: Continental, A Film Without Guns (SIFF 2008)

2008-05-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

It's night. An insurance salesman is riding the bus home. The bus arrives at a deserted stop, and he's the only one left on the bus. He gets out of the bus, stares out into the dark, and wanders off the road and into the forest.

So begins Continental, a film about death. But there's no funerals and caskets in this movie. Instead, the film portrays a set of characters, each experiencing their own version of death as part of changes happening in life, and shows how each character's story casually intertwines with others.

Take the wife of the aforementioned insurance salesman, dealing with the loss of her husband and an apathetic police force who suspects he ran off with a mistress. Or, take the guy who replaces the aforementioned salesman and is dealing with a shaky marriage while he lives out of a hotel room. Or, consider the shop owner with medical problems who's dealing with a gambling problem and trying to raise money for surgery. In each case, we have a death of some part of a character's life (husband, marriage, health) and we witness their struggle to deal with it.

But Continental isn't all doom and gloom. Surprisingly, it makes one laugh much more often than it makes one lament. There are several awkward situations that the characters are placed in that makes the audience first sigh, then snicker, and finally all-out laugh at the restrained reactions of the characters. This black-comedy approach balances the otherwise dark material that the film deals with, and thankfully so.

The acting of the film is spot-on. The pacing is a bit slow, but as long as you're in a casual, calm mood entering the film, the pacing combined with the musical overlays on some beautiful long landscape shots will leave you some breathing room and some time to ponder what's going on. Continental isn't a movie you'll talk about for years on end, but it does a decent job of making you care about the characters and their problems. And, the scenes of comic relief give you several chuckles to take home with you.

Overall rating: 6.5/10.0

Details:
Runtime: 103m
Countries: Canada
Languages: French / English

AmazonFresh Won't Deliver To Its Own Backyard

2008-05-25T16:17:00.001-07:00

People at work were talking about AmazonFresh, Amazon's grocery delivery service that serves the Seattle area. I browsed their site, was impressed with their selection and their delivery options (pre-dawn delivery by 6am? Awesome!), and wanted to give them a try.

Trouble is, they won't deliver to our house.

Now, of course, they can't deliver everywhere. But we're pretty centrally located: we can walk to the I District, and bike to downtown and the ball fields. And get this: we live in proximity to the Amazon building. You know, the big PacMed building on Beacon Hill? Yeah, we can see it from our street.

Come on, Amazon, we know you can't deliver everywhere. But how come you deliver to West Seattle now, and can't deliver to folks living in your own backyard?

SIFF 2008

2008-05-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

It's time once again for the Seattle International Film Festival. We've picked out 10 movies to watch. As always, I'll post reviews. And, as always, I'll point at the irony of Seattleites crowding into dark theaters to watch movies just about the time the weather's getting nice.

Mega Unhealthy Milk Shake

2008-05-19T23:45:00.000-07:00

There's junk food. And then, there's mega-insanely-unhealthy junk food. Exhibit A: The Baskin-Robbins Heath Bar Shake.

That's right:

2310 calories
100 grams of fat
1560 grams of sodium
dozens of processed and synthesized ingredients

Seriously, why is there not a Surgeon General sticker on this thing?

Heat Wave Is Coming

2008-05-14T13:47:00.001-07:00

Normally I would not be excited about a heat wave, but given this is for an otherwise cloudy Seattle Spring season, and "heat wave" translates to mid-80s, I'm very excited that warm weather is coming! Steven posted about the details and probabilities of what we may see on this blog.

Nine Inch Nails Does Something Great

2008-05-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

A few days ago Nine Inch Nails released their latest album on the 'net. For free. The album itself isn't their absolute best work (solid, though). The key here is the distribution and pricing.

If you're a current fan, you'll probably download and listen to the album, taking note that NiN offered it to you for free.
If you're a former fan, you'll probably consider listening to it, since it's free.
If you're not a fan, you may consider listening to it to see if you like it, again since it's free.

The point? If you like what you listen to, I believe you'll be more likely to purchase NiN music in the future (or fill your collection with their back catalog). If not, you walk away with only a small time investment.

I think this move will both build the NiN fanbase and earn them more cash to boot. All by doing what musicians have been doing for ages: creating music for the enjoyment of others.

Lunchbox Laboratory Is Where Your Meat-Eating Dreams Will Come True

2008-05-04T16:29:00.001-07:00

You know those ideas that come up when you're sitting around with friends while drinking, and pretty soon people are coming up with more and more outlandish things to pile on top of the original idea? For example,

"Hey, wouldn't it be cool if we opened a burger joint? One that specialized in burgers and went all out?"
"Yeah! But not just beef. Buffalo, pork..."
"...and duck! Maybe duck-pork?"
"And what if we served cool sides like tater tots, and milkshakes in lab beakers?"

"Yeah!" everyone would shout, take a swig of their drinks, and move on to other ideas.

Well, Lunchbox Laboratory to me is one of these outlandish, yet wonderful, ideas come to life. Run by Chef Scott Simpson of Fork fame, who's been through a lot in the past several months, this place is a burger joint to end all burger joints.

The basic gist is this: you pick a meat (beef, duck-pork, buffalo, among others) and a sauce (simple like ketchup to fancy like an aioli), and then add extras (cheese, bacon, olives). Tack on a side if you wish (tots, fries, topped with interesting things like bacon salt). Don't forget the milkshakes. While you wait, find a seat on a bench or chair and study all of the quirky Americana antiques on the wall, including the lunchboxes under the counter. In a few minutes, you get a giant, steaming burger, fries, and thick shake at your glass-top table. Dig in, and throw your granola-flax conscience out of the window for a glorious respite of meat-eating fun.

One word of caution: the burgers are large. Quite large. We ordered two, plus a side of fries and one shake, and were stuffed. Light eaters may wish to split one burger.

Lunchbox Laboratory will be even better as the weather improves in Seattle. While seating is limited inside the small building, they have several seats outside that will eventually be great to take in the summer weather, sip a cold soda, and bite into a juicy burger.

Photo: Smallpipes

2008-03-30T14:34:00.000-07:00

I was practicing my smallpipes a couple of weeks ago, in prep for a St. Patrick's Day Ceilidh, and decided a good picture could be had.

Photo: Watson Staring

2008-03-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

So we've started taking pictures with our new digital SLR camera. We're still learning, but the sheer quality of these photos compared to the point-and-shoot variety are great.

I'll be posting a subset of the pics I share on Flickr. Here's one of Watson, one of our cats, looking kind of miffed, perhaps because we're giving a treat to one of our other cats and not him?

Fidelity Magellan? No Thanks.

