Work this week has been a testament to my sanity, there's absolutely nothing to do but we have to look busy, especially for our much esteemed visitors from the Federal government. So this weekend has a welcome change whereby I'm intentionally doing nothing.
And nothing it has been, we are trying not to go out too much because our budget is being monitored, but at the same time I've never been a big fan of going out just to get out.
Right now we are watching Inspector Gadget on Roku, and I really should stay away from this series because I used to be real big on the cartoon, especially the theme song. Used to sing the darn thing like it was my birthday song. Now in perspective, its actually a sweet little show because they got Gadget for his gadgets and comedy, but Penny's an awesome role model for the girls because she's always taking care of business, even though she does delegate a lot of the stunts and labor to Brain, her male dog.
Other than that, I managed to hook up with Kenneth in Singapore to get some gaming in, and now that I've basically pressured him into the Rock Band universe, the music has taken over and he is now losing hours of his day to the game, very much like me. He does have a social life to offset that though, so he's more normal than I am. I'm contend to stay home and chill.
I wonder if the kids notice the quality difference in the cartoons? Inspector Gadget versus something like Mickey Mouse clubhouse, which is all CG and shiny big budgeted educational material. They don't seem to mind I think, plus cartoons of yesterday always have a tinge of wrongness to it. Something smoking, carrying a gun, or making a joke at the end of an episode that no one finds funny.
Well, shows ending and my wit's drying up faster than...
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Getting Ready... For Hell!
Somehow while I was getting ready for the day, I was thinking about what a freewheeling code of ethics that I have to live by. In a way, I do envy the religious folks who have a predetermined path to follow in life, that even the consequences are spelt out for you. Was listening to This American Life a while ago about this pastor who stopped believing in Hell. Still loved and believed in God, his Word, the way of life... just not eternal purgatory. He didn't believe that God would cast innocent children who never even had the chance to read the Bible into Hell. I'm sure there was some footnote about Innocents, but that was akin to the line of logic I've subscribed to, in that the judgmental, exclusive sinning Christians will still get a free pass as the decent Middle Eastern merchant who believes in a different God but had lead a righteous life will be cast into Hell.
My original point is that I find myself constantly having to determine what the right thing to do is, since I didn't have a father nor a religious background to guide my actions. I try to follow the straight path, and of course it forks into some casual indifference, some selfishness, even some ethically gray spots, but I always have to catch myself and snap back to what I perceive to be the righteous path.
Then I washed my face and hair and was back to worrying about how my hair looked.
My original point is that I find myself constantly having to determine what the right thing to do is, since I didn't have a father nor a religious background to guide my actions. I try to follow the straight path, and of course it forks into some casual indifference, some selfishness, even some ethically gray spots, but I always have to catch myself and snap back to what I perceive to be the righteous path.
Then I washed my face and hair and was back to worrying about how my hair looked.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Roku Player is Awesomer than Rainbows!
Got the Roku Player in the mail and hooked it up rather quickly, and it's just amazing. The picture quality is great over Wi-Fi, and we've already caught some Pink Panther and the kids are watching Astroboy now. I also consumed some 30 Rock accidently. Personally, I can't wait to watch Man on Wire and some other really good stuff, including rewatching No Country for No Men and lots of other films. I have 98 movies and series in the queue. I'll be busy for a while...
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Week in Review
Watching a Blu Ray of Chicago (with Earth, Wind and Fire) and reading about them in Wikipedia and I'm actually quite impressed. I think in a lot of ways the Beatles had to disband in order to achieve their immortality because otherwise they would just be going on and on like Chicago, which has gone through different band members and now is still considered a classic superband, but not quite cemented in music history like the Beatles. Of course, their soft rock adult contemporary playlist wouldn't have qualified them for rock god status, but they're still pretty impressive.
So the week has been pretty low key, just going through the motions of the week. I did get in a little jam with the bosses, evidently I really have to start training my fellow team members on everything I know, so that any of them could do what I do with no assistance. I did a little, but then when I got my hands dirty with work, I was told to delegate it to someone else. So this next week will be my week of putting my hands in my pockets and being a supervisor of sorts. That should be fun since it's completely contradictory with my personality.
No one can rock the flute and keytar like Chicago, dude.
Anyway, been putting a lot of thought into the Roku Player, a set top box that allows you to stream some Netflix to your TV. I currently have Blockbuster Online, so it's just a matter to switching over to Netflix, and plunking down a C note for the player itself. Then after that, other than maintaining a Netflix account, there's no cost to streaming movies and TV shows. That sounds really nice, and of course, if I had an Xbox 360, or a fast computer, I wouldn't need the box, but it's a great alternative to watching shows that I normally wouldn't put on my queue, like the foreign movies or certain TV series. I'm inches away from reaching for that debit card.
