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Pursuit of legos

2012-01-30T12:48:00.000-08:00

I'll be the first one to admit it that I have a problem when it comes to toys. When I was a kid I loved toy guns, later it became video games, now most of my toys come from the expensive electronic variety. Sometimes however, I can't resist the 7 year old in me and I buy myself a Lego. It's been worse a year or two ago, as I was buying more of them. At the moment however, I don't have a place to put them so I am very picky about the ones that I get. There are two criteria that I use. They have to be from the original Star Wars of course (there is one exception from the prequels and one from the Clone Wars), and they have to be of a complicated sort. I do enjoy immensely putting them together, and this kind of semi-mindless hands-on work rests my brain.

This year, for my birthday I've acquired one that I've been look at for a time now. I have a smaller version of it, and the full blown version even I am not crazy enough to spend money on, it costs approximately $500. This one however, hit all the right spots.

Meet the Millennium Falcon, quite possibly the most famous fictional spaceship in the world. I've enjoyed putting this together, with the help of my kids over the span of a week. Of course, I could have done it faster, but decided to prolong the fun of it a little. For kid's sake of course :)

The thing is big around foot and and half in diameter. The set had over a thousand pieces and the instructions came in two booklets. The model has a lot of nice subtle little details like hidden compartments, gunner seats for the top and bottom quad-turrets, a whole scene set with traning droid and Luke's training helmet, and a chess table. The figures included were Han, Leia, Luke, Obi-Wan, Chewie and Darth. The only problem that I have with the detail, is that (and this is where my wife will laugh and shake her head sadly) the cockpit is a one-sitter, where of course it is supposed to be sitting pilot and co-pilot.

Overall it's worth the money spent. The model looks big and complicated. There is enough going on there to make it interesting for a kid in me and my own kids in putting this model together.

The photography is god-awful, but I wasn't concentrating on it.

Enjoy.

We are trying to outdoorsie types

2012-01-14T10:40:00.000-08:00

My facebook account got locked-up and I am going through withdrawal symptoms.

Anyway, Chicago finally got its required quota of snow and we've decided to take kids sledding. Going up the hill is tiring, but going down is as fun as it was 30 years ago. The little one however didnot like it at all. The matter also became complicated by my long legs that were throwing lots of snow into her face when I tried to control the sled.

Being outdoorsie is tiring.

Another Happy Birthday

2012-01-06T11:23:00.000-08:00

Do I want to be this post bittersweet? No not really. I stopped looking at my birthdays as a step closer to being old a long time. Right now my MO is treating my birthdays as a day when I let people to tell me how much more they love me ;)(that would be a wink), and graciously accept the praises. That is why I always look towards my Birthdays, I love them and never feel depressed about getting older. It just means that I got to spend another year surrounded by people I love, why would anybody find that depressing is beyond my understanding.

Let me give praises to The Awesome Wife one more time, for thinking that it is much better to spend the day zipping about the downtown of Chicago on segways, than going to work. Thank You Honey, that really made my Birthday special and gave me something to remember for a long time.

I won't give you the archetectural tour of Chicago, although I must say, I learned a lot of new things from our tour guide. There is also a photo of me, the tour starts at the Art Institute Museum.

It was a fairly wintery but warm day, and all the tourists stayed inside! So it was me, my wife and our tour guide. We went about 5 miles up and down Michigan avenue from the Art Institute all the way to Musuem campus and back. Now I want one of those toys, although I don't have a clue where I would ride them.

We also discovered this little gem at the Architectural center for Chicago. I didn't even know there was a place like that.

View of downtown from north

View from the east

Soldier field

View from the south.

They are also updating this model all the time, some of the newer buildings made it as well.

The tour was really a time well spent. We are thinking of repeating it in the summer, they have a whole bunch of them going around the city sights. If anyone decides to visit Chicago and want to join in, let us know, maybe we can set it up.

Oh, going back my Birthday (the day is about me afterall) I also got a bunch of presents that I loved.

Thank you all for your kind Birthday wishes.

I am here to inform you...

2011-12-21T12:47:00.000-08:00

I am a lazy bastard. Not in a direct sense, the pile of work at the office seems to get bigger, or me getting smaller. I've had so many ideas for postings I just can't bring myself to do it right now. Maybe it's the holidays, and the upcoming week of well deserved rest and running around the city with kids like crazy.

I will come back with some intersting bits, I promise. Right now, please take your remote and turn the channel that interests you most. I suggeest something along the lines of Spongebob, just to take our mind off things.

I think I have beaten the record of posts concerning the amount of work I have a complaining about it.

No rhyme or reason

2011-12-06T08:51:00.000-08:00

Why would I wake up with this song in my head today

20 years past

2011-11-28T12:25:00.000-08:00

Only about a week ago I realized that it's been twenty years since my family an I disembarked from a Boeing 747 (maybe it wasn't a 747) at the JFK Airport in New York to start our lives in the United States. It happened on Nov 26th, 2001. Until then, the only time I have been outside of Russian borders was during the two hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany on the flight from Moscow.

I don't remember much about these times, and first couple of months in the states. I was fourteen and all of the excitement of a new place and sights and sounds of Manhatten have been already replaced in my head by other things.

People who are bit older than I am, with personality and adult life already set, like my brother or my parents can remember these times better. They were better equipped with dealing with kind of changes immigration requires of a person. Me, I was a kid, what did I know. I had two best friends back in the old country. I tried to keep contact for a while but that dissapeared quickly. Other than that very little personal or emotional attachement to the life we've left behind. My family moved with me, that was important. Home is where the loved ones are, not a place of brick and mortar.

I remember few things. Like eating my first italian pizza at the corner of 18th Ave and 60th street. I remember seeing my first Hasidic family (we lived in Boroughpark first couple of months), which entertained me greatly. I remember learning English by watching Disney cartoons on Channel 9. I was a kid, adaptability was natural.

I consider myself an American. Never had another thought about it. True I still speak Russian at home, and force my kids to learn Russian, but what does it have to do with being American. Truth to tell I don't know what it means to be an American. I speak, behave and think like your stereotypical suburbonite family man with two kids. I worry about job, home prices, taxes, politicians, and where I can go with my wife on Saturday night to enjoy a delicious meal, together. Is this being an American?

I am a patriout, I love United States. I love it for the opportunities to live it gave my parents, the life that me and my brother are enjoying and the opportunities it will give to my children. I worry about who is going to be the next president, and how it is going to affect those opportunities, although I don't share it with anybody else.

I love America for the NFL. I used to watch baseball, hockey, and baseball. Now I live only for the sport that could have been developed only here. I love America for the diversity of people I could meet only here. When I went to High School one of my best buddies was Haitian. During my years of employment some of my best buddies were of American, Russian, Chinese, Greek, Thai, Pakistani and Arabian descents. I always thought that was awesome.

Anyway. 20 years. Thank you, America!

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Legoes.

If the day got you down, prepare for the avalanche of cuteness

2011-11-22T07:15:00.000-08:00

Couple of weeks copy The Baby participated in her first ever recital. She did pretty good, considering she's only two-and-a-half years old, and Thumbelina sized.

The video is in Russian, but the cuteness X factor surpasses nations languages and borders. Enjoy, but I warned you. This is too cute for the light-hearted.

A good riff is not hard to find

2011-10-24T07:44:00.000-07:00

I was watching the last episode of Psych, when a riff came on as the guys were walking into a bar. A good riff can stick in my head for days, and I know I've heard it before. I think it's a very popular one in movies and shows, specifically when manly-men are out to do manly slow-motion stuff.

I used my phone and one of the apps to identify the culprit, and lo-and-behold Little Green Bag - by George Baker, the artist I've never heard of actually. It also seems to be the opening music for the Reservoir Dogs.

Enjoy.

Fall TV - Comedies

2011-10-12T12:59:00.000-07:00

I haven't really changed my habits as far as the comedies go on TV. I have pretty much stuck to my guns and hardly paid attention to the new stuff.

How I Met Your Mother - The characters keep developing, with Barney struggling with new-found monogamy. I think it was correct to move Allison H. to the background, there is not a lot to do there and the show is not about pregnant women.

Big Bang Theory I think this show needs to move to Sheldon and Amy, and forget the rest.

Modern Family Nothing needs changing there. Do you here me writers, NOTHING!

And that's it as far as the comedy shows go. I do occasionally catch New Girl with Zoey Deschanel and Simpsons on HULU, when I have time, but no new comedies have captured my interest. I think I should give Last Man Standing a try.

Fall TV - Dramas

2011-10-05T10:17:00.000-07:00

I haven't done of these in a while and the time is just about ripe. Most of the Fall's new scheduled shows are out, and some of them are already cancelled, without me even taking a peek.

There are a whole bunch of new cop procedural shows in the network shuffle.

Prime Suspect. Verdict: Skip. This is a standard procedural where the main character, a tough straight talking female lead, investigates murders in New York. I think the unique premise here is bringing in a prime suspect to a crime, and have the main character save that person buy finding the real culprit. The problem with the show is lack of uniqueness. There is very little investment in the main character, she is just not interesting enough. The cases are run of the mill, and the dialogue tends to be heavy with little snap to it. I give it until mid-term exams, after that it's probably going to be dropped.

Unforgettable.Verdict: Skip, unless somebody tells me differently. I watched the pilot of the show. The show is trying to get on the popular bus of super-powered-consultant-cops. I think it started with Medium, followed by Psych (still my favorite), and now relayed to the Mentalist. I liked the female lead, who also has a wide-story arc of mysterious possible murder of her sister. She is able to play off that pain of unsolved loss. Other than the super-memory, it even has a medical term Hyperthymesia, the show has little to go for it. Maybe if the wide-story arc develops better I'll come back to it.

Person of Interest. Verdict: Watch. The last of the new procedural shows I tried. This show is actually a keeper for now. The show is based around two guys, one a former computer developer, who invented a sort of Skynet to track down possible terrorist or otherwise unseemly activities. The other is a former clandestine operative, who went off the deep end after being late to the death of a loved one, although he cleans up very nicely and fast, after being what is clear an alcoholic. The idea for case resolution is interesting, as the characters from the beginning do not know what they are supposed to do, who they need to kill, save, or otherwise interfere with. And so they set off to do the investigative things. This show is going to be my replacement for Burn Notice type of clandestine operations, although without Bruce Campbell, and the snappy dialog. There is also a promise of a wider arc and a background story.

A Gifted Man.Verdict: Skip. Something about a medical professional who is hallucinating about his dead ex-wife is not working for me.

Not a lot of new dramas to see and enjoy on the networks. I may have to turn to cable for the entertainment.

One thing I would like to gripe about. Harry's Law was a fun show to watch. But I think David E. Kelly has that internal need to turn any show into a large cast one. The crowns of LA Law, The Practice, and Boston Legal just prevent him from having a small casted shows. We'll see how's the second season is going to turn out.

A small trip

2011-09-20T09:08:00.000-07:00

I haven't written in a while, again. It's tough for me to write these days, I am swamped with work and life and can't find neither will nor strength to share the boring parts with the audience.

A month or so ago, the Awesome Wife accidentaly came across dirt cheap tickets to Boston, so we planned to take a trip down to the East Coast at the end of September.

We stayed near Copley Square right across the Prudential building. We didn't, however, go to the top of it to the observation deck. While it would be nice to view the city from above, the cost of $15 per person just didn't made it attractive enough to visit.

