Archive for October, 2005

2005.10.16

Dear Red Jetta Driver

Dear Driver of the Red Jetta from Vermont on Highway One,

You, sir, are one of the slowest fracking driver’s I’ve ever been cursed to follow along Highway One in Marin. I know the road is windy, and I know you’re probably not from around here. However, there are turnoffs specifically designed to let you pull off the road and let those of us who can drive faster than smell move on with our lives.

I feel confident that California isn’t the only state in our great nation that has turnoffs so I feel like if you’ve passed you’re driver’s license examination you should know what they are used for. Since you obviously didn’t, however, I can only assume you are stupid, or rude, or illegally driving your Red Jetta from Vermont, or a terrorist, or all of the above. You were certainly terrorizing my sense of calm and testing my patience as I was forced to ride my brakes following your slow butt along the beautiful Marin coastline.

To your lovely wife/girlfriend/kidnap victim in the back seat who kept turning around to look at me like I was wrong for being irritated with your husband/boyfriend/abductor: that sour look is going to make your face ugly when you’re old.

Mr. Driver of the Red Jetta, please learn to drive. Thank you.

PS: Your right tail light is out. Fix it.

2005.10.14

Inversions

InversionsInversions, by Iain M. Banks, is one of those books that while reading it I’m not entirely sure what is going on. Even now, freshly finished, I’m not sure what to think about it.

There are two stories, one about a Doctor and the other about a Bodyguard, interwoven chapter by chapter. The narrator, Oelph, is also a character in the Doctor Vosill’s story. He includes the story of DeWar, bodyguard to the Protector General of Tassasen, as a counter point to his own story.

After that I am almost at a loss for what to say. The characters are interesting, and the writing good enough to keep me reading it without thinking about putting it down, but the stories of intrigue, deception and escape do not seem to have much of a point. It is a thoughtful book with many insightful passages into human nature, yet it doesn’t inspire enough for me to think I would go back to it again and again as I do some books.

A friend had recommended Mr. Banks as one of her favourite authors. I will probably seek out one of her recommendations and see if I like his work or not because, right now, I am firmly on the fence.

2005.10.14

First Japanese Class

Today I had my first Japanese class. As I work for a company that imports Japanese culture, and because they offer the class for free, I thought it might be good to take it and figure out what half the company is talking about half the time.

I wish I could say I was impressed but I wasn’t. Perhaps it’s because Odd and Zapski took Japanese back in college and I assimilated some of this rudimentary stuff, or perhaps it’s because I actually know some linguistics and other languages and want some technical answers. Whatever it was that under-impressed me, it should get better with time and I start learning things a bit more complicated. The linguistic questions I will just have to ask someone else about (though I might be able to answer some of them on my own).

Anyways, let’s see how Japanese further confuses my already befuddled language centers in my brain, mixing in with the Czech, Korean, Russian, French, Latin, and smatterings of other languages (other Slavic languages, Scot Gaelic, etc). I wish I’d learned any one of these to fluency; it might actually help prevent the confusion that ensues. Maybe Japanese will become the fluent language.

2005.10.13

nerad.org

Last night I was casually looking at domain names and found that nerad.org was available. For a very long time my Aunt Shava had the domain and didn’t seem about to do anything with it this decade. I guess she let it lapse. So…

I picked it up today. I am not entirely sure what I’ll do with it although I hope to eventually pass on webspace and email addresses to family. My Dad and Sister have been delving into the family history, so maybe I’ll give them a section for that to go online. I was thinking of maybe moving sp.ookee.com over to douglas.nerad.org. I have to laugh, though, because that seems funny even to me.

Ideas? What have others done who manage to snag a domain with their family name in it?

2005.10.12

Feel the Fear

This month’s blogging challenge, again issued by Uncle Roger, is to describe what you are afraid of. At the surface this seems trivial because we’re all afraid of something. Then I started thinking about it and I find that there really isn’t too much I’m truly afraid of anymore.