2008-03-20T23:42:00.000-07:00

I just saw an advertisement in the New Yorker that Fidelity's Magellan stock fund is opening up to new investors again. Magellan is an old actively-managed stock fund that likes to tout it's above-average returns, and push an air of exclusivity due to it being closed to new investors for some time.

But is it truly an above-average fund? If you look at the return on your investment if you had invested in Magellan around seven years ago, it would be down about 27%. If you had taken the same money and put it in an index fund that tracked the S&P 500, you'd be up 15%.

No thanks, Fidelity. I'll stick to indexing.

In The World Of Vodka, Image Apparently Trumps Taste

2008-03-18T09:28:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of vodkas out there. Some are cheap and come in plastic bottles. Others are fancy and have frosted glass and artwork peeking through the inside of the bottle. So which one's the best? And are expensive vodkas somehow better than moderately priced ones?

David Kiley wrote up an article in BusinessWeek recently, exploring that same question. He did an informal, unscientific taste test with loyal brand drinkers, and asked them to pick out their brand. The result? People couldn't tell which vodka was which, despite their loyalty to a given brand.

I buy that some vodkas burn and taste weird, and others are milder and taste purer. But after you get past the purity and mildness bar, does it matter what material is used to ferment and distill the vodka, or how pretty the bottle is, or what the story is behind the vodka? I'm thinking not so much. I don't have a super-sensitive palette, nor do I drink the stuff straight, so why bother with the premium?

Happy Pi Day

2008-03-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Pi Day. For the non-nerds, this is the day whose month and date correspond to the first few digits of Pi (3.14 -> 3/14).

Working in a somewhat nerdy environs, someone suggested we celebrate this day yesterday. Off this person went to get 3.14 pies. Arriving at a grocery store, this person inquires about pies. "Sorry, we're out, but we're baking some more that should be ready soon," the bakery people say. Apparently, lots of people had the same idea we did. Still, pies were eventually had.

Further proof as to the fact that we have a relatively high nerdy population at work, a population in which I count myself.

The $40 mark

2008-03-04T10:57:00.000-08:00

Last week, I spent just over $40 to fill up about 11 gallons of gasoline in my car. $40 is very close to $36 or $38, but it caused a psychological reaction for me.

"Wow, $40? I remember when SUVs paid that, and I paid more like $15 or $20."

This will definitely make me take the bus more. But what's sad is:

I can take the bus more. Not everyone has good (or even passable) public transit, and has to commute by car.
Of those that have to commute by car, not everyone can really afford gas at these levels.

How do we support people who fall into the above description, while continuing to incent people like me to drive less and bus more?

Another Reason Why I Don't Eat Beef

2008-02-18T19:41:00.000-08:00

There was one reason a while ago. Now there's another.

Yes, this is just a fraction of the annual US beef production. But I believe there are many more cases of tainted beef that go unreported.

Caucus 2008

2008-02-09T15:10:00.000-08:00

It was my first time caucusing, so I didn't know what to expect. Overall, things went smoothly. Here's a play by play:

Showed up at the nick of time (1:30 pm), though they were fairly lenient about when people could sign in (5-10 minutes even after that deadline).
They put 4 precincts in this little middle school library. It was hard to hear each precinct head describe the rules as they talked over each other.
There were 120 voters in our precinct, and 9 local delegates. Originally that came out to 6-2-1 Obama, Clinton, and undecided.
Then, people could change their votes - a few did, most didn't.
We then split up into our representative groups (Obama supporters, Clinton supporters, undecided supporters) and hung around for a bit.
Then, it was announced that it was 7-2 Obama, Clinton. Apparently, enough undecideds voters got off the fence.
We then elected people from our group to go to the county convention. 7 primary and 7 alternate delegates. We had a couple more than 7 primary, so people just volunteered to be alternates instead.
Then, we split.

It took about an hour overall once things got rolling. Kind of a neat way of doing it, given the community nature and the "we elect our delegates" part of it.

Second Life And Changing The Rules Of Capitalism

2008-02-02T17:30:00.000-08:00

If you're not familiar with Second Life, the Wikipedia article will get you up to speed. In a nutshell, it's a virtual world where you can build an avatar (virtual character) and interact in the world, including socializing, buying property, doing business, and the like.

A weird pastime, you may initially think. But Second Life has another side to it. Consider that Second Life manages its own economy and resources. For example:

Second Life has its own currency, the Linden Dollar.
Second Life controls who can purchase land, including property taxation for the land.
Second Life also controls how much land there exists for sale, and the quality of the real estate (Private Estates).
Second Life controls what activities can or cannot go on in the virtual world, including gambling, pornography, and banking.

Sounds like a pretty totalitarian system, right? A "government" of sorts (Linden Labs) controlling most every aspect of life for its virtual residents. Now, imagine if Second Life breaks out of the fringes and into the true mainstream. As in, imagine if everyone you knew spent at least 30-60 minutes a day in Second Life. Now, imagine one company being the gatekeeper to all activities in this virtual world. Even more so, imagine one company being in control what is even virtually possible in this world. What would happen, or could happen, here?

Let's take an example: in the real world, if I have the resources and the labor, I can make cuckoo clocks and sell them in my shop. My shop is limited to whether I can have a license to open it, and the rent to lease it, and the staff to run it, and my clocks are limited by how much time my laborers and I have to put into the clocks, our wood and metal resources, and our skills. Fortunately our government lets us open a shop and sell our wares, since cuckoo clocks are legal, and fortunately there is a market for them (however niche).

Now, let's imagine this same example in Second Life. You may say, "Wow! Think of all the people you can reach with your products in this world!". Well, first of all, opening a shop is limited by whether I can lease or own the virtual property in order to present my storefront in the world. Who decides that? Second Life. Next, I need resources to produce cuckoo clocks. Who provides the resources (in this case, 3D graphic modeling and interaction modeling)? Second Life. Now, I need some people to help me make these clocks. Where do I find them? Second Life (although technically you can model outside of the world, chances are you want someone familiar with the world to build stuff for the world).

What if the modeling tools aren't up to snuff? What if I can't secure a good property? What if all of a sudden a prime location for my store becomes not so prime because of land being created and removed around it? What if the currency exchange rate suddenly changes? In essence, building and selling cuckoo clocks in Second Life is equivalent to doing business in a world where all rules are subject to be changed or broken, including the laws of physics.

Now, you may be thinking, "Ah, but it's not in the interest of Second Life to tick off its users." To some extent, I agree. But I'm sure Second Life will follow the money here, just like the real world: if a big company comes in and says, "Hey, I want to build a giant new store here and I want to advertise it with a big floating airship that you can't avoid seeing anytime, day or night," this is much easier to do in a virtual world than a physical one (no need for fuel, or a physical arsenal of airships, or figuring out how to be truly everywhere in the sky at the same time). I believe, for the right price, Second Life would comply with such requests.