We prefer to experience cities on foot and absorb the atmosphere. So, we spent four full days in Boston on our feet. I haven't walked so much in ages, damn you Boston for being so easily walkable.

We've made up a loose plan of things to see and visit, as well as eat a lot of lobsta rolls and clam chowder. And we didn't deliver, I ate a single clam chowder and the place called Charlies, on the first day. But it was awesome served in a crusted bread bowl. I also ate one generic lobster roll in Au Bon Pain in Harvard, and another one, actually very very delicious one at the Historic Union Oyster House restaurant.

I think on the first day we wanted to take the Boston Duck cruise, but the timing was a little off the day we came. We decided to just walk around a bit and see the surrounding environs. The hotel was very close to the Newbury St, a happening place by all means and measures. The street itself is not that long, we walked about a mile from the point of our hotel to the Boston Public Garden, which was our next stop. We did take a nice stroll throughout the Public Graden toward Boston Common, which is just another park across the street, in search of bathrooms of course. The parks are very nice overall but there no intimate spots in them, where you can just sit and enjoy the people and the surroundings.

That's all we really did on that first day I think. On the second day we finally took our tours through the Boston area. First we took the Duck, which is a really nice tour, as they drive you around all of the important places. Then we went completely berserk and took on the Freedom Trail walking tour, led by a lady who took on her role as a tour guide to her heart, screaming and yelling proclamations of freedom with wild abandon. It was fun and very educational, I don't remember our guide's name, but I hope our thanks for the tour will reach her somehow. After the tour we still had some time left, and the tour ended just by the Faneuil Hall, we've decided to jump onto a ferry to the Charleston Naval Yards to see USS Constitution. Was that a mistake, I don't know. I love taking a ferry, something about riding on the ferry is very relaxing. We did a quick tour around the ship, and rested our feet while waiting for the ferry back. I think at that moment we were pretty beat so all we could do on the way back was plop our asses down at the first restaurant we could find at Faneuil Hall.

On the thrid day of Chris... I mean rtip we planned to leave the Boston proper and enjoy the higher standards of Harvard. Harvard is actually a nice little town, although kind of saturated by young kids, damn kids. Anyway we spend a little time there taking a tour, guided by a loud mouthed kid. But he was was good, he talked a lot about the history and tradition of the fine instutuion. One thing I was expecting out of Hardvard is for it to be quanit, I guess is the word. It wasn't, it's bustling and busy, and all of the things I wasn't expecting out it. Where werethe damn robes and flat heads, and smart people walking around looking snooty?

I guess we didn't learn from the previous day, so we've decided to push ourselves and visit MIT campus down the road. MIT is so different in character than Harvard, it's like two different cities. Granted they don't have the same history, although the insitute is still 150 years old but I guess it doesn't matter to them, they don't dwell on it too much. The tour that was given to us was more of a sales pitch to prospective students than a lesson in history.

The ended with us pulling our last leg and getting into the Little Italy, which is like more Europe than I have seen anywhere in the States. The streets are narrow and go up and down hills like crazy. There is of course an italian restaurant in every corener and nook of the area. But what do we do? When we are tired we can't make a single decision and second guess ourselves. We've decided to go to the Historic Union Oyster House just across the highway from the Italian Village. Interesting place to say the least. Low ceilings, fairly dark, I am not sure if the benches are the original ones from eighteen-whatever. The food is great however, I had an awesome lobsta roll there. After that of course we couldn't do much else, so sleep was good.

What of the final full day? There were several other things we wanted to see around and we picked three. We went to the Art Museum which is kind of weirdly placed deeper in the city and not close to the center of things. The museum hold a very nice collection of American conteporaries, including Copley. It was nice to see the portraits of the American Revolution contemporaries. A nice stroll through museum has made me very thirsty so we headed over to Sam Adams brewery. Expectations were of a big factory with lots and lots of barrels of beer. Alas, there is not a lot there, it's a small building, more of the R&D and a historical place I guess. But I tasted the crap out the three tasting offering that were given to us. I actually like Sam Adams beer, it's my preferred brand when barbequing things. (Now give me money for this advertisement right now!).

At the end of the day we've decided to walk around Beacon Hill. Another picturesque Europeing like area, steep hills, stone roads and quaint little parks.

And that was it it, very tiring but very interesting trip overall. And I think I like Boston. I don't know if I want to live there, too cold in the winter, but I like it. And that is all folks. I will put up pictures, not all of the uploaded just yet.

Until we meet again, in a month or so. I should pick up the writing again.

A long wait ...

2011-07-27T07:40:00.000-07:00

I haven't written anything in a while, cause frankly I was busy. Busy with work busy with life, these things tend to catch up to you.

The last thing I wrote was trying to figure out whether to buy a van or not. We didn't. I just couldn't picture myself in a van. So we purchased a Mazda. My very first Mazda, blue... a CX-9 model. I think we are pretty happy with the vehicle. It is going to serve the role of our family car, with thre rows of seating and a large trunk.

What else has been happening. The summer is almost over, it's unbelievable how fast it goes by. The Almost 7 Year Old is enjoying the hell out of the Summer Camp. The little one has started day care on part-time basis and is doing well.

The storms has brought in a lot of excitement with power being out a least three times this July, but at least we didn't get flooded or suffered any long-term damage to the house.

Nothing else is going on, summer is about taking it easy and we are managing that to the best of our abilities with BBQs, Ice Cream, and as much watermelons as we can possibly eat.

To van or not to van

2011-06-27T13:55:00.000-07:00

The adjuster called today and my poor Altima is totalled.

Now we need a new one, so we were thinking of getting a mini-van. There are of course a great many Vans of all styles and sizes with the comfort options that we prefer to have. There are certain things that I absolutely must have when getting a car.

But, it's a bloody mini-van. Granted the Awesome Wife has offered to drive the mini-road-conqueror, but I don't feel right about it. We already have an SUV. It's the smaller size one and the trunk, sometimes, doesn't hold all we need. We have two kids, a stroller at all times (for next year or two), occasional bike and a probable medium-to-large dog in the future. Maybe we can go for another SUV, an Enclave or something along those lines. That can be a permament family car.

So the question that we are trying to solve right now, is whether or not we need a mini-Van.

A great Father's Day

2011-06-20T08:17:00.000-07:00

There are four things on my list a father should be able to do on this day. I'll add another pre-father day thing just to feel proud of myself.

On Friday The-Soon-To-Be-7-Year-Old had her annual ballet performance. I will post the video as soon as I can. There are only two dances, ballet and tap, with her that night, but I taped them using my DV camera. It takes a bit of time to take the videos off the DV.

Now, on to the father's day.

1. Go see some awesome cars. CHECK!

I think the upload was interrupted, there should be more pics there

2. Watch Star Wars. Contrary to my facebook update it wasn't on USA but on Spike. I was able to see a good portion of A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. CHECK!

3. Grill to the heart's content. Did some hot dogs, portobellas, and bratwursts. CHECK!

4. Finish off the day with a bowl of Ice Cream at Oberweis. CHECK!

An overall success.

New York trip

2011-06-15T18:06:00.000-07:00

Everytime i lie to myself that I am going to New York. Most of the time of course I am going to the state of New Jersey to visit family. This time we were able to make our way to Brooklyn to visit my Uncle. Brooklyn doesn't change, and I think that's why I love it.

Anyway, it was a very nice trip. Lots of fun with family and friends, and the kids played their hearts out with their cousins.

Thanks to Mom and Dad and many thanks to my Brother and Awesome Natasha for spending their time every night entertaining us.

Very enjoyable if a bit tiring trip. Have you ever tried to fly with a Two Year Old who decides that the Awesomest time to take a leasurely stroll about the plane is the exact time they put on Buckle-Your-Seat-Belt lights.

There is of course another cousin, but teenagers.... sheesh! For those unfamiliar with the mischpokhe, mine are the middle one who's holding the little one, and the little one being held by the big one.

Some final thoughts

2011-06-03T18:27:00.001-07:00

I amtem about to return both tablets to their respective stores. We were going to purchase them on points and those won't arrive for another couple of weeks. I am typing this up on the Xoom.

1. Battery life is great on both devices, lasting me a whole week with only a single recharge.
2. Xooms virtual keyboard has more lag between presses, especially so when typing fast with two fingers.
3. Xoom's Chrome browser often enough glitches. Buttons are not functioning. Facebook freezes up.
4. It's very difficult to attach files to emails on ipad. The device gives you very little control to what's on your system and limits you to iTunes and apps.
5. This control however results in a nicely tuned system.
6. I played Contract Killer on both systems. It froze several times on Xoom, but its impossible to tell if it's the app or the unit. Xoom in theory should have more power than ipad.
7. Which makes it the final point. Android market is a mess with few apps designed specifically for android tablets.

So, still not sure. If you have an opinion on the matter, let me know.

Possibly un-joining the herd... iPad2 vs. Xoom

2011-05-30T18:17:00.000-07:00

Because I can be an indecive bastard once in a while, I've picked up Motorola's new Xoom tablet. I am going to compare both tablets in the next couple until I make up my mind by the end of the week.

First impressions on both units.

1. Xoom is a little more solid. It weighs more, according to specs by .3 lbs. But it feels like if I drop it, nothing will happen to it. iPad2 feels very light and very compact, but I am afraid I can drop it.

2. Both units are blazing fast, as fast a my ocassionaly laggy Wi-Fi can be of course. I have downloaded Contract Killer on both units, and FPS rates for a 3D game seems good.

3. I would have to get used to iOS, although it seems pretty straightforward and user friendly. On the other hand, I am fairly familiar with Android OS, and Honeycomb doesn't change the basics but improves on a lot of fronts.

4. As far as hardware goes, Xoom is a much nicer stacked unit. Both front and back cameras are higher resolution and there is an expansion slot for MicroSD, making it fairly easy to expand 32G to 64 if I so desire. iPad2 comes with only 16G, and I don't want to shell out additional cash just for the privelege of owning a higher memory block count.

5. Xoom is $100 more.

6. Xoom does not charge from USB, but has an AC adapter, another charger I would have to carry around with me.

7. iPad is extremely proprietory, which is a double edged swrod. Apps come more robust and built to Apple specifications, and little viruses go through. ON the other hand, I had to specify my credit card number as soon as I opened the iTunes store. Even if I don't plan on byuing anything. What if my kids when playing with the tablet, purchased couple of hundered of apps. Granted there are possible parental controls on iPad, but I would have to pay for it as well, I bet.

I think that's all for now. Me and the missus are gonig to evaluate both candidates.

Joining the herd - update

2011-05-27T07:20:00.001-07:00

Time difference is awesome. Yesterday, as I wrote in the blog post, the iPad was in Ankorage. Today in the morning I had it delivered to my front door.

Joining the herd

2011-05-26T13:13:00.000-07:00

I have decided to try out the iPad and see how it fits in my everyday digital life, which is very involved mind you. I called the stores for approximately a week, but nobody had a simple WiFi 16G version in stock. They were bought out sooner than they managed to arrive to the stores. So, I have decided to order online, which I did about two weeks ago. The wait hipment was approximately 2 weeks with a week promised delivery.

I recieved an email couple of days ago that the table was on it's merry way. Tracking it yielded the following info.