Read the rest of this entry…

2005.10.11

The New de Young

The de Young fine arts museum in San Francisco is finally about to reopen. Today Ann and I stopped by to take a look. I’ve been watching them rebuild this thing from the ground up as I’m conveniently located only blocks away. It’s been a long, slow process but I have to admit I’m happy with the results. Not all the galleries are open yet but they should be on the official opening weekend.

So starting at noon on Saturday, October 15th until 5PM on Sunday, October 16th the de Young will be open non-stop and free. If you were a fan of the old de Young, or a fan of fine art in its myriad forms, free up some time and go see the new building. Designed by the Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron, the building itself is a surprise and treat as I am not a fan of most “modern” architecture. It is comfortable and spacious, with well thought materials planning and gallery boulevards. Many people have panned the all copper exterior, but I think it is quite striking and should age well. The tower has a most amazing 360 degree view of the city; I can even see the pine tree in my backyard.

Now if they’d only get my favourite San Francisco museum finished (it looks a mess right now!) I’d be a happy man.

2005.10.08

Templates for Pages/iWork

I’ve been searching for a while for some new templates for Apple’s fairly new Pages text and layout application. While I’ve mostly been using it for simply writing, I want to start using it for other things and am finding the built in templates lacking for what I want.

What shocked me, however, is that there don’t seem to be many sites out there that have any to offer. After searching I did find iWork Community. I will keep searching. If anyone knows of any other sites with templates, please post them in the comments! I would love to find film related templates (script formats, shot breakdown, outlines, etc). Meanwhile check out iWork Community.

2005.10.07

The Roar of F-14s

It’s Fleet Week here in San Francisco. This means the Blue Angels are out and cruising the friendly skies. My job is right near Fisherman’s Wharf, so they are flying right over the building. I love it.

I grew up with fighter planes flying around the neighborhood. This comes from a Father in the US Air Force. Maybe they weren’t right overhead and doing teeth rattling maneuvers a couple hundred feet from my face but I was constantly aware of their presence. Today I’m feeling nostalgic. It’s funny what brings back childhood memories.

The Angels are only practicing right now, but it’s still a great opportunity to see some of the greatest flying in the modern world. This weekend is going to be crowded in San Francisco; if you’re planning on attending I don’t recommend driving! I do recommend getting in to the city though.

I wish they would practice at night, too. I haven’t fallen asleep to an afterburner in decades…

2005.10.04

Why I Don’t Blog Much About Work

Here is a pretty clear explanation of why I don’t talk too much about work in the public space of this blog…

2005.10.03

Serenity and Mirrormask

I saw two movies this weekend. Unprecedented for me since I usually just wait two months or so for the DVD to come out. I’ll definitely be picking up these two gems to watch at least a few more times.

First was Serenity, based on the single season TV show Firefly. Joss Whedon did a spectacular job adapting the characters and scenarios from the small to the big screen. I’ve only got three gripes with the whole movie. First I think Simon Tam is a bit off at the beginning of the movie. I feel like this is part of the adaption and as it doesn’t matter too much I can more than forgive it. My second gripe is one of the deaths. For the sake of not spoiling the movie I’ll just leave it at that. The last gripe is that the movie isn’t nearly as long as it should have been.

I came out of the movie with my eyes burning from staring so hard at everything happening. For fans of the series it is nice to see the characters continue to evolve and learn much more about River and her weird history. Even if you’ve never seen Firefly you’ll enjoy this movie; the characters are interesting, the action is full throttle, and there’s enough to make you think. Also, one of the few criticisms of the TV series has been dealt with and the movie has less of a western genre feel to it; just enough that it’s there but not so much that it’s too much.

The second movie was Mirrormask, written by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean and directed by Mr. McKean. With a fairly simple story they’ve created a lush visual experience that I definitely wouldn’t recommend seeing the first time while on anything vaguely hallucinogenic; it’s trippy enough as is. Jim Henson’s Creature Shop adds its distinctive flair to the mix. While I will say this movie isn’t for everyone, it is visual eye candy you will want to get cavities from. I need new fillings already.

The only unfortunate thing about Mirrormask is that the studios aren’t giving it a wide release so it might not be playing at any theater near you. If it is try to get in to see it before it disappears because this is really a big screen film.