Yes, there is a market of attention here, and people may choose to gravitate away from Second Life if they go too far. But a world (virtual or physical) where the rules can be so easily re-written is not a world that I would feel safe conducting myself in, or doing business in.

Will It Snow?

2008-01-28T15:37:00.000-08:00

As you may know, it snowed some in Seattle last night and this morning. Enough to close some schools, but not too much to impact my commute, albeit enough for me to take the bus instead of driving.

The question is: will it snow more tomorrow? Steven over at The Weather Vortex has written up a detailed post as to the chance of it snowing more tonight and tomorrow in Seattle. Looks like it all depends on how cold it gets.

Drive Slowly Through Arizona, And Affect The State Budget

2008-01-20T10:29:00.000-08:00

Apparently Arizona is banking on speedy drivers to fill the state coffers. The state anticipates $120 million in speeding ticket revenue to come in via a new camera-based speeding ticket system.

OK, so it's a fraction of the budget, indeed. But if you're facing a $1.2 billion shortfall, shouldn't you be focusing on ways to impact that deficit in more significant ways?

Wait, isn't Dr. Weil from Arizona? Can't he sponsor some national "come to Arizona and I'll make you healthy and let you touch my beard" event to raise some cash?

Knitting

2008-01-17T23:43:00.000-08:00

OK, confession time: I've started to knit.

Here's the deal: my wife knits, and has so for the past couple of years. She's really into it, as are several of our friends. We host a weekly stitch n' bitch night where people come over, knit, and chat. Oh, and someone bakes a yummy dessert to share.

Now, typically I've been the "bitch n' dessert" person of the group. Meaning, I don't stitch; I just chat and eat the dessert. This has proven to be a good plan to date.

Until recently. You see, my friend Bryan picked up knitting. And he's now totally done with an entire scarf. In an unhealthily short amount of time. In other words, Bryan is kicking my knitting butt, even though I'm not even knitting.

Well, you can't play the game if you don't play the game, right? Yep, so now I'm knitting too. And yes, when you make it competitive, most guys jump in headfirst.

But I joke: it's not about competing with Bryan. Knitting's kinda neat: you can make practical stuff you can wear, like hats and scarves, which are especially useful in the colder winter months
here in Seattle. Oh, and I hear you can make beer cozies too.

See? Knitting is all about staying warm and drinking beer. What's not to love?

Bacon + Chocolate = Pretty Good

2008-01-10T20:56:00.000-08:00

So you may recall me blogging about Vosges's Bacon Chocolate Bar. Well, my wife bought me some for the holidays as a stocking stuffer. And, naturally, we tried it just as soon as I pulled it out of the sock.

Here's the play-by-play:

Smell: more or less like regular chocolate. Maybe a hint of smokiness?
First taste: pronounced milk chocolate flavor. Smooth, well-tempered.
As it melts: bacon taste and saltiness start to build.
Some mild chewing later: more bacon, mixed with chocolate.
After a swallow: lingering smoky, salty taste in the mouth.

Sound weird? Well, you kinda have to like bacon, and be OK with mixing sweet and savory together, to enjoy this bar. Both of us like bacon, so we enjoyed this chocolate. We let my sister and brother-in-law try it over the holidays, and they didn't care for it so much. Your mileage may indeed vary.

Just Call Me Mayor George

2008-01-03T00:13:00.000-08:00

Hey, look: I have a city. It is Zorbaville. It's in Greece.

You should pay it a visit and help it grow.

That is all.

Like A 3 Year Old On Drugs

2007-12-30T10:20:00.000-08:00

Meet Gus.

Gus is our new kitten.

Gus is the most hyper thing we've put into our house to date. He has more energy than the two of us + our two other cats put together. Plus, he's a bit nuts.

Example:

Here's Gus in the sink, fearless of water, ready to pounce on a towel.

Need I say more?

Steven's Weather Vortex

2007-12-24T11:59:00.000-08:00

Want to read more about weather in Seattle, and weather events around the globe? Don't trust the likes of TV weathermen like Jeff Renner? Head on over to Steven's Weather Vortex.

Seriously, Steven knows his stuff. So much so that he's getting a PhD in it. Subscribe and get the low down on weather.

I Will Build An Airplane First Before Flying Delta Again

2007-12-08T09:56:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving we chose to travel back east, both for doing the family get-together but also to celebrate our niece's first birthday. We flew Seattle -> Atlanta -> Chattanooga, because it ended up being cheaper than a direct ATL flight (and Chattanooga put us closer to our destination).

The flight there was fine. On the way back, the adventure began. Here's the story, in four acts.

Act 1 - "But I can drive myself!"

We're getting ready to head back to the Chattanooga airport on Sunday. I check the flight status of the Chattanooga -> Atlanta leg, and it's getting more and more delayed, and we're worried about missing our Atlanta -> Seattle flight. So we call Delta and ask whether we can just drive ourselves down to Atlanta and take the second flight. "Yes," the answer was, "if you're OK paying $130 a person on top of your ticket price." Reason: the SEA <-> ATL direct flight is more expensive than the one that adds the Chattanooga leg. "Switching" to a direct flight would cost more (even though we'd be in the air less time and driving ourselves down to Atlanta, and even though we had confirmed seats on the Atlanta flight).

On principle we decided to not do this, and instead drove up to Chattanooga.

Act 2 - "Where's the plane?"

We arrive in Chattanooga, check in, go through security, and then wait at the gate. No plane was at the gate when we arrived. 5 minutes later, we hear the following announcement: "OK, folks, sorry to inform you, but the flight to Atlanta has been canceled." Reason: weather issues down in Atlanta (rain, fog).

So, we go back to the ticketing agent in Chattanooga. They have some trouble getting us seats on a Delta flight back to Atlanta the next day, so we say "what about other carriers?", aware of Rule 240. Soon, we get a 2-leg, 2-carrier flight out of Atlanta, leaving in the afternoon: Delta from ATL -> Dallas, and then American from Dallas to Seattle.

We get a confirmation number for the Delta flight. "What about boarding passes for the American flight?" I ask. The ticketing agent told me to not worry, and to check in at the American gate when I got to Dallas.

Delta then proceeds to pay a taxi cab $250 a person to drive us to Atlanta, where upon
we get picked up by family and stay the night. Yes, that's $500 to get us to Atlanta, when we could have driven ourselves.

I call Delta on Sunday night again, just to make sure about the Dallas check-in. The person on the phone assures me that we'll get boarding passes for the ATL->Dallas leg, and then American will issue us boarding passes for the second leg when we're in Dallas.

Act 3 - "Where are our seats?"