Anchorage, AK, United States 05/26/2011 9:56 A.M. Arrival Scan
Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong 05/26/2011 4:15 P.M. Departure Scan
Chengdu, China 05/25/2011 8:06 P.M. Departure Scan
EPZ, China 05/24/2011 5:04 P.M. Departure Scan 05/24/2011 3:52 A.M. Origin Scan
China 05/24/2011 1:15 A.M. Order Processed: Ready for UPS

I got a freshly minted one, right form the assembly linein China. I feel somehow special, although I know maybe I shouldn't.

This is Chicago

2011-05-09T18:31:00.000-07:00

My parents came over last week. The weather was really really nice and we've decided to go to the city. It's been a while since we've last been to the Art Institute Museum. We also wanted to try to impress the art onto the 6 Year Old again, since our last trip, when she was about 4, ended we her whining all the way. This time she actually enjoyed a lot of things in the museum, including, for some reason, Chinese and Japanese art.

The Museum has opened up a new modern art wing, but we didn't make it over. Instead we took a nice stroll out on the new skywalk that connects the new wing with the Millenium park.

We've also visited Russian Tea Time, which is while a bit on the expensive side is a great place to enjoy a bit of old russian culture and good food.

Parent vocabulary (found on the internet)

2011-05-06T08:46:00.000-07:00

Dumbwaiter: One who asks if the kids would care to order dessert.
Feedback: The inevitable result when the baby doesn’t appreciate the strained carrots.

Full Name: What you call your child when you’re mad at him.

Grandparents: The people who think your children are wonderful even though they’re sure you’re not raising them right.

Hearsay: What toddlers do when anyone mutters a dirty word.

Independent: How we want our children to be for as long as they do everything we say.

Puddle: A small body of water that draws other small bodies wearing dry shoes into it.

Show Off: A child who is more talented than yours.

Sterilize: What you do to your first baby’s pacifier by boiling it, and to your last baby’s pacifier by blowing on it and wiping it with saliva.

Top Bunk: Where you should never put a child wearing Superman jammies.

Two-Minute Warning: When the baby’s face turns red and she begins to make those familiar-grunting noises.

Whodunit: None of the kids that live in your house.

100 Things I love about movies (1-25)

2011-05-05T07:50:00.001-07:00

I am taking this from Jason's blog and I am going to try to come up with a bunch of things I love about the movies. It might take me several attempts to complete as I tend to forget things quickly. Mostly this list will containt stuff from the movies I have seens thousands of times and remember well. I am also doing specifically American movies.

So here's the list in no particular order:

1. The nose signal in The Sting
2. "I'll be back!" The Terminator
3. "Stuck in the middle with you.." not the ear cutting scene in Reservoir Dogs but the way the music is used by Mr. Tarantino (I actually like that about all of his movies)
4. "Girl, you'll be a woman soon" with Uma Thurman OD'ing in Pulp Fiction
5. Bruce Lee grabbing a fistfull of Chuck Norris's fur in Way of the Dragon
6. "Do you understand the words that are coming out my mouth" Chris Tucket to Jackie Chan in Rush Hour
7. The sword against revolver scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark
8. Any banter between Clooney and Pitt in Ocean's 11
9. Diner orgazm scene in When Harry met Sally
10. Buzz Lightyear
11. Robin Williams as Jinn
12. Jack Nicholson as the Joker
13. Tom Hanks jumping on the piano in F.A.O. Schwartz in Big
14. Han Solo shooting Gweedo under the table in Star Wars: New Hope
15. Pierce Bronson driving tank through St. Petersburg in Goldeneye
16. Timothy Dalton as Bond
17. Cheap chinese vehicle in The Fifth Element
18. "My Schwartz is bigger than your schwartz!" Dark Helmet in Spaceballs
19. "I am Rabbi Tuckman" Robin Hood: Men in Tights
20. "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
21. Eye of Tiger in the background in Iron Eagle
22. The tower fly-by in Top Gun
23. House lifted up by baloons in Up!
24. Han Solo: "Never tell me the odds."
25. "R2-D2 you can't die. Who's going to keep me company during nights." That phrase just proved something.

Ok, hard thinking has brought my mind to a grinding halt.

More to come soon.

Corporate purchasing

2011-05-03T07:45:00.001-07:00

My work laptop is slowing dying. I have ordered a new one with a bunch of other stuff.

First came the monitor.
Then came the headphones and a mouse.
After that I recieved the docking port.
(All yesterday)
Today came the new keyboard and the additional battery.

The new laptop is still not here.

Eleven years and counting.

2011-04-24T12:02:00.001-07:00

But I am not counting. Who cares about the years anyway? What is the point? Are we trying to shoot for some kind of a record?

All I know is that I have been very happy and lucky to know you for almost a third of my life.

Happy Anniversary Honey!

Week worthy matters

2011-04-14T08:29:00.000-07:00

Weird week.

Refrigirator died on Sunday morning, on Monday morning a service person came and told us pretty much that the fridge was un-servicable. it was only 4 years old. Damn you Maytag! On Monday evening we bought a new one and on Tuesday morning it was already installed, and merrily chilling away.

Post worthy? probably not, but I like the fast turnaround.

----------------------------------------------------------

About a month ago we participated in a school funraiser, offering anybody in the office a nice box of Fannie May chocolates for a donation. Unfotrunately only one person signed up, but the story is not about that.

Yesterday the chocolates were given to the 6 Year Old in school. She wasn't told, or didn't realize that the chocolates weren't for her. After a ten minute struggle with herself, as she said, she gave up, and opened up the box. She ate one of the chocolates. Which resulted in us having to buy a new box. Poor kid was really upset that nobody told her that she couldn't eat them.

I wasn't sure what do do about it. So I laughed a little bit, and try to explain to her the meaning of the words "somebody else's chocolates". A concept completely foreign to her.

A proud moment

2011-04-05T08:33:00.001-07:00

This week is the first time the 6 Yeard Old participated in a science fair. I helped her build a small weather station using some household items. I have never seen her more excited about an assignment before.

When she brought it over to her class, she looked so proud and tried to explain everything to her classmates before she even made it to class.

I don't know, I just feel proud of her and yes a bit of myself.

Special thanks to The Awesome Wife for pushing me a little bit on this, and helping us out.

TV Meme

2011-04-04T08:45:00.000-07:00

Electronic Cerebrectomy has posted a meme on TV watching. Can't pass that up, especially since I have nothing else to write about at the momement.

Once again, questions are taken from TV Tuesday.

1. What's your favorite sitcom?

Big Bang Theory at the moment. It just hits all the right spots.

2. Is there a sitcom you really don't like?

Not really, I've never got The Office.

3. Which sitcom did you used to like, but now it just seems too hokey?

Maybe Will and Grace or Friends, which I used to watch religiously.

4. If your life was a sitcom, what would the title be?

The IT Crowd (but i tyhink this title is already taken by a British Sitcom)

5. Did you watch any of the marathons running this year? In part? In whole?

I don't have time to watch marathons. Couldn't fit in more than 2 episodes into my schedule.

6. Is there a show you'd like to see run an all day marathon? On the flipside is there a show you'd avoid in marathon?

Kind of weird. I'd love to see Quantum Leap in it's entirety, or X-Files.

7. What show featuring those who protect your country (fiction or non-fiction) is your favorite?

I used to love Space Above and Beyond, and of course Stargate SG-1. Not sure about non-fiction shows.

8. Out of curiosity, what's the longest you've ever watched TV in one stretch?!

I can do 2-3 hours at a time.

9. Do you watch daytime talk TV? If so, which shows do you watch? Do you prefer the calm shows like Oprah or the wilder side like Jerry Springer?

I spend my time in the office. Is weekend mornings considered day-time TV? If yes, than anything on the Food network.

10. Which daytime talk TV show would you like to be on? What would the topic be?

None, god help me.

11. Is there a daytime talk TV show you miss that's no longer on the air? Is there someone you'd like to see get a daytime talk TV show?

Not really. Again I don't watch day-time stuff.

12. Before talk TV took over game shows ruled the airways during the day, which do you prefer? Or are you a soap opera fan?

When I was younger, and had time for it, I watched the price is right, and Family Feud.

13. Which TV Dad would you have most liked to have for your own dad? On the flipside, who was the TV Dad you'd have least liked to have had?

Al Bundy, maybe. All kidding aside he was cool, or Howard Cunnigham on Happy Days. The least? What was Bob Saget's character on Full House? From what I remember the character was whiny,and would rather have John Stamos as a dad.

14. Who do you consider the most realistic TV Dad? Who did you consider simply too good to be true?

Al Bundy was probably the most realistic dad, or Homer. Too good to be true, probably Alan Thick's character on Growing Pains.

15. Do you watch infomercials? Be honest now!

Sometimes. During weekend morning Food network viewings.

16. What's your favorite infomercial or infomercial product?

The bacon maker! Don't remember who or what sold it.

17. Have you ever bought anything from an infomercial? If so, what was it?

Yes. The bacon maker!

18. What's the stupidest (most annoying, most worthless) infomercial you've ever seen?

The onion chopper.

19. One of the latest trends in Daytime TV is re-runs of 80's & 90's hit shows, what is your favorite that's re-running now? If you don't have one which show would you like to see re-running?

Sometimes I catch StarTrek: TNG on BBCA. Don't have the time. Quantum Leap would be nice.

20. On the whole do you feel most Special Reports are really that special? Or are they simply annoying?

Nope, they put all sorts of crap there.

21. What special report has effected you most? (IE: (9/11, Reagan being shot...etc)

9/11 I would guess. I was trying to dial New York unsuccessfully for several hours. Scared the living crap out of me.

22. What's your fondest memory of something on TV?

I actually do not remember anything profoundly affecting me on TV. But my usual memory span is short, and very selective.

23. What's the first show you remember watching regularly?

Started with Spin Tales and Duck Tales, moved on to DarkWing Duck. Later on, I watched A-Team and Knight Rider all the time. StarTrek: TNG also.

24. What is the (pick one: stupidest, saddest, silliest, most disgusting..) thing you've ever seen on TV?

I sneaked on Jerry Springer couple of times. I remember the icky taste it left in my mouth.

25. What's the best series finale you remember?

I didn't like the TNG finale that much. I don't remember X-Files finale. Quantum Leap's finale was great. Boston Legal's finale was awesome. What could be a better testament to the crazyness and excellent writing than double weddings of Sack and Schmidt and Crane and Shore.

Mars Needs Moms

2011-03-29T07:37:00.001-07:00

Me and The 6 Year Old went to see Mars Needs Moms last Friday. She wanted to see Gnomeo and Juliet, but lucklily (or not) for me it wasn't showing anymore. For some reason I can not picture a good movie about a timeless story adjusted to modern sensibilities.

Anyway, I liked Mars Needs it has a very simple story and premise. Martians kidnap Joan Kuscak to use her in robot-mind-melding experiments. And the action ensues. The movie has a lot of action, it's more or less non-stop. There are a lot of effect that were purely done for the 3D experience with falling, flying, spilling, light kid friendly shooting (if there is such a thing) and so on. Most of the action is not scary and some of it is funny.

There is one small problem witht he movie. It goes for the realistic style of 3d rendering, instead of toonish. It gets creepy, because facial expressions a lot of times don't match or fail to catch up to what is being emoted. The effect I think comes from the consious part of the brain of the audience being in conflict in sub-consious parts. The brain knows that "actors" are not real, but it still tries instinctively to react to words and gestures. Some of it gets mismatched.

A good movie overall to see with your kids on a rainy day.

Movies reviews or some such...