The temps have dipped enough to have snow flurries outside, so we're up in the air about going to the Lion Dance at the Bellevue Uwajimaya. It would be fun, but if it's freezing outside I don't know if we'll be up to it. Playing it by ear.
Been trying to get into Facebook a little more, since that's more of a nice social gathering there than my blog. It's a monologue with the blog, and I'm finding out more of my friends are talking with each other on Facebook, so it's good incentive to jump on board. Never really got into Myspace because of the annoying ads, the blaring soundtracks and the tacky, tacky, tacky clipart and graphical overload. Facebook has its issues with the apps, but overall it is a lot cleaner and mature social networking site.
Oh, the job mystery thing is still mostly a mystery. I hear rumors that engineering has a bit of a crush on me, but that doesn't mean I'm going to the prom.
So the week has been pretty low key, just going through the motions of the week. I did get in a little jam with the bosses, evidently I really have to start training my fellow team members on everything I know, so that any of them could do what I do with no assistance. I did a little, but then when I got my hands dirty with work, I was told to delegate it to someone else. So this next week will be my week of putting my hands in my pockets and being a supervisor of sorts. That should be fun since it's completely contradictory with my personality.
No one can rock the flute and keytar like Chicago, dude.
Anyway, been putting a lot of thought into the Roku Player, a set top box that allows you to stream some Netflix to your TV. I currently have Blockbuster Online, so it's just a matter to switching over to Netflix, and plunking down a C note for the player itself. Then after that, other than maintaining a Netflix account, there's no cost to streaming movies and TV shows. That sounds really nice, and of course, if I had an Xbox 360, or a fast computer, I wouldn't need the box, but it's a great alternative to watching shows that I normally wouldn't put on my queue, like the foreign movies or certain TV series. I'm inches away from reaching for that debit card.
The temps have dipped enough to have snow flurries outside, so we're up in the air about going to the Lion Dance at the Bellevue Uwajimaya. It would be fun, but if it's freezing outside I don't know if we'll be up to it. Playing it by ear.
Been trying to get into Facebook a little more, since that's more of a nice social gathering there than my blog. It's a monologue with the blog, and I'm finding out more of my friends are talking with each other on Facebook, so it's good incentive to jump on board. Never really got into Myspace because of the annoying ads, the blaring soundtracks and the tacky, tacky, tacky clipart and graphical overload. Facebook has its issues with the apps, but overall it is a lot cleaner and mature social networking site.
Oh, the job mystery thing is still mostly a mystery. I hear rumors that engineering has a bit of a crush on me, but that doesn't mean I'm going to the prom.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
A Good Family Day
Told myself I wasn't going to wait all day to post about yesterday because the details never fail to escape me, but here we are again.
Anyway, I thought to myself a few days ago how we haven't been to something as a family in quite some time, something kid-oriented and fun like. Because the year before we raided through the Entertainment book and pretty much did everything under the sun, last year we didn't hit the kid venues as much because it was still so fresh in my mind. Initally I'd thought we hit the Science Center and the Children's Museum inside the Seattle Center, but we simply stuck to the Science Center because there just wasn't that much time.
So we got there at around noon or so, and noticed that it was pretty quiet around Seattle Center. It was rather cold out as well, hanging around the high 30s I would imagine. We started off with "Dinosaurs Alive 3D", an Imax movie that I thought the kids might enjoy. Well, I was half right, while Zoe started off not sure but warmed up to it, Alex hyped himself into a frenzy, afraid that the dinosaurs might pop out and become real, and started crying. Once the movie started, he just began whimpering and my wife had to take him out of the seat and to the back of the theater. Luckily he calmed down back there, so she was able to see most of the movie. Alex hid through the scary parts, but like the bits where the scientist study the landscape and there were no dinosaurs.
We had lunch first at the Seattle Center, and we foolishly duplicated clamstrips for the both of us instead of splitting different orders. So there was that, and then I decided to get the orange juice which was cheaper than pop for the adults, and lemme tell you, OJ and clams are a wicked combination. And by wicked I mean it was absolutely horrid. Then I reckoned that we might improve on the aftertaste by getting mochas. Yeah, my mouth was having all sorts of new experiences.
The Science Center was pretty cool because it was the first time we didn't feel rushed throughout the visit. There were no schoolkids at there, just a handful of families with their preschool kids and toddlers. So we didn't get pushed around, didn't have to wait much, it was really pretty nice. The kids were well behaved, and we went home and watched "Horton Hears a Who?" for the first time since we watched it in the theatre. And we have some photos including our nice little photo booth souvenir.
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In other news, I finished Bioshock and I was thoroughly impressed. The Rescue ending was a touching ending, and I immediately wanted to play it again, which I did a little tonight.
Also, there's a slight mystery about work, which I won't elaborate right now. It happened a little fast and I'm a little blindsided by it, and I don't even really know what the hell it is. Hmm. More on that when I know more.
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