The next morning, I call American just to make sure things are peachy. American indeed finds our names on the flight from Dallas to Seattle, but doesn't have seats for us. "Wait," I said, "2 people at Delta told me I did!" Nope, sorry, the flight is overbooked. At best, we're standby. They tell us to call Delta.

We call Delta, and the Re-Issue desk guy tells me that we never got confirmed on the American flight. Reason: Delta and American don't have linked computer systems. While the ticketing agent may have been showing free seats on the American flight, she should have actually picked up the phone and called American and gotten a confirmation, as this Re-Issue guy was trying to do for us now.

However, there were literally no free seats in the air on any carrier, at any time, through any city for Monday. The earliest he could do for us was a Tuesday 7 AM departure from Atlanta, with a 25 minute layover in Salt Lake City. We grudgingly agree.

Act 4 - "Racing to the gate"

The 7AM flight left without a hitch. We ask the flight attendant whether we can get off the plane first, given the very short connection. She declines, saying "Oh, we'll get to the airport early." Turns out that we don't, and we get off near the end of the line of passengers. We run through the airport to make our connection. Fortunately Salt Lake is a small airport and we make it in time.

And, finally, we arrive in Seattle, 36 hours later than initially planned.

Epilogue

Now, the first problem was weather-related. Can't help that. What sucks about Delta is four-fold:
- They couldn't use common sense about letting us drive ourselves to Atlanta, instead trying to milk us for the higher direct flight cost.
- They ended up paying more for us to get taxied down to Atlanta on their dime.
- They didn't reserve our initial re-issue seats on a different airline, like they said they would, and like we asked multiple times.
- They didn't even have the courtesy to let us get off the plane first so we could make our short connection, which was due to their error in the first place.

The final kicker: I asked for some form of compensation for their error. The result: $50 vouchers for a future Delta flight. 50 bucks. That's it.

I'm frankly shocked at the incompetency and low level of customer service I received from Delta. I'm not surprised at all now that they're bankrupt. Their practices are antagonistic to customers, and it's hurting them in the end. If this is how they treat all of their customers in our situation, I don't understand how they're still in business.

See you, Delta. It hasn't been nice.

No More Glamazonia?

2007-11-20T10:13:00.001-08:00

In case you haven't heard the news, Glamazonia will no longer be hosting Gay Bingo. Slog post is here, and Lifelong AIDS Alliance's response is here. If you've never been to Gay Bingo, let's say it's a 21+ fundraiser for LLAA, complete with bingo, booze, food, and an entertaining drag queen as the host.

Successful fund raiser? You bet: they consistently sold out, and attracted a diverse audience (gay and straight) willing to shell out money for entertainment and a good cause. But now, with no more Glamazonia, the appeal of the show is being questioned.

Here's a letter I sent to the LLAA in response. Tongue-in-cheek and sarcasm-filled, of course.

David and the Gay Bingo staff,

I recently heard a rumor that Glamazonia was dropped from LLAA and Gay Bingo. I rushed over to your web site to see if the rumor was true, and sure enough, I found your post on the matter.

What great news! I wholeheartedly support your move to drop Glam from LLAA. You see, my kids (Filbert, 5, and Seamonkey, 9) and I love Gay Bingo. We go every chance we get, sitting up front at a queens table, enjoying the sights and the sounds, dressing up in costumes appropriate for the theme, and relishing in the BINGO, of course! My kids love the pizza, and I enjoy the drinks (I can have one now and again, my support group says). But every time that tall, built Glamazonia comes out, my kids start freaking out, crying and screaming.

"Who is that?" they ask me. "Why is she saying what she's saying? Why am I being forced to listen to such harassing language?" (yeah, they're pretty precocious with their vocabulary). I try to calm them down, explaining to them that Glamazonia is just another one of God's creatures, and to remember that not everyone shares the same Puritanical values that our Mayflower ancestors did. But it doesn't quiet them down one bit. Sometimes I'm forced to give them a sip of my Long Island Iced Tea to keep them quiet and let the other people at my table enjoy the show. An outrage, that Glamazonia's actions drove me to that!

From the beginning, Gay Bingo has been one of those wholesome family events that kids and parents alike could enjoy together. Like the Zoo events at Woodland Park, or the Village Children's Center down near the Space Needle, or the Krazy Klowns Horror Freak Ride Show 2000 (that's still around, right?), Gay Bingo has been the place to enjoy some safe, G-rated fun with kids and "kids at heart". When Glamazonia took the helm, however, things went downhill. I couldn't believe the stuff she was exposing my innocent kids' virgin ears to. And her language! Gosh-diddly! Often, my kids have to run to the safe clutches of one of those nuns, the Sisters of…oh, you know, those saintly women. I thought those nuns would keep Glamazonia in line, what with their religious, cloistered upbringing. But I guess Glam was just there to do whatever the heck she wanted.

Thanks again for dropping Glam. I assume now you're in the market for another host. May I suggest Casey Treat? He's great with groups, and he could even add some group prayer to the event!

Another (Graphical) Reason To Quit Smoking

2007-11-19T12:13:00.000-08:00

I don't smoke. In case you do, and you need some more motivation on why you should quit, check out a video of the amount of tar distilled from two packs of cigarettes. Now, think about that stuff in your lungs. Yummy.

Death To Polystyrene

2007-11-18T11:04:00.000-08:00

We recently bought a bed from Crate & Barrel. We had the bed delivered last Friday, and it came in two boxes. Assembly was easy (no IKEA-like lengthy error-prone manuals). And the bed, plus mattress and foam topper, is quite comfy.

So why am I miffed at C&B? Because those two boxes the bed came in were filled to the brim with polystyrene foam (Styrofoam, in other words). 5+ bags of it, when broken down into manageable chunks. And, our recycling won't accept polystyrene (which I can only assume is the norm for most cities and municipalities).

This seriously put a dent in my opinion of C&B and how "with it" they are in terms of eco-friendliness. And yes, that's becoming increasingly important to me, as I think it should everyone on this planet.

Welcome to the 21st century, Crate & Barrel. May I direct you to some alternative packaging options that can be recycled, in place of polystyrene?

Orange Savings Account Is Far From The Best APY

2007-11-09T17:29:00.001-08:00

I've seen a rapid increase in the amount of TV advertisements that ING Direct has been sponsoring. They pitch their Orange Savings Account, which has an APY of 4.20% (as of this writing).

Now 4.2% is a great APY considering what your corner bank typically offers. But it's far from the best.

Bankrate.com has a nice list of high-yield savings and money market accounts, and they show over 40 offerings that are better than ING's, many of those with no min balance, no fees, and low or no minimum to open.