2011-03-17T07:05:00.000-07:00

I know why I am not a good writer. I don't plan ahead. I don't make time to prepare what is it I wanted to sa. I don't jot down points, or think about what I am writing. I just sit down and write. The problem is, if the thought is not developed I end up with a single undeveloped sentence and not much of the story to tell.

I don't have stars or thubms up images, I'll just write the first thing that comes to my head.

I watched two movies recently. One over the Netflix on my Wii, another one on DVD.

Law Abiding Citizen. Encapsulated review: What a waste of time.

What is the idea behind this movie? Law is not perfect, I would guess. There are a lot of things in this movie that don't make any sense. I won't go into the detail, some people might actually want to see it I guess. But why would a movie "to-catch-a-bad-guy" all of suddent turn into the race to disarm a bomb. Anyway, lots of things in this movie don't make more sense than let's try that, that would be cool. And I am sorry, Jamie Foxx cannot carry a wise DA role.

The Social Network. Encapsulated Review: Good movie. Watch it.

I don't know if the movie is Oscar material, but it's an interesting and fun flick. Granted there were some liberties taken with the actual Facebook creation and dialogoes and ideas, it's a movie and it neds to play on emotion. What I don't like is the idea that young internet enterprenuers are pictured as douchebags and assholes, not all of us are. It almost seems to be a staple stereotype these days. But, I enjoyed the movie and I would advise to watch it.

Where are (were) they now.

2011-02-28T10:22:00.000-08:00

Have I been in a writing rut lately. Don't depair, even though I have little to write about I came up with a nice little musical number.

Here are The Valentines singing one of the most recognized songs, even now, Build Me Up Buttercup.

If you noticed in the background singing back-up for the song is this guy, late Bon Scott, by many considered one of the Rock-n-Roll gods.

It's interesting that rising pop-stars can become quite so rebellious in music.

Valentine Day

2011-02-14T13:54:00.001-08:00

I Love You! A lot! I mean it. I Love You Very Much!

On the nature of social networks

2011-02-14T12:34:00.000-08:00

I was recently thinking about my presense on the internet. I have several online accounts. I write the blog, of course, facebook, twitter, odnoklassniki.ru (Russian site for classmates), and somewhere lost in time myspace account.

It seems that some of the accounts have gone into the blackhole of internet. I only think I have myspace account. I don't tweet anymore because the 140 character limit is not enough for me. I visit the classmates sites only once or month or so to check if somebody I know has registered or left me a message, the email notoficiation system is all I need for that.

I also find myself at a loss for finding topics to write about in the blog. Sure, sometimes things strike my fancy, and I have more than a general grunt of displeasure or satisfaction in my head, so I write them down (like now). There is also the topic of kids and the funny and great things they do; the topic at which I fail miserably, since my attention span equals to that of a ten year old.

Recenlty, I find I gravitate more towards the facebook. It does everything I need as far as sharing some quick things, giving me instant gratification of having shared instantly across the distances so my friends know about them. I do more facebooking now than anything else.

So if you need me, have some courtesy, have some sympathy and some taste... er.. I mean knock to my face...book.

Careful what you say to your kids, part umptieth ...

2011-02-07T10:42:00.000-08:00

This is a little ditty the 6 Year Old Brought Home

I case you can't read it.

"I am like other animals because my dad says that I am a monkey because I act like one"

The stick figure on the left (assuming me) "You act like monkey"
The 6 Yeard Old (assuming on the right) "Gobble-de-gook"

I am a proud parent.

And I am done

2011-01-26T08:17:00.000-08:00

Finaly. Done and over with. Maybe in 10 years or so, I'll go back to school to get some sort of PhD. I remember dreading going back to school. I must say now, gruelling as it was, I've had a fair share of fun and met some amazinly smart people along the way.

I have taken 16 classes overall nd now I am going to list them all here and try to remember what I learned from them.

Executive Success Skills - this was a pure presentation and writing course, learning how to speak in front of people and assessing personal writing skills. One thing I remember is that I could be a heartless bastard. We've had a bad news presentation, and the topic was a faulty crib that killed a child. I was selected as the "CEO" of the company producing cribs. Someone asked a question of me how can the business continue when a child was killed, and I said something along the lines of "It's a horrible tragedy, but business is business." I have also converted half of the class into believing that Global Warming is a hoax.

Accounting For Decision Making - oh goodness me. I am always terrified of numbers (even though math was always one of my strongest subjects, thanks Dad). I remember little of the class, except that the instructor was an accounting drone, and liked to boast about his expertise at cost cutting. A true "mash potato MBA" course. I also learned the terms "knockdown furniture" and "pizza box furniture".

Effective Leadership - very abstract cloudy course about what it means to be a leader. The first course where we've taken a lot of self-assessment tests that forced me to look inside to see what kind of leader I could be, and what I can do with what I have. I remember registering as a high "I" in the disc assessment and it followed me through the programm. Yes, I do like to bullshit a lot, thank you very much.

Strategic Thinking - another excellent thinking course. A lot of work in this one. Again, to much delight of the others I have taken to blast the Global Warming. This course was about thinking and implementing a strategy. Take away "If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there."

Strategic Business Writing - that was a short writing course. It was helpful as I needed to be able to learn how to put business ideas into writing.

Advanced Presentation Skills - learning how to improve my bullshitting skills. Takeaway "Elevator ride speech" - 30 seconds to present an idea. Six minutes is more than enough for any presentation.

Quantitative Analysis and Survey Methods - worst class ever. I can see the reason for it, but I can't help it. Probablity and Statistical analisys were always my cryptonite.

Global Business & Cultural Diversity - an interesting if a bit isoteric class. Being born and living in a different country first half of my life, gave me unique, if a bit cynical, perspective on international business. It's not that I learned that different cultures approach business negotiations and dealing differently, I knew that already, it's the ideas on HOW to approach internetional dealings.

Microeconomics for Managers and Macroeconomics for Managers - I seriously hardly remember these classes, I might remember some of the economic topics at the point when I need them, but unfortunately no lasting impression.

Financial Management - another truly "drone" class. Takeaway, understanding various financial statements and ratios, which is good. Another one, beta is the most important number when thinking about investments, returns, and risks.

Strategic Use of Information Technology - all I can say is easy A. The class was online, and let me tell you something, online courses ARE the worst way of teaching. When you teach HUMAN INTERACTION is required. No memories or impressions of this course because it was online learning.

Innovation & Risk - very very very intersting course. Lots of isight why some companies fail or trudge along and some companies soar. Maybe our instructor was a little unhinged but he was passionate. Lots of people didn't like this class, I did. It's something up my alley of thinking.

Marketing - dealing with Marketing people on the daily basis I needed to learn what drives them. I realized that there are very few people who actually understand marketing and how to add value to the product and the majority just like to believe surevys and numbers.

Leading Organizational Change - another esoteric course on how to become a good leader. But this one is based on the science of leadership, i guess there are people who study it for a living. The thing I learned is change is tough, and most people don't take to it. To drive change you have to be either insidious or like a hammer.

Negotiations and Conflict Management - fun course if anything else. I am not very good at negotiations, I dislike conflict, and rather cut my losses sooner than waste time. Couple of major takeaways: When negotiating don't defent position, the other party will defend the position to the end, without positive results for both parties. Always have a BATNA - Best Alternative To Non-Agreement, or in layman's terms - know when to quit.

Operations Management - very grueling course with Littlefield simulation, basically no sleep for two weeks. But understanding of Ops is important. Takeaway - I don't work well with people who have OCD.

Strategic Management - very interesting course made so by our instructor. BSG-Simulation is the most frustrating way to develop working strategies. The course is all about executing strategies and how the strategies and visions form to drive successful business.

Overall I am fairly satisfied with the program. Nice collection of drone courses with those to open up the mind.

The only question is "NOW WHAT?"

Three and a half years past

2011-01-25T07:53:00.000-08:00

Wow, has it been that long?

Today is my last class. I may have to write a post about school just one more time.

From the mouth of a 6-year-Old

2011-01-11T09:50:00.000-08:00

- Honey, who do you want to be when you grow up?
- An animal doctor
- What are they called?
- Vegetarians.

Another case of being careful of syaing things around kids...

As we are seeing a small puppy.

- (Me) Is that a a beagle?
- (lady witht he dog) - Yes, a mix, but a beagle mix.
- (6 Year old) - Beagles are just small labradors!

Weekly update.

2011-01-10T10:42:00.000-08:00

There is nothing going on at the moment with me accept Studying and NFL Playoffs. The birthday was uneventful, and I think I didn't mind it being this way. I got some great presents and Thanks to all for giving.

Big upset over the weekend with Seahawks (a first team below .500 to make it into the playoffs) defeating World Champion Saints. Seahawks (I hope none of my readers are fans) are quite an unremarkable team. They are going to be facing my Bears this following weekend. I hope for the best, but upsets have been known.

Jets have defeated the Colts, another remarkable upset. Jets have been uneven all season, with Mark Sanchez having some bad days. For all their bluster, I do not see them defeating Mr. Brady and the Patriots in the upcoming game. Archnenemis greenbay are going against Atlanta, and this can go either way. I don't know who would I rather see Bears facing in the NFC championship. I like the fact that Baltimore is going to be facing off the Steelers. Two very tough defensive teams, but I think Ravens will win that game.

So, is it possible that Bears can go to the Superbowl. I think it is entirely possible. Bears have on of the top defences in the league. And the defence wins playoff games.

New Year.. no resolutions

2011-01-04T07:01:00.000-08:00

Well, Happy New Year everybody. We are back to our regular broadcasting schedule.

The family had an awesome staycation for almost two weeks. Spend a lot of time with the kids, going to see all of the winter festivities Chicago area had to offer. Very enjoyable time and I actually think I rested.

The New Year did not bring any unpleasant surprizes. I slept it off in the time given after the celebration. Although I think the hangover was quite severe.

I have about 4 more classes left to go in my MBA programm, and then I am a free bird. The only thing on my mind is how do I use it.

As the song goes.."The kids are all right"

Who the hell lost this one

2010-12-24T12:08:00.000-08:00

As I was coming down a speed bump yesterday, I contracted this little ditty in my front tire.

I just hope this part diddn't fell out of my car. I wasn't able to preserve it. About 150 feet from the autoshop it popped out of the tire, which started to deflate really fast. I was trying to get to the shop as fast as I could to save the tire. Which I did, to the butcher's bill total of $20.

Fun stuff.

The way it should be done...

2010-12-22T12:58:00.000-08:00

I don't listen to this specific kind of music, but after watching Sing-off. This is how this particular song should have been performed.

Acapella by the On The rocks. It's astonishing that these guys do everything without instruments.

Something I have recently noticed in the Wheel Of Time novels.

2010-12-10T07:53:00.000-08:00

I said before that I was re-reading The Wheel Of Time epic, because I realized that two new book of the series came out after the sad departure of Robert Jordan. The final books are co-authored by Brandon Sanderson, supposedly following the last notes of Mr. Jordan (of which there are 2000 some pages, so it is said).

The 11th book of the series is very close in style to Jordan, the 12th Towerrs of Midnight seems a little bit rushed. It is clear that Mr. Sanderson has to tie up a lot of loose ends to bring the book to the logical conclusion.

Going back to the topic of the post. I remembered couple of days ago that I haven't re-read one of my all time favorite series - the original Dune novels by Frank Herbert. As I thought of them, and remebered the contents, similarities between the two epic struck me. I understand that most books and movies are based somewhat on old Greek and Roman dramas, which are based on something humans don't even remember anymore, and there are rarely new plot lines.

But the Aes Sedai very closely remind me of the Bene Gesserit order. Without of course the sexual undertones. Rand Al'Thor is very closely described and acts as Leto Atredes II, and the plot line seem to flow in similar directions. It's difficult for me to explain, but if you have read both epics you would see the similarities.

And that's all, a revelation of sorts.

Out on vacation

2010-11-27T19:53:00.000-08:00

When I said I was out, I really was out. We went for couple of days to Vegas, with help from my parents. They have decided to help us out and came to spend some time with the kids, while me and the Awesome Wife partied and gambled the inheretence away.

We also visited Hoover ~~damn~~ Dam and I will post pictures of that. BTW, Zumanity is probably the best Cirque de Soleil show in existense at the moment.

Cheers!

Pulling stuff out of my ...

2010-11-17T07:50:00.000-08:00

I haven't written anything in two weeks. Maybe because I don't feel like writing about anything. So... let's BULLET POINT!!!!!

1. Da Bears are 6-3 and I don't really see them improving that much until the end of the season. They have a super difficult schedule ahead of them with Packs, Pats, Vikes, Jets, and Dolphins (second game in 5 days). But If they win 10 games, with the comparitevly weak NFC they could get a chance at playoffs. (wow a long football rant). If they don't DeAngelo and Lovie both will be gone at the end of the season. A lot of people think that the problem is them, but I would go higher and say that the McCaskeys need to move on.

2. I am in a yearly turning down point. I always take Thanksgiving week off, follow by the Christamas-New Yras week off. Me and the Awesome Wife are going to visit Vegas this weekend.

3. There seems to be a lot of classic cameo appearences at the end of season. Chuck has Linda Hamilton, Robert Englund, Summer Glau and Timothy Dalton appearances. Castle brought in Lyle Lovett.

4. I've decided sometime ago to keep track of all of the uses of my SmartPhone, that are a bit unconventional. Meaning, anything that has nothing to do with calling, messaging or emailing.

1. Using the flashlight feature to find pacifiers in the baby's bedroom.
2. Using the video player to entertain baby during mealtimes.
3. Taking pictures of weird cars.

From Cars

Got nothing else.

Last class

2010-11-03T11:49:00.000-07:00

The last class has begun. It's called Strategic Management. There is not a lot to learn, it's more of the Capstone course. Throughout the 10 session we'll be simulating a sports shoe manufacturing company in a role of the CEO.

And then I am gonig to be done.

Coming back

2010-10-26T10:45:00.001-07:00

I have spent a wonderfull if a bit tiring weekend in New Jersey, visiting family. My little niece who I have not seen yet, at 4 months is absolutely beautiful. My eldest niece, who turned 16 last week has grown so much into a young woman, it's hard for me to abandon the fact, that she is not a little monkey anymore. The middle one is such a sweetheart, taking her time entertaining my own 6 yeard old.

Everytime I leave I miss them all terribly and always look forward the next time I can see them all.

And of course it's always good to see my brother and my sister in law, and my own mom and dad. We don't see each other too often, and these visits however fun are short always have me battling melancholy for weeks after I come back to my own loving family.

Nothing is is expected

2010-10-19T11:28:00.000-07:00

I am in the rerun mood. All of sudden I remembered that there are three more books that are going to be written (two of them already released) in the Wheel Of Time series, so I am re-reading the first 11 that I have. I even think that I will buy the rest of them instead of reading them on the e-reader.

I have also decided to spend a little time rewatching Original Star Wars Trilogy (not the new release) and I will do that on my HTC EVO!

Conversations with a 6 Year Old

2010-10-15T12:02:00.000-07:00

- Daddy, we drew Mona today...
(taking a second before realizing who Mona is, and deciding to play along)
- Mona who?
- The girl in the picture, she is old
- You mean Mona Lisa?
- Yes, do you know why they painted people?
- No, why?
- Because they didn't have cameras!
- Daddy, do yo know that she was stolen two times, and one time somebody threw a coin in her, and it damaged her on the eye? (has that happened, I need to look up). But they fixed her, and put her behind a big glass. And you can't take pictures or it will ruin her.

(after telling her about Louvre and the paiting itself, I've tried to tell her what I've seen with my own eyes)
- Daddy, can we go to a museum, and to Paris France.

Eat that goverment space programms

2010-10-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

Chalk one up for the Space Flight.

Awesome! Sometimes I think that private spaceflight is the only way to get people up there.

If you can learn one thing ...learn Excel

2010-10-06T07:51:00.000-07:00

I am close to finishing up with the Operation Management class. We've been running a factory simulation for the last week. There are not a lot of knobs and buttons to push but enough for us to make couple of mistake and end up in the last place.

The toughest part was to comup with a good forecasting model. Even though the product was promised to mature after a certain amount of time, the simulation never did, and we've run out of capacity, loosing a bunch of revenue.

As far as Excel goes, we had a nice spreadsheet going and created couple of model, unfortunately none of them helped. I don't how how to make a nice forecasting model.

Chicklis is back on TV

2010-09-29T10:06:00.001-07:00

No ordinary family. I am definitely giving it a shot.

I have this itch to find and rewatch The Commish.

Just because

2010-09-26T18:05:00.000-07:00

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Fall TV Schedule Wednesday - Thursday

2010-09-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

Cougar Town is still funny in my opinion. That's as far as Wednesday goes.

Thursday. Very smart move by CBS to move Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men over to comedy night. They are still much better and funnier than critically acclaimed NBC's whatever.

Thursday night still holds Fringe for me, which is even freakier now with the setup they have runnning. The other parts belong to soapy medical dramas Gray's Anatomy and Private Practice, although I am kind of filled-up with them.

Fall TV Schedule Tuesday - Wednesday

2010-09-23T08:49:00.001-07:00

It seems that SGU is moving over to Tuesday nights, something I am definitely looking forward to.

I have yet to pass judgement on Detroit 1-8-7 it seems human enough, but I haven't seen anything gripping about it yet.

Wednesday night belong to comedy on Fox. Modern Family is as funny as last season. Cougar Town, I haven't watched yet.

Fall TV Schedule - Monday and Tuesday

2010-09-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

Well the Fall Tv season is upon us and I am scrambling to find the shows I am going to watch.

Some of the stuff I wanted to take alook at is hindered by the new season of Dancing With The Stars which our daughter loves, and I DVR it for her. Castle is of course the main course on Monday night and so is How I Met Your Mother and Two and a Half Men. There was a season premier of Chuck which I believe I will leave to Hulu viewing and a show called the Event. I haven't watched it, but I might give it a try. Although I am pretty tired of human dramas/thrillers with an supernatural undercurrent to drive the show's plot. For that I will have Flash Forward.

I haven't looked at Hawaii Five-O remake, I am not sure I would have liked it. Too many cliche's from the looks of it and not enough fun.

Nothing else struck my fancy on Monday night. There is of course football on Monday nights, but I will leave to a single Bears game this season (maybe it's two I haven't looked at the full game schedule yet).

Nothing is really going on on Tuesday, except maybe Glee, which I might also leave to Hulu. Warehouse 13 is done for the summer with tonight's episode. There is also something called Detroit 1-8-7 a new beat drama and maybe it's going to be good. I loved Southland, but it was dropped, and I need my fill of gritty cop shows.

Close encounters of the stinky kind

2010-09-17T07:11:00.000-07:00

I stepped outside yesterday evening on my deck. As I turned around I saw a skunk skulking close by. I think this bastard lives in the neighborhood, maybe even under my deck, I've seen him plenty of times. He saw me, froze and rose his tail. I saw that and as quickly as possible stepped into garage and closed the door. I think he also got scared and quickly shuffled off. At least he didn't spray.

Humans are supposed to be the kings of the environment, why is it that we are afraid of a small striped animal?

In the US tomato is a vegetable

2010-09-13T09:39:00.000-07:00

Ildly browsing through the Wiki (I was reading about scoville scale) I happened upon this article.

Nix v. Hedden, 148 U.S. 308 (1893)[1], was a case in which the United States Supreme Court addressed whether a tomato was classified as a fruit or a vegetable and decided it was a vegetable. The Tariff Act of March 3, 1883 required a tax to be paid on imported vegetables, but not fruit. The case was filed as an action by John Nix, John W. Nix, George W. Nix, and Frank W. Nix against Edward L. Hedden, Collector of the Port of New York, to recover back duties paid under protest. Botanically, a tomato is a fruit because it is a seed-bearing structure growing from the flowering part of a plant. The court, however, unanimously ruled in favor of the defendant, that the Tariff Act used the ordinary meaning of the words "fruit" and "vegetable" – where a tomato is classified as a vegetable – not the technical botanical meaning.

Random happenings

2010-09-07T06:25:00.000-07:00

I don't know if he does this often. Last night, as I watched the season finale of Leverage, I notivced that the episode was directed by none other than Numb er One, Mr. Riker himselft - Jonathan Frakes. Cool beans.

As our 6 Year Old delves deeper into reader on her own we are facing a problem. We want her to read Russian books. She loves Junie B Jones, Arthur, and Magic School Bus series of chapter books. But there is nothing like that in Russian. Never was to my memory.

We are struggling to find her russian books that would be fun and easy to read at the same time. Most of the old kids literature she knows by heart, and does not read as much recites from memory now.

I don't remember the books I used to read when I was six, but they were always written for somebody who was RUssian native speaker.

School begins

2010-08-31T08:13:00.000-07:00

The 6 Year Old is not the only one going back to school.

My class, Operations Management has already started. I have two weeks of on-line self study and the first in-class meeting is next Tuesday. I am already behind in my studies due to general life not letting me have a single moment to take a breath.

I have a book report due in two weeks. The book is called "Goal" by Eli Goldbratt. It's an interesting business read if you are into that sort of thing.

Happy Birthday monkey

2010-08-27T06:53:00.000-07:00

Hey, Monkey. Today you've turned 6. In monkey years that's 6!

Me and Mom love you very much even though we are, what may seem, hard on you sometimes. We don't really want you to change, we just wish you slow down a bit, so we can catch up :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Vacatrion Day 6 and coming home

2010-08-21T17:33:00.000-07:00

We visited Ripley's Believe it or Not exhibition in Myrtle Beach. It was interesting enough for a half an hour stroll. Lots of weird and odd stuff there.

On Saturday we are coming home. I can't say that we rested a lot but we definitely distracted ourselves enough.

Vacation Day 5

2010-08-19T16:19:00.001-07:00

Hmm, nothing has changed, but we did spent a greater time at the beach than the pool. Calabash is a method of cooking the food with a milk based batter. They like things battered here.

The amount of tattoos per capita astonishes me. But maybe it's a civilized east coaster/northwesterner snob that notices these things.

I am proud to say that I watched practically no TV these days, hwoever I did watch all the Harry Potter movies on my phone. Sadly to say I read almost nothing, as I decided not to bother my brain for the duration.

Vacation Day 4

2010-08-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

I think we are crazy. Forth day of routine get up go to the pool, come back eat lunch, sleep, get back into the pool is getting to us. I am getting antzy about going seeing something or doing something.

Anyway. Relaxing is getting me restless.

Sad really. That's why I can't do 100% lazy vacation. Not in my blood.

Vacation Day 3

2010-08-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

For some reason every self respecting sea food buffet in the area uses Calabash in the name.