Why not spend some of that TV budget returning more interest to your account holders, ING? You've got about 4 dozen horses ahead of you right now.

The Cost Of Driving

2007-11-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

About $3.60 for a gallon of (premium) gas*.
About a gallon to commute to and from work.
About 240 workdays a year (excluding holidays and vacation)

That adds up to over $850 a year.

I need to take the bus more often.

*My car calls for it. I'd do the cheap stuff otherwise.

Stop The Political Telemarketing!

2007-11-04T11:03:00.000-08:00

This weekend, my phone has been ringing off the hook. You'd think I was featured on some TV show, and people are calling to comment on the smashing shirt that I wore or something. No. Instead, people who are paid by political campaigns to call registered voters have been calling me, urging me to vote for their candidate.

Now, the interruptions are bad enough, but what's worse is half of these calls are recordings. They're not even willing to sit a real human on the other end of the line, but instead want me to listen to a computer spouting a recorded message of support from a local public figure.

Next time someone calls, I'm going to inform them that I am seriously considering voting against the candidate who they are trying to get me to vote for. I know, I know, "you have to play the game" politically, and if you don't make these calls and your competition does, then what?

I'll tell you what: how about your platform & promises be enough to carry you through an election, instead of relying on last-minute "please please vote for me!" calls?

And the reward for this election season being over next Tuesday? The run-up to the 2008 elections, of course, and the never-ending rhetoric, ads, and mud-slinging that will accompany them. I feel like I'm already done with those elections, and they're still a year away.

Seattle Voting Guide: The Name Game

2007-10-30T22:16:00.000-07:00

OK, so it's time to elect some more people to office. In the past, we've done a picture-only analysis and a web site analysis. This time, we'll go for names. That's right: word association, word roots, or other gut reactions to people's names. Hey, from a guy who gets his last name mispronounced most of the time, I can relate.

King County Prosecuting Attorney
Bill Sherman. Hmm...Sherman. Hey, wasn't that some sort of general guy? Wow, that's pretty cool. Satterberg? Sorry, doesn't ring a bell.

Name Game vote: Bill Sherman

King County Assessor
What? Noble vs. Nobles? That's way too close! Can't...compute...difference.

Name Game vote: write-in "Noble(s)"

King County Council District #6
Pope is very holy. But Hague sounds like Hogue, the winery. Redemption vs. sin. Well, that's easy.

Name Game vote: Jane Hague

King County Council District #8
Constantine. Hey, that sounds like the namesake of Constantinople (no, not Istanbul). Cool. Potter, while reminiscent of the fantasy series' hero, doesn't do it for me. Wizardry teens vs. a friggin historical anchor and capital of three empires? Try to Patronus that one.

Name Game vote: Dow Constantine

Port Commissioner Position #2
Tarleton is kinda wacky, while Edwards is boring. Wow, this is a tough one. Neither really ring a bell... OK, Wikipedia for the tie-breaker. Whoa, check out that depiction of Banastre Tarleton! What a great headpiece!

Name Game vote: Gael Tarleton

Port Commissioner Position #5
Fisken? That sounds kind of imposing and sly, doesn't it? Like, "He's going to fisken you, watch out." Bryant sounds pretty safe. Plus, they make heating and cooling systems. Who doesn't want a cozy home, after all?

Name Game vote: Bill Bryant

Seattle City Council Position #1
Godden. That sounds quite Supreme Being doesn't it? But Szwaja! Whoa, look at that consonant-to-vowel ratio!

Name Game vote: Joe Szwaja

Seattle City Council Position #3
Harrell. Boring. Velázquez. Exotic!

Name Game vote: Venus Velázquez

Seattle City Council Position #7
Della. Hey, isn't that an actor? Cool. But Burgess, it means elected official! He's practically made for the job!

Name Game vote: Tim Burgess

Seattle City Council Position #9
Clark. Like Clark Howard, consumer advocate! Fenton? As in, the funeral home? No thanks.

Name Game vote: Sally Clark

Remember: vote early, vote often!

How Much Did You Pay For Radiohead's New Album?

2007-10-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

You first.

Update: Looks like most people paid $0.00.

Scupltures Of Naked People Are Not The Best Political Platform

2007-10-17T23:29:00.000-07:00

Meet Judy Fenton. Judy is running for a seat on the Seattle City Council. OK, Judy, welcome to the race!

But wait, let's see what Judy stands for. From her site:

PUBLIC ART: Parents and teachers work hard to instill safe boundaries for our children, the precious next generation. Public art must not blur and confuse those boundaries!

Hmm...what does that mean? A Seattle Weekly article sheds some light:

Specifically, Fenton is concerned about the fountain at the base of the Olympic Sculpture Park that depicts a man and a boy standing naked facing each other. "We spend a lot of heartfelt time and effort teaching our children boundaries and guidelines, telling them if somebody touches us in ways that aren't appropriate what they should do," Fenton explains. "If somebody sees that statue, it will undo that and confuse them."

...

Ok, Judy, seriously? A statue of a naked man and naked boy facing each other, arms outstretched, is one of the issues you're basing your entire campaign on (and, presumably, one you think is a cornerstone issue that must be resolved in this city)? Come on. Seriously?

Ha! I get it - it's a joke, right? You really meant that you wanted to give more funding to the arts, including naked statue art. Right?

Oh crap, you're serious?

...

OK, then, I can only do one thing. I'm declaring my position on artwork for Seattle. From now on, I believe that all public art depictions of one Judy Fenton of Seattle, WA be barred from display in any public place.

The reason? You see, it scares the hootenanny out of me that someone believes these statues are a problem, and believes it is so much an issue as to run a political campaign on it. And, you see, that confuses me and undoes all the heartfelt time and effort that public art has strived to instill in me. Sorry, Judy - I just can't have that. You know, just like children can't bear to look at statues of naked people.

This Is Exactly What I Don't Want An F-18 To Be Doing

2007-10-11T01:10:00.000-07:00

Check out the first picture in this news article. Is that an F-18 flying mere feet above the surface of the San Francisco bay?

Yes, this is kind of neat, until (and I'm going to run the risk of sounding like a parent here) someone gets hurt. Furthermore, it's one thing to risk your own life. But why those people on the water? This seems beyond standard "air show risk" to me, and on into "reckless abandon".

Cupcake Royale Fall Flavors Arriving Soon

2007-10-07T01:25:00.000-07:00

Seasonal cupcake flavors are arriving soon at your nearest Cupcake Royale
. Pumpkin, Apple, and Carrot (Cake) options will make the cooler weather a bit more worth it. And, to kick things off, the Ballard shop had some baby cakes available in these flavors, to get everyone in the mood.

Do You Want 5 Gallons Of Sweet Tea With That?