From the Wikipedia - The calabash or bottle gourd or opo squash (not to be confused with the calabaza) is a vine grown for its fruit, which can either be harvested young and used as a vegetable or harvested mature, dried, and used as a bottle, utensil, or pipe. For this reason, one of the calabash subspecies is known as the bottle gourd. The fresh fruit has a light green smooth skin and a white flesh. However the rounder varieties are called Calabash gourds whereas the longer and slimmer kinds are usually well known as bottle gourds.

What reason is this plant is used in conjunction with sea food buffet? I know only one resident visitor who is from this area, maybe if he's kind enough he will enlighten us.

We also went to see an Alligator farm, it was blistering hot today of course, and we should have left this trip to a different day. However, we've seen some pretty big bastards.

Vacation Day 2

2010-08-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

The weather is beautiful. The ocean is warm, today is the beach day, nothing else.

I just realiazed while watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, that Voldermort's servant right of the front (leather coat crazy dude) is David Tenant of the Doctor Who fame. And Cedric something or rather is James Patterson (Twilight dude)

Vacation Day 1

2010-08-14T19:42:00.000-07:00

We've made it to Myrtle Beach. The weather is hot and humid. The accommodations are decent. The beach looks good from the 16th floor, although we haven't made it there yet.

Couple of bad things and good things already happened.

Alamo car rental is a strange company. My wife has made the reservations online and registered me as the primary driver. Strangely enough their system registered her as the primary driver with my driver's license information. All calls to fix the confusion resulted in them promising us that it will be fixed at the airport counter. Funny enough, my wife having the developer experience had to explain to them how such an error could occur. When we got to the airport, we've had no problem at all, and got a free car upgrade. Without even complaining. Kudos to the man at the counter.

Now, special kudos go to the Spirit Airlines person, who amid the confusion of boarding the airplane found our stroller among twenty others and retrieved the pacifier we left there. We could express our thanks enough to that nameless hero of the Aviation.

I can relax now...?

2010-08-10T11:26:00.001-07:00

Well, the five week gauntlet that was my latest class is over, with fairly predictable results. I am tired and don't feel like doing anything.

But hark, who goes there?

It seems that our little family has a vacation planned next week. This is a welcome turns of events. We haven't been anywhere, seems like for ages now. But before vacation starts there are things to consider and pack and launder and take and so on ad infinitum.

Maybe when we'll actually get to the vacation spot, we'll get some rest. Did I forget to say that we are taking both of our kids?

Happy Birthday Sweetheart

2010-07-29T06:44:00.000-07:00

Having surpassed me in maturity a long time ago, you finally caught up to me in numbers :)

Happy birthday.

I love you!

Something funny something cool

2010-07-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

The Soon To Be 6 Years Old

- Is Minnesota somewhere where they drink a lot of soda?

Now this was picked up by me on accident on the youtube.

It's a cover of System of a Down's BYOB by a group of celloists called Break Of Reality. Pretty cool

100 SF book list

2010-07-23T08:39:00.000-07:00

There is a list at Byzantium Shores of books all SciFi fans should read. Since I have nothing else to blog about, I'll do it.

Bold denotes read books, red denotes books I'm thinking of reading. I will also put some comments here and there.

The Postman – David Brin
The Uplift War – David Brin
Neuromancer – William Gibson
Foundation – Isaac Asimov
Foundation and Empire – Isaac Asimov
Second Foundation – Isaac Asimov
I, Robot – Isaac Asimov (to comment on all of them ,Azimov is the staple of Sci-Fi and all of his books should be read IMHO)
The Long Tomorrow – Leigh Brackett
Rogue Moon – Algis Budrys
The Martian Chronicles – Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury (too young when I read it to have any significant effect, maybe I should revisit)
Something Wicked This Way Comes – Ray Bradbury
Childhood’s End – Arthur C. Clarke
The City and the Stars – Arthur C. Clarke
2001: A Space Odyssey – Arthur C. Clarke (I remember reading it, and that's it)
Armor – John Steakley
Imperial Stars – E. E. Smith

Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card (Good first book, messed with my head,I don't remember reading the rest of them)
Speaker for the Dead – Orson Scott Card
Dune – Frank Herbert (Awesome books, love the whole Dune series done by F. Herbert, later works by his son are just OK)
The Dosadi Experiment – Frank Herbert
Journey Beyond Tomorrow – Robert Sheckley
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams (the same as Dune, the later books are less fun, but the Guide and .. The Restaurant are extreme fun)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick (I should at least read that)
Valis – Philip K. Dick
A Scanner Darkly – Philip K. Dick
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch – Philip K. Dick

1984 – George Orwell
Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonnegut (Should I read Vonnegut?)
Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut (I've never read Vonnegut either. What a hole in my literary life.)

The War of the Worlds – H. G. Wells
The Time Machine – H. G. Wells
The Island of Doctor Moreau – H. G. Wells
The Invisible Man – H. G. Wells (Yes, I read all of Wells' works, another great story teller)
A Canticle for Leibowitz – Walter M. Miller, Jr.
Alas, Babylon – Pat Frank
A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
A Journey to the Center of the Earth – Jules Verne
From the Earth to the Moon – Jules Verne
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea – Jules Verne (How can you possibly be a Sci-Fi lover and not read Verne?)
Old Man’s War – John Scalzi

Nova Express – William S. Burroughs
Ringworld – Larry Niven
The Mote in God’s Eye – Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
The Unreasoning Mask – Philip Jose Farmer
To Your Scattered Bodies Go – Philip Jose Farmer
Eon – Greg Bear (actually a very very very interesting book)
Jurassic Park – Michael Crichton
The Andromeda Strain – Michael Crichton (Yes, I've read most of Chrichton's works)
Lightning – Dean Koontz
The Stainless Steel Rat – Harry Harrison
The Fifth Head of Cerebus – Gene Wolfe
Nightside of the Long Sun – Gene Wolfe
A Princess of Mars – Edgar Rice Burroughs
Cryptonomicon – Neal Stephenson (I only wish it wasn't so long, I am still third into the Quicksilver four months after starting)
Snow Crash – Neal Stephenson
The Stars My Destination – Alfred Bester
Solaris – Stanislaw Lem (The same as Verne and Herbert and Azimov, LEM should be read!)
Doomsday Book – Connie Wills
Beserker – Fred Saberhagen
Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
The Word for World is Forest – Ursula K. LeGuin
The Dispossessed – Ursula K. LeGuin
Babel-17 – Samuel R. Delany
Dhalgren – Samuel R. Delany
Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes
The Forever War – Joe Haldeman
Star King – Jack Vance
The Killing Machine – Jack Vance
Trullion: Alastor 2262 – Jack Vance

Hyperion – Dan Simmons
Starship Troopers – Robert A. Heinlein
Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert A. Heinlein
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress – Robert A. Heinlein

A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle
More Than Human – Theodore Sturgeon
A Time of Changes – Robert Silverberg
Gateway – Frederick Pohl (Loved this book.)
Man Plus - Frederick Pohl
The Day of the Triffids – John Wyndham (My first ENGLISH book I read, meaning not a Russian translation)
Mission of Gravity – Hal Clement
The Execution Channel – Ken Macleod
Last and First Men – W. Olaf Stapledon
Slan – A. E. van Vogt
Out of the Silent Planet – C. S. Lewis
They Shall Have Stars – James Blish
Marooned in Realtime – Vernor Vinge
A Fire Upon the Deep – Vernor Vinge
The People Maker – Damon Knight
The Giver – Lois Lowry
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
Contact – Carl Sagan
Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand
The Fountainhead – Ayn Rand

Battlefield Earth – L. Ron Hubbard

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court – Mark Twain
Little Brother – Cory Doctorow
Invasion of the Body Snatchers – Jack Finney
Planet of the Apes – Pierre Boulle

I think I should reread some of the classics, or touch up on things I haven't read.

Getting old

2010-07-19T09:39:00.001-07:00

I am getting old.

Proof?

yesterday, instead of going to a late evening Iron Maiden concert, I have purchased tickets already, I decided to stay home and go to the movies with the 5-Year-Old.

And I enjoyed it.

Mozl Tov!

2010-07-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

For those of you in the loop will know what I am talking about, for those who don't, apologies but if you new my connection to them you'll figure it out pretty fast.

Congratulations you guys! We are very happy for you!

Lazy is as lazy does...

2010-07-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

I've been neglecting my duties as a host, largely to the fact that I have life going on on the other side of the keyboard.

WE are still dealing with the after effects of thunderstorms. The latest victim, that was falling in a two week long agony, is garage door opener. It failed yesterday morning with a burnt out logic board. Another $120 to the appliance service industry. We are still unclear what to do about the stove top, whether or not replace it ($600 at least, with a need to widen the marble counter top hole). The Wii I will take take tomorrow for repairs. That's another sum I am not sure about.

At least the TV is coming today and the furniture already came. Furniture was not a lightning storm victim, we've just decided it was time to utilize living room space in the house a bit better.

The furniture cam with it's own problem. We've asked the sales person in the store to separate the sectional so we can take a look. They said they couldn't. It seems that the chaise has hooks on the front to connect it solidly to the love seat. We have a strange configuration in the living room. We've purchased an L shaped two pieces and another chaise. What we did not know is those hook are located right there where they can bee seen, and that part is made of the ugly gray material.

Just another thing to fix.

A nice walk in the city

2010-07-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

My company yesterday hsoted a Townhall meeting addressing the impending merger. The meet and greet was held at the Catalyst Ranch, a pretty interesting place by itself, but this is not what this post is going to be about.

I took a shuttle bus (given to us) from our O'Hare office to the Merchendise Mart Office. After that we should have taken the bus over the place, but the weather outside was beautiful, it was only a half mile away, and I don't get out to the city as much now. I have decided to take a nice leasurely walk, and took some pictures along the way with my new HTC EVO.

A view from the Orleans/Franklin St bridge east, including a passing L,Corn Building, a part of Mart, and I believe the building witht he Wall is Encyclopidea Britannica Building.

A view from the Mart. That building does not have a specific name I think.

This is Mart's main entrance from across the river.

A vew from Wacker onto the new Sun Times building.

A view from Lake street bridge onto the river.

A view from the same bridge but with Sears (willis) Tower (black with white horns), Marchantile exchange and the Lyric Opera House (the big building).

This is a view from Lake street with Metra train pulling into the union station with L overhead.

And finally a view onto I90/94, nothing glamorous.

Fiscal responsibility and karma

2010-06-28T07:39:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything in a while, due to my blah blah blah..... Let's just say I've gotten a bit lazy. I have a whole bunch of updates, and most of them have to do with kids.

There were bithrdays, ballet recitals, and a good dose of cuteness to make you go "Awww!" until the rest of the summer.

The Almost ^ Years Old is now in summer camp and enjoying it greatly. They are spending half of their days in the pool, and the other half doing fun things, with field trips every week.

So, on to the main title.

The 5 Year Old couple of weeks ago went to the wave pool. We gave her five bucks to rent a boogie board for the waves. The smart child has asked another girls, who wasn't using hers anymore, and got herself a free board. When asked about the five dollars, she happily replied that she spend it on candy and ice cream.

Now what do the adults do?

Adults have finally decided to get smart phones. The Wife gets great discounts at Verizon, Sprint and AT&T. We've been grandfathered into T-Mobile for the last6 or 7 years, and decided it was time to switch.

We've chosen Sprint so far, because they give us 30 day money back trial. Of course we got HTC Evos. Maybe I'll write a review for it, but it's a nice phone.