2007-09-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

Someone ate a record 21 pounds of grits, winning the first World Grits Eating Championship. I like grits and all, but 21 pounds? That seems both challenging and disgusting at the same time.

I love how the article has to define what grits are. I suppose there are still some uninitiated folk out there. For the record, grits with cheese and bacon is delectable.

Greek Festival = Greek Eats

2007-09-23T11:03:00.001-07:00

This weekend was the annual St. Demetrios Greek Festival. The festival is a great chance to get together, learn about Greek culture, see some people dance and play music, and have a good time out of doors.

OK, but the real draw is the Greek food. Roast lamb sandwiches, souvlaki, gyros, and pastries of all sorts.

True to form, we started with the pastries this year as we were waiting for people to arrive. We shared a flaky, moist Kataifi and a nice Galatoboureko. After various savory dishes, we ended with some Loukoumathes and took some Melomakarona for home (so what if it isn't Christmastime?).

Every time I attend a festival, my baking aspirations wake up a bit. Then, I realize it takes a good bit of time to make all of these sweets. OK for a weekend here or there, but those tend to fill up quickly with other activities. What is an aspiring baker to do?

I know. Blog about his delight at eating Greek food yesterday, while stuffing his face with those leftover Melomakarona. Στην υγειά σας!

Wake Me When It's Sunny Again

2007-09-21T18:33:00.001-07:00

It's weird - I thought I had tabs on when the summer was over and fall set in around here in Seattle. But it feels like summer ended early this year. Consider:

It's 6:30 PM and it's cloudy and rather dark outside.
The temperature is 62 degrees right now, but the overnight low is 53.
The 10-day forecast has our highs in the 50s.

I could have sworn that in years past, it wasn't until October that we had this sort of weather. Hmm, maybe those are just wishful memories.

OK, at least we have a bounty of fall produce to look forward to, not least of which is no less than a gazillion varieties of apples. And cider. Yum!

Drinking And Dining At Smith

2007-09-11T21:05:00.000-07:00

We recently decided to eat and drink at Smith, a relatively recent (but by no means new) addition to the 15th street strip on Capitol Hill. I'd been there once before for a beer, and the menu looked interesting. This time, we were going to sample the kitchen's wares.

Decor
I describe Smith's interior as Tweedy English Hunting Club crossed with hipster. The exterior presents some dark awnings that cover large open windows and doorways. The interior is heavy in wood, and the walls are filled with taxidermied deer and fowl as well as paintings of people in regal poses. There are booths, 4-top tables, and large 14-top tables that can seat large parties or seat smaller groups communally. While the decor may be a throwback to times of old, the music is definitely caught up with the times, thanks to the modern jukebox near the entrance.

Drink
Come for the beer, stay for the liquor. Smith boasts a variety of American, British, Irish, Mexican, and Belgian brews, both on tap and in bottles. And they have a full bar, which is more broad than deep (as in, they don't have 10 single malt Scotches, but they have more than one).

Food
Here's where it gets interesting. The cuisine is full of rich dishes that seem to span the Chunnel between London and Paris. Here's what we had:

Fried duck leg. As good as it sounds. Super thick, seasoned fried batter covering a large thing and drumstick of delectable, dark duck meat. Very flavorful.
Devils on horseback. Dates stuffed with goat cheese, wrapped in what I believe was pancetta. A wonderful combination of sweet, salty, and tangy.
Beer potted cheese. A thick, creamy cheese spread accompanied with homemade cracker to spread it on.
Summer vegetables. Green and white beans, tomatoes, and peppers sauteed in an anise butter sauce.
For dessert, a very thick, rich chocolate pot du creme.

The good news is that we only sampled about a sixth of the menu. Some dishes are more adventurous (pig's feet, head cheese), while some look more familiar (pasta, pork sandwich). If what we had is any indication, Smith's kitchen is an excellent mix of wonderful flavors with a not-your-usual-pub-fare spin.

You can't ask for more than a nice atmosphere, a good beer, and great food. Add to that friendly, unpretentious, prompt service, and you've got a winner. We plan to return to Smith to enjoy more of their fare, donned in our (virtual) tweed jackets.

Buy Versus Build

2007-09-06T07:58:00.000-07:00

The last PC I owned, I built. Meaning, I separately purchases the case/motherboard/CPU, the hard drive, the RAM, the CD-ROM drive, the floppy drive, and peripherals. I got to pick the components I wanted, and I ended up saving a couple of hundred dollars over a comparable pre-built machine from the likes of Dell or HP.

It was time for a new machine. So I had to weigh the options again: buy one outright, or build one like I did before? This time, I went with buy. Frankly, I don't have the time to spend putting everything together and making it work, and there's hardly a price difference these days. If I were building a high-end gaming PC there probably would be a difference, but not so much for a mainstream PC that I'm looking for.

The inner geek in me is crying a little tear for not assembling my own PC this time around. But I'm also secretly looking forward to having a box arrive with a PC that's pretty much ready to go as soon as I pull it out.

Carmageddon Is Over

2007-08-26T19:52:00.000-07:00

That's right - this Saturday all northbound lanes of I-5 are open! The news folks need another excuse now for not reporting real news.

On that note, I should write about something more noteworthy, too. We just got back from a little camping trip out near Westport (outside of Aberdeen), on the coast, so maybe I'll write about that. After we rest up and get some grub, that is.

Things That We All Need And Want, If 11PM Television Commercials Are A Good Indicator

2007-08-24T00:13:00.000-07:00

Cars
Brand-name pharmaceuticals
Makeup
More cars
DVDs of television shows
Fruity shampoo
Trucks
Fast food
Oprah

Carmageddon, Day 9

2007-08-19T12:48:00.000-07:00

So now that section of I-5 is down to two lanes. And the result? Some slowing, of course. But no "backups to Tacoma" that we heard on the news for several days leading up to the construction.

Do you know what really makes traffic slow in this region?

Take a fender bender between two or three cars.
Set that on the side of a busy road.
Watch as every single driver slows down to 20% of normal speed as they take their time watching people write down insurance information for each other.

Grr...

Carmageddon, Day 5

2007-08-15T21:04:00.000-07:00

Today, on the WSDOT traffic map, I actually saw two little red squares right under the I-5 construction area, indicating heavy traffic.

Two! That's like, what, a half mile of slower than normal traffic? Gasp!

Yeah, it's been a pretty normal commuting week. By the looks of it, it will stay that way throughout this project.

Carmageddon, Day 3

2007-08-13T09:36:00.000-07:00

And the verdict on the first weekday commute during I-5 construction and lane closures? Awesome.

No, seriously - it was one of the best weekday commutes in weeks, maybe even months.