So spending all that money, karma was bound to show up. The thunderstormgoing through our area has released some alien EMP over our house. The damage followed was following:

1. Burnt out AC adaptor for a portable DVD player.
2. TV set that does not accept signal from DVD player.
3. Burnt out Sat reciever.
4. Garage life gate (luckily fixed).
5. Possibly bricked Wii. Still checking on that.
6. Knocked off DSL/landline service, possibly until Wednesday.

Lot's of fun stuff to fix, look at, and if we are unfortunate enough to buy.

Innovation is key to progress

2010-06-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

This fancy looking tractor is designed to collect cucumbers in the fields of Belorussia.

And this is how it works...

Are you ready?....

Seriouosly?....

Ok.

Has it been that long?

2010-06-13T06:40:00.000-07:00

It quite possibly can.

I've been super busy. The last class is on Tuesday and my team is lagging a bit.

There's been a lot of milestones lately, and I don't like milestones. The take away the wonder of surprise and what's next.

Here's the 5-Year-Old graduating

And here's the Almost-1-Year-Old crawling.

What's been happening

2010-06-01T09:04:00.000-07:00

I have been deliquent in my posts and I have no reason. I've been lazy and busy at the same time. Yes, I can pull that off.

Memorial day weekend we went to Keylime Cove in Gurnee. Very fun place to go with the kids. Huge indoor waterpark for all the swimming fun. My favorite is lazy river. I think I would partake in any activity that had the word lazy in it.

I have a final paper and a presentation left in this class. I haven't written a lot about school lately, but this term was crazy. We've had conflicts with scheduling due to a serious illness of one of our instructors. It completely knocked me off the rail. I got to do some things much later than is usually permitted by my procrastinating schedule. Result? I am burning rubber this time around.

The class is called Leading Organizational change. It's an extremely fun and interesting class. But the subject matter is extremely abstract and requires a lot of soul digging and mind bending.

That's all for now folks. I have three more sessions, one of which I am planning to miss. After that I am taking a month break and returning to school for the summer. I think it's about time to speed things up.

Maya's first strike

2010-05-23T15:55:00.001-07:00

We went bowling on Saturday. It's a strike, I know I was too happy and jumped up before recording the last pin falling down.

Back with back

2010-05-18T06:21:00.000-07:00

My back gave out again last week. The problem with my back is that it does not give out when I do physical activities. I can carry around kids and other heavy stuff, play golf, climb tree and tall moountains and everything would be fine. But then, I can do something as simple as turn around and not able to unbend the very next moment.

I've decided to ride this one out, with use of heat patches and Ibuprofen, and not go to my chiropractor. The man's good, but he takes unbearable amount of pleasure in making you understand that hurting is bad.

Anyway, it's almost over.

Busy

2010-05-11T11:52:00.000-07:00

I've been busy all this week with school work and a weenkend trip to New Jersey to celebrate my parents' umptieth anniversary.

Great fun, although we are still very tired.

Nothing to see here people, move along.

Weekend update

2010-05-03T07:43:00.000-07:00

What has happened over the weekend.

I love the stores that own-up. I also love the stores where customer satisfaction seems to be the primary concern. Over the weekned I have purchased myself a new shiny toy. I've been feeling that I need a super portable computer. So, after much research I settled on a netbook, I need a something that I can do light computing on, and light enough not to regret lugging it around. The netbooks are pretty good right now, about as powerfull as a Pentium M.

I have bought a HP Mini 210 initally on Saturday. ABT matches any price of authorized retailer, and they often enough drop some percentages to boot. They had the base price based ont he fact that they promised a 9h battery life for the computer. However, and this is always happening to me, I've noticed that battery draining rather fast, and when paying closer attention to the box I saw that it indeed possessed a 3-cell lithium ion battery. The standard life for 3-cell is 4 hours max.

I called ABT expecting a storm. Instead the girl who sold us the netbook quickly checked her information, compared it with manufacturers information, and seeing an error on their part, apologized for the error and offered to give us a full refund without a restocking fee, or an ASUS Eee PC (a more expensive one) as a full exchange.

So now I have a Asus EeePC 1005, which really does have an amazing battery life.

And kudos to ABT for trating me as a valued customer (which they have never failed actually).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's another weekend occurence that I am not sure if I should be freaking out.
I guess it is in time for the Russian Victory Day. The 5 Year Old comes back this Sunday with a play-dough figurine from her crafts class. Upon my enquiery as what it is (although I CAN CLEARLY see what it is) she innocently replies: "It's a tank Daddy!"

Now, I am pretty adamant about keeping her away from certain violence and specifically war type imagery, but WTF? I was kinda lost for words, and let it slide not wanting to focus on the issue. I grew up as boy, playing imagingery guns and war games and so on, but have I become to sensitive for this?

I am not sure, if I should be feaking out or not.

Music meme

2010-04-28T11:42:00.000-07:00

Saw this on Jason's blog, and couldn't resist duoing a music meme.

1.What are you listening to right now?
For the last couple of years I find music distracting while at work. I don't know why.

2.What song(s) make(s) you sad?
I don't listen music to feel sad, or listen to music that would make me sad. Maybe it's sad by itself.

3.What is the most annoying song in the world?
"Beautiful" by James Blunt. Guhd what an annoying song.

4.Your all-time favorite band?
AC/DC. Very simple, does not matter lead by Bon Scott or Brian Johnson. Their style of rock appeals to me.

5.Your newly discovered band is?
I don't have one. I rarely listen to anything new. Can't find what appeals to me. Axis of Awesome is interesting.

6.Best female voice?
Tarja Turunen of late Nightwish. That girl has a set of lungs on her.

7.Best male voice?
Tough to say. Ronnie James Dio, Freddy Mercury, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Kipelov (from a Russian metal band I like), Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield of Righteous Brothers - take your pick.

8.Music type you find yourself listening to most?
I do mostly Rock-n-Roll of old, no new Emo stuff. Heavy Metal, stylings of old Blues Masters, and house or jam bands.

9.What do you listen to, to hype you up?
"Thunderstruck", something heavy along the lines of Kamelot or Aria or Sonata Arctica.

10.What do you listen to when you want to calm down?
No why would I want to do that. If I want to calm down I don't listen to music :)

11.Last gig/concert you went to?
20 Years of Nautilus Pompilius last month.

12.Band you find yourself listening to the most right now?
Still AC/DC, but I do like Rammstein recently.

13.Most hated band?
I am not sure I have one, or I haven't listened to them yet.

14.Song that makes you think?
Ain't That a Kick in the Head. Take a guess what I'm thinking?

15.Band that you think the world should love as much as you do?
AC/DC, although I am pretty sure they are loved enough.

16.Coolest music video?
There was a Russian band Nol' (Zero, Null) that did a clip for their ganja smoking song Idu Kuryu (Walking, Smoking).

Here's the link if you are curious. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aDRH2ic3Mw

17.Music video with the most babe watch?
I would agree with Jason about any ZZ Top video, or maybe Scorpions.

18.What do you play/would you play in the bedroom to spice things up?
I am afraid I'd start singing, that would certainly ruin the mood.

19.Can you play a musical instrument?
No. I did play Accordeon and drums in school bands.

20.Ever been in a mosh pit?
No. What's the point? How can one enjoy music there?

21.Are you in a band?
Nope.

22.Ever dated a musician?
No. Would I want too? No.

23.Do you wish yourself that you were a musician?
Absolutely.

24.Best chick band you know of?
Ashamedly I don't know any.

25.Last song that you heard on the radio/CD/etc.?
I think it was Green Onions by Booker T and MGs when I turned off the car.

26.What do you think of classical music?
I like some. I used to listen to LaCampanella by Paganini a lot. But mostly I prefer classical music that's been transformed to Rock instruments.

27.What do you think of country music?
Nothing.

28.What do you think of death metal?
I don't like it at all. Somekind of musicality is a requirment for me of any band performer. Death Metal does not come close. BTW Ozzy is not Death Metal.

29.Last BIG band that you saw live?
Stones couple of years ago in Concert. I maybe going to see Iron Meiden this year.

30.Are you a groupie?
No. Don't have the required length legs, nor required size boobs.

31.Do you listen to music in foreign languages?
Yes. Well, Russian is not really foreign. But I have listen to Europe greats like Joe Dassin, Toto Cutugno, Adriano Chelentano (probably spelling them wrong as well). Plus, there is always Rammstein.

32.What famous musician would you like to [enjoy carnal relations with]?
Jon Bon Jovi. Oh, wait.

33.Worst concert moment?
A fight at the Nautilus concert we went to.

34.Funny concert moment?
A dude puffing a joint at Depeche Mode concert, only to be shown the badge by a dude sitting right behind him.

35.Sad concert moment?
None.

36.Best local act you can think of?
Von Freeman. I wonder if he's still alive and playing at Andy's Jazz club.

37.If you were a musical instrument what would you be?
Contrabass, love the bass in Jazz.

38.Do you listen to the radio?
Occasionaly.

39.Do you watch music TV?
I get to watch VH1's top 20 once in a while. I also enjoy their Best 100 Things of whatever.

40.Do you follow the music charts, like the top 40?
Not really. What are they based on anyways? Sales? I don't care about that.

41.Have you met any famous musicians?
Nope, not really.

42.Are any of your friends/family/etc. musicians?
I have a good friend who is a sax player.

43.Song that best describes your feelings right now?
"Big Balls"

44.Song that describes your life?
I am not sure if I can pinpoint one. I usually listen to music, I try not to identify with it. But "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" by Dean Martin comes close.

45.Do you know the names of all the band members that you listen to?
Acutally no, most of the times I just know the leading men.

46.Does a musician’s physical attractiveness play a role in the music that you listen to?
Hardly, most of the music I listen to is made by some ugly bastards. Mick Jagger anyone?

47.What famous musician do you want to marry?
Yeah, thanks but no thanks.

48.Favorite movie soundtrack?
"Pulp Fiction" and "Swingers".

49.Any musician pet hates?
I think Bono is highly overrated.

50.What do your parents listen to?
I don't know. I rarely heard my parents listening to anything. Maybe Russian bards.

51.What are you listening to right NOW?
Dean Martin "Mambo Italiano".

52.Do you wear band T-shirts?
I have one AC/DC tea-shirt. But I prefer my shirts with Star Wars on them

53.Do you cook to music?
Sometimes, often enough we listen to music when having dinner.

54.Do you sing in the toilet?
I sing in the shower and that's all you need to know.

Ten is a relative number

2010-04-26T10:33:00.000-07:00

This Saturday me and The Awesome Wife has celebrated our tenth anniversary. For some people 10 is a big number, for some a small number. For yours truly it may be just a number.

Some sentimental fools will spout that their love grows over the years more and more, and the years helped them realize how lucky they are, and how they become appreciative of one another, and all of that in the same avenue.

No, not me. I don't measure the love I have in years. I am a different kind of fool or ijiot (honey you'll understand and we'll see at home).

I love my wife! I really do, I love her the same way I loved her when we've first met. This kind of feeling can't grow, it's just there, pure and simple. I really do appreciate my wife tremendously and I know how lucky I am to have met The Woman who loves me and accepts me regardless of my quirks and shenanigans (I love this word and was looking for a Long time to use it).

Our friendship has never really blossomed, it was right there from the start. She is my best friend and my confidant. We've complained many a times to each other that we have good, awesome, great friends, but we've never, since our marriage, had people who could have replaced ourselves in the role of our own best friends. We have each other and that seems to be working out greatly.