This evening's commute may fare differently, as there's a Mariners home game. If it goes smoothly, I'll probably just stop posting these daily updates since they'll sound like a broken record.

Carmageddon, Day 2

2007-08-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

Despite the apparently high risk of traffic jams and the angst and pain that it could cause, we did venture out of the house yesterday in a car. And you know what? I-5 was moving great. There was actually less traffic on the roads than on usual weekends. Southbound coming into the city was the clearest I'd seen it on a Saturday in months!

Our crying-wolf media partners, King 5, admit that it's been smooth so far as well.

I guess the real test will be tomorrow's commute. I still think this has all been over-hyped, and it'll be OK. I may eat my words.

Aww, Shucks

2007-08-11T10:23:00.000-07:00

OK everyone, put down those shucking knives. Looks like the great State of Washington has produced oysters contaminated with poisonous bacteria. From the report:

How does V. parahaemolyticus cause illness?

If you become infected you will most likely have watery diarrhea, accompanied with abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, a high temperature and chills.

Mmmm, that's a great thing to look forward to after a half dozen on the half-shell..

Carmageddon, Day 1

2007-08-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

Oh no, it's begun!

Interestingly, 9AM and the roads seem to be nice and clear. It is still early, though.

Interstate Armageddon!

2007-08-10T18:13:00.000-07:00

For weeks now, local TV and radio reports have raised the flags and rung the alarm bells about the impending commuter doom that is about to befall Puget Sound. According to King 5, the gridlock begins at 10PM! That's right, I-5 will undergo some construction, which will restrict the number of northbound lanes. This will carry on for 19 days, and is predicted to snarl traffic, cause people to inconsolably weep as they're stuck in traffic, and turn our fair region into an imitation of a parking lot.

With so much hooplah about this closure, I have to think: is this more bark than bite? Perhaps it will be, given the attention it's been given. After all, if lots of people hear about it, get scared, and figure out alternate ways to get around, total demand on the road falls, hopefully within acceptable ranges. To put it another way, if the throughput is reduced by half on the road, but then half the normal commuters take alternate routes or don't drive at all (because they've been driven to that out of fear of being stuck for days out on the interstate), it may not be as bad as predicted.

I'm sure that's part of the plan, namely getting fewer people to use the narrower road. The rest is just predictions and assumptions. I'm sure there'll be times when traffic is worse. But I also think it's been way too hyped up. Chalk it up to another thing that the news media can easily report on, that affects everyone, but ultimately may not be that big of a deal.

Review: Signal (SIFF 2007)

2007-08-09T21:17:00.000-07:00

Some horror and thriller movies like to give you a back story before the real story begins. You know, the story line before the plot really gets going, that somehow is supposed to give you insight into the characters' psyches, before things start going bump in the night? I have to say I'm not a big fan of them. It's not because I don't like back stories. It's just that most of these movies don't do a very good job with this prelim stuff. The Signal doesn't go down this route. The story is told from three characters' perspective, but the timeline is continuous, and the weirdness starts right from the beginning.

The plot revolves around a mysterious transmission which pervades cell phones, radios, and televisions. It causes people to turn psychotic; they start seeing things and acting upon urges that the signal is seemingly telling them to do. Chaos soon reigns, and we witness some key characters trying to make sense of things as they try to escape people who are bent on doing very bad things to them. And, the thing that keeps one of the key characters going through it all is love.

Too touchy-feely? Nah, don't worry, there's plenty of gore, cat-and-mouse, and dark corners to keep you interested.

The movie does have a few touches of dark humor, with some scenes expertly juxtaposing quaint, normal city life with the weird, chaotic things that are going horribly wrong. These are mere dabs of color, though, as in the end The Signal is a true horror movie.

Throughout the movie, I kept noticing things that looked somewhat familiar. Near the end, it was confirmed: a good portion (if not all) of the movie was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia! That gives The Signal an extra point (I'm a sucker for familiarity).

Overall rating: 8.0/10.0

Details:
Runtime: 99m
Countries: USA
Languages: English

When Casinos Beat Culture

2007-07-29T11:02:00.000-07:00

I was on the way home from a Highland Games today when I heard a pretty disturbing commercial on the radio. A couple was sitting in the audience of an opera performance; the man was bored with the performance, but the woman said that they should stay because they needed some "culture". The man proceeded to say that he would much rather be at the Angel of the Winds casino, where he could:

sit in a comfortable seat
play the slot machines
eat some inexpensive food
talk to people who are friendly to you

He then proceeded to insult the singer, before the woman finally agreed with him, after which they left the performance to go to the casino.

OK, hold on. Let's compare:

Opera:

musical stage performance comprising of typically classical music, complete with an orchestra and solo voice
you pay money for a seat, you sit in it, and you listen the performance
during intermission, you may get a beverage or a small snack
a chance to interact with other people attending who share an interest in the music, and may know more about it than you do

Casino:

Assortment of games of chance where you're statistically guaranteed to lose money
You pay money for the privilege of losing it
You eat mediocre, discounted food that's bad for you
You talk to people who are paid to be nice to you

Maybe it's the fact that I listened to opera from a young age, but this commercial really insulted me. I can only imagine a visitor from another country (especially one where classical opera hails from) listening to the commercial and wondering what sort of people would subscribe to it.

I know, this is just a commercial. But if the commercial is supposed to resonate with people, and make people relate with the message, then I shudder to think of how many people this connected with.

To Anyone Thinking Of Moving To Seattle

2007-07-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

See, rumors are sometimes true. It does rain all the time here, even in the summer. Trust me, we've all sold our cars and purchased boats of various shapes and sizes to get around the city. Umbrellas are state-issued, and Nordstrom has some designer rain coats on sale. Starbucks is considering throwing instant coffee powder out their store windows and into the water to attract customers. And I hear there's some Noah guy building a big wooden boat in Lake Union.

But seriously, it has been an unusually wet July.

The Strongest Beer Ever Brewed

2007-07-22T16:05:00.000-07:00

We've all tasted the nasty light beers that are out there. But what about the strongest beer ever brewed? Enter Samuel Adams Utopia.

Alcohol: 25% ABV
Cost: $100-200
Availability: Very hard to get
Taste: From what people describe that have tried it, very unlike your usual beer. More like a brandy or a similar fortified wine.

OK, who has a spare hundred or so bucks to buy a bottle? I'll be happy to sample it with you. Heck, I'll even bring the chips.

The Wii Virtual Console Is The Best

2007-07-07T11:08:00.000-07:00

It's like they designed it for 20-somethings like me, who grew up with the NES and want to play old games again.

We've already downloaded the original Super Mario. All the old tricks and hidden stuff is coming back to mind. They also have the original Zelda, which I remember going over to a friend's house to play for hours on end.

If they port Super Mario 3, I may need to take a sabbatical.

Willie Nelson At The Gorge

2007-07-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

This past 4th of July we headed out to the Gorge in George, WA to see Willie Nelson & friends in concert. Apparently this was the first time Willie played a July 4th show outside of Austin, and it was certainly the first time we had ever seen him live.

We arrived at the Gorge around 3pm, to a sunny day of mid-to-upper-90s temperatures. Hot, yes, but at least it wasn't humid. We had plenty of sunscreen and a big Nalgene to fill with water.

The acts started around 4pm. Here's how they shaped up:

Amos Lee - really great. Funky but relaxed, well balanced sound. Enjoyable toe-tapping songs. Quite unpretentious.
Drive By Truckers - country-rock outfit. Started out with a pretty clangy, off-key sound but got better as their set went on. Some songs were hits, some were misses. They were louder than Amos Lee, and their harmonies were often off. Could have been bad mixing or bad monitor levels.
Old 97's - pretty bad. Didn't sound great at all, weren't locking into harmonies, and their songs were boring.
Son Volt - very good. Interesting songs, great sound, enjoyable set. Though why did Jay Farrar have to switch guitars after every song?
40 points - Willie Nelsons' two sons (Micah, Lukas) are in this band. Great solo guitar playing. Decent vocals. Some songs were ho-hum but not all that bad.

Then came Willie. He played a solid 2 hour set with back to back songs, including many classics but also about four new ones. He didn't sing as many high notes as his recorded songs have, but he still sounded great, and engaged well with the crowd. And yes, he played his old, beat up, twangy, slightly distorted guitar. It's Willie; he's classic.

After his set, it was time to head home. We left the Gorge around midnight, and even with a stop for fuel we arrived back in Seattle around 2:30 AM.

Wii!

2007-07-01T18:23:00.000-07:00

I got the bestest birthday present ever yesterday - a Wii! My wonderful wife scoured the greater Seattle area and managed to land one. It felt like I was back in grade school getting an original Nintendo system.

I'll post some thoughts on it later. Right now I need to get back to playing it.

Compact Fluorescent Nirvana

2007-06-24T23:58:00.000-07:00

Today we replaced most of our light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights (CFL). The initial outlay isn't cheap, but for the number of bulbs we have, we figured it would be worth it over the long run.

Here's our initial light bulb breakdown:
- 23 can lights (inlaid, ceiling) at 65 watts a piece = 1,495 watts
- 14 regular bulbs at 100 watts
= 1400 watts

- 5 regular bulbs at 60 watts = 300 watts

Total = 3,195 watts

At a conservative 5 kilowatt-hour rate, turning on all our lights for a solid day would cost nearly four dollars.

Now, we have bulbs that are a scant 15 watts, but supply the same light output. That means a total of 630 watts, which means a full day's output cost of 75 cents.

We're quite happy with the light quality itself. Initially we were a little wary of the "fluorescent" part of the CFL, but the bulbs produce a nice soft-white facsimile of an incandescent. The only downside to these lights that we can see are that they're not dimmable. But we don't have dimmers nor do we really want them.

So at least now at least I can say my carbon footprint is a tad lighter.

Review: One Day Like Rain (SIFF 2007)

2007-06-21T01:39:00.000-07:00

One Day Like Rain has a lot of great shots. Shots that contrast something strange with some common activity of daily life. Grainy, washed out images. Impressions of animals and plans in their natural environment. Time-lapse scenes of sunlight filtering through leaves on trees. Indeed, this movie is chock full of great shots.

Unfortunately, that's about the only good thing I can say about this film, which for me alternated between periods of vacuousness, pretention, boredom, and fogginess.

The film presents a very loose thread of a plot: Gina, a quirky teenage girl living in California, has somehow gotten wind of an impending doom facing the world, and she is working out how to save the world as a result. She invests time, effort, chemistry sets, crystals, and her friends in an effort to do this. She makes some sort of chemical concoction that she gives to her friend, Jennifer, who drinks it and later dies. She then goes off with her boyfriend and has a romantic night out in the woods before the world apparently ends.

You may think I'm overly summarizing a lot of plot details that go along to flesh out the above, but I'm not. This is more or less all the scaffolding you get for the overarching story. The rest is a series of ambiguous scenes and empty, needlessly opaque conversations that make up the whole of the movie.

The dialog revolves around fuzzy statements and endless repetition of lines that don't advance the story one bit. "She's got it", you hear over and over. "She's trying to save the world." But you're not really shown how, or why, or when, or what she's really doing. I suppose you're intended to guess. But after a while the guessing game gets really old.

OK, so if there's not much of a plot, there's at least characters and development, right? Wrong. With the exception of Jennifer, I found all the characters flat and uninteresting. They spring out of nowhere, say a few tired lines, sit and stare out into space, and then bam! you're onto the next scene. The movie fails to make me care about any of the characters, which leaves them to be just mindless agents trying to convey something falsely deep and meaningful to the audience.

What the movie lacks in plot, dialog, and character development, it tries to make up in symbolism. Unfortunately, the other extreme takes hold here: the symbols are in your face and practically crammed down your throat. During several scenes, I was almost expecting some subtitling to show up, pointing out, "Hey, look! Two clocks on the wall ticking away...time is running out! Oh wait, check it out, one of them stopped!".

I'm all about films that offer an "experience" of sorts, or have symbolism, or can be studied from many angles. Kubrick is a great example of this: you can watch The Shining as a horror flick, or you can break it down and study its use of symbols, or how the scenes are shot, or what the characters are saying. But it's still a feature, and it's still something you can sit down and watch and enjoy and not have to study. Not so with One Day Like Rain. Director Paul Todisco has made what is potentially a film to study in film school, but what he didn't make is something that a general audience can enjoy without deconstructing it on a white board in a lecture hall.

In the Q&A after the movie, Todisco mentioned that the film came to him in about a week or two. I have to say that it certainly shows. Todisco took his time with how the film was shot. Too bad that his efforts in the other aspects of the movie didn't pan out.

I'm disappointed in SIFF selecting this film for a premiere. I was seriously considering becoming a member this year. But if this is the sort of stuff SIFF will program throughout the year, then count me out.

Overall rating: 1.0/10.0

Details:
Runtime: 90m
Countries: USA
Languages: English

Popcorn Ban

2007-06-15T00:03:00.000-07:00

I love it when our local civil servants take up arms against a noble cause. With such energy in rectifying this problem, you would think all of our city's issues would be resolved!

One Reason Why I Don't Eat Beef

2007-06-10T03:12:00.001-07:00

Millions of pounds of tainted ground beef do not a happy dinner plate make.