We gave each other absolutely beautiful children, two wonderful girls with the looks and personalities as different as we are from each other. Still they are a complete reflection of both us (yes The Baby does sport an awesome unibrow like her dad).

When you have found The One, 10 years might be just a convenient point in time to look back and think to yourself, how did I live before that.

We've also mutually decided to keep this day to ourselves. This is our Holiday, Mine and Hers, and nobody elses. It really is about us more than anybody else. While it could have been a nice reason to get together with our friends, we've decided to keep low key, getting a room with a pool, going furniture shopping, and spending some time in Pete Miller chomping down great food and listening to great Jazz.

And that is all folks. Nothing to see here, just a couple of people who've been and will be in love for many years.

Are aesthetics that important?

2010-04-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

First off, i stole this from Vince as it is perfectly represents my attitude towards iPad.

Printing from iPad.

Anyways. I have decided that I need a portable computer. I have my desktop, which I use for heavy-duty stuff like gaming or video making, but it sits in the office and I don't like to spend much time there. I watch TV in the evenings, and I would like to have something sitting on my lap (BE QUIET!) that I can casually look at, or read emails, or some such.

Problem is, I would like the laptop/netbook to look and feel good. I don't want heavy15 inches and I don't want to squint and jam my fingers at a tiny keyboard. I don't care about things like that with my desktop. I've build them year-in and year out, and usually end up with a black box crammed full of computer goodness.

Why is it that important that my portable computing device looks good?

An explanation of sorts

2010-04-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

I think I have a need to explain myself. Not sure where it will lead to, but organizing my jumbled feelings into something resembling a cohesive thought may actually help me understand myself. (After writing this sentence I understand why I will never become a writer, no patience for word organization)

Trying to pressure me into something with preaching is possibly the worst way to get me to do anything.

Let me give you an example.

A teacher at our 5 Year Old's Russian school has asked me recently why I didn't enroll said child into her Jewish History class. The teacher also has her for a Russian speaking class, which the kid enjoys, and they have a good relationship. I guess the reason for the question was when asked last week about the Holiday last week (Passover) The 5 Year Old happily said that it was Easter. This answer truly shocked the teacher. Since then (or maybe even before that), said teacher has been pestering me to no end (last Sunday I was at a loss for words and was pissed for the better half of the day) about my child's apparent lack of knowledge. I beleieve the teacher had actually made me even less wanting to do as she asked. Spite? maybe, but I rarely do things out of spite. It rubs me the wrong way.

Allow me explain something about my Jewishness. I know that I am a Jew. I know about the suffering and all the nastiness that comes with anti-semitism. I know why my parents took my brother and I to the USA (bless them for that). Maybe for these reasons, I am reluctant to expose my own children to that. I am not a religious person, more than that I am fairly anti-religious person. I have enough rules and regulations in my life without having a sleuth of additional rules imposed on me. I am a moral person, I follow the ten commandments even without acknowledging them as rules for life. Some people would consider me without a moral core, a godless wonder, or lacking soul. Well screw that. My parents are some of the moral people I know in my life, and they instilled that in me. Anyway, that is off the point, if I am still keeping to it.

Others have mentioned that you don't have to follow religion but you can learn about history and what makes the Jewish people what they are. Here is what I think. These teaching come from Torah, Old Testament and other RELIGUIOUS texts. I have never heard of anybody picking up a non-biased history book to teach history (do these books even exist)? In my mind Jews have been spread all over the world for so long, that motives have changed and adopted to the cultures they lived in, and you can not use a single text to teach the history of people. The only lesson that can be taught about Jews, IMHO, is that adaptability is the KING, and Darwin should have concentrated on humans rather than birds. Sticking to thousand year old text is a sure-fire way to decline, isolation, and eventual demise.

That was completely unreleated to topic as well. As I said, I have more feelings about it than rational thought.

I think my point is this. Let 5 Year Old be a kid. Don't burden them with religion. If she wants to have a christmas tree, why not, it's a beautiful tradition. If she wants to run around looking for chocolate eggs, why the hell not?

Religion and history mean accountability. The only thing kids should be accountable for at that age is properly wiping their behinds, washing their hands, brishing their teeth, and once in a while saying "I love you daddy/mommy."

Did that make any sense at all?

Scrambled thoughts.

2010-04-07T08:28:00.000-07:00

I must be getting old. Yesterday evening after the final Marketing presentation we went to a pub and I had a single pint of Kilkenny (awesome ale from the Guiness people). Overslept today, after a single pint. Sad.

As I watched an episode of Chuck online the final shot was that of Eiffel Tower in the window, showing that the characters must be in Paris. Here's my beef with it(why do I have beef with it?). The shot was shown as if the floor the heroes were on is above Eiffel Tower. The shot contained New Paris in the background of the tower. There is nothing on the other other side Elysian Fields avenue that is that tall. Anyways if I am wrong let me know.

We have two books for the next class: Jim Collin's From Good To great, which is supposed to a staple for businesses, like Jack Welch's book, and a book called Survival Guide in Corporate Culture.

We'll see.

April fools day

2010-04-01T17:43:00.000-07:00

Forgive the spaces but The Baby decided to join in on the creative wr iting process. This is unedited :) Spacebar is a BIG BUTTON!

One of the offices at work was filled with shredded paper, lots of it. It took them 8 big bags to clear out that stuff. I had no idea we were shredding so much. This is a company that is supposed to bring paperless healthcare to the patients.

My phone was smeared with some hand lotion. I discovered that about 11 o'clock when deciding to pick up my phone for the first time during the day.

All I can say now is that I don't have dry skin on my left earlobe.

Dinosaurs rule

2010-03-29T16:44:00.000-07:00

The 5 Year Old discovered a new type of dinosaur. Tickleraptor. It's the velociraptor that tickles.

Weekend happenings

2010-03-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

The Awesome Wife is starting her first day today at Peapod. The nice people there has send us a gift basket from Cookies by Design. I will post the picture later on.

A failed experiment on Sunday for dinner. Me and The Awesome Wife had a craving for sushi and she went to pick them up at a local Asian Supermarket. The 5 Year Old was at first excited at the notion of another asian cousine (she loves sweet and sour chicken), but once she saw the sushi she became her usual I-don't-want-to-try-anything-new-even-if-mom-and-dad-say-it's-the-best-thing-since--medium-done-steak self and refused to eat them. She picked one apart for a piece of salmon and the rice. She did try the weed salad, which in my opinion looks less appetizing. And ate couple of pot-stickers.

Overall, sushi for her will have to wait a little bit longer.

BBQed chicken

2010-03-27T17:12:00.000-07:00

I was always afraid to put the chicken on the grill. Thought I would either burn it or it will try out. Well, not anymore. We've marinated the chick breast with dijon mustard (my favorite) and after 10 minutes on the grill it was not burned nor dry.

Yum!

Oprah vs Sigourney

2010-03-25T06:51:00.000-07:00

I have recently watched Discovery Channel's episode of Life, and couldn't help but compare it to Planet Earth. The imagery is awesome of course and it's very interesting.

But I have a little problem with the narration. When Mrs. Weaver narrated it her voice was soft and carried a hint of awe of the nature. Unfortunately for me Mrs. Winfrey's voice is overwhelming the imagery and does not carry with it the subtlety required in the nature epic.

IMHO.

Busy busy busy

2010-03-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

I don't have time for anything these days. I've procrastinated enough that I have to finish a paper, a third of another paper, and a presentation all before next Tuesday.

I hate going into the overdrive modes, but I don't think I have much choice now.

Music genres accroding to 5 Year Old

2010-03-18T10:33:00.000-07:00

This is the whistling song.

This is the snipping song.

Marketing is not as bad as everyone claims for it to be

2010-03-17T08:04:00.000-07:00

I actually enjoy this class. The material is fairly intersting although a bit outdated. The cases that we have to work with are from early 2000s. Our group's project is a social networking website that allows high school athletes to advance themselves further in their favorite sport.

The difficult thing about being an exclusevly online "business" is that standard marketing channels do not apply. we really have no goods distribution it's all virtual.

Here is the logo that I've designed.

We are almost at the end, and I have two cases to finish plus the group presentation. They are actually going put us in front of a panel of proffession judges, to give us hell about our project.

Weekend Happenings

2010-03-15T07:29:00.000-07:00

Is this the first sign of getting old?

I take some pride in the fact that sleep is not the most important thing for me. My internal clock has never let me down. I can wake up to the minute of the time I need. Not this time. The time-change on saturday has knocked my clock off completely. I overslept today, I still can't wake up (being awake for 2 hours now). partially it is due to the fact that on Saturday we went to see this guy in concert.

And then of course spring is the time when all of the 5 Yeard Old's friends are having birthdays, so we went to two birthday parties.

One other thing that might need a post of its own. Couple of weeks ago The 5 Year Old came back from the kindergarden telling us that verything was created by God. Probably one of her friends with more religious parents than us, told her that. Now I didn't say they were wrong, I firmly believe that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and a set of beliefs, but me being a sneak, our bed-time stories have become an education in evolution and planet formation (to the best of my abilities). Surprizingly she knows a lot, although her 5 Year Old mind tries to skew things to her own understanding. You should hear a 5 Year Old explain the Ice Age sometime.

Anyway, I hope I can recover fast.

Pandorring

2010-03-10T06:39:00.001-08:00

BEcause I now have a "cool" phone I have decided to give Pandora a whirl. I used to listen to music while I worked. At some point it became distracting and I stopped. I think I am ready again.

I have started with AC/DC of course, which gave me "Shoot to thrill". The next song it opened up was "Rock you like a hurricane". Why?

- Based on what you told us so far, we are playing this track because it features hard rock root, a subtle use of vocal harmony, demanding instrumental part writing, and (my favorite part) dirty electric guitar solo

That's me.

The next honors went to Ozzy with "Paranoid".
The next was GNR's "Paradize City".
The next was Aerosmith's "Dream On"
The next was Queen's "Another bites the dust".
The next was Zeppelin's "Kashmir".

One of the common themes among descriptions was minor key tonality.

Wonderful selection. Me likey this.

A very unsettling thought

2010-03-05T09:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday i was watching Discovery's Planet Earth about deep ocean. A one point Sigourney Weaver has told me that there are crabs and shrimp in the ocean that feed of bacteria living on the slopes of underwater volcanoes, in temperatures of up to 400F.

This is very unsettling because it seems that there are crustaceans in this world that can not be boiled and eaten.

I say very unsettling.

I Like kate Micucci

2010-03-01T12:36:00.001-08:00

BART GOT A ROOM's William H. Macy & Kate Micucci's Ukulele Duet - watch more funny videos

I also like FunnyOrDie

Conversations with a 5 year old

2010-02-25T15:41:00.000-08:00

Kids Speak is now officially renamed to Conversations with a 5 Year Old, since they now more of conversations than just deep deep thoughts.

About a mile away from home:

- Daddy you can't go home now.
- Why?
- What if my tooth falls out. I don't have anywhere to put it. You have to go buy me a toothholder.

Some of her friends are loosing teeth already, and she's becoming obsessed with it. I don't have the heart to tell her, that my teeth came out very late and so did her moms.

Music is what connects

2010-02-18T07:44:00.001-08:00

I woke today with a theme from the Godfather in my head. Don't ask me why. Usually if I wake up with a song in my head it dominates my mood throughout the day.

But then i remembered a wonderful cartoon that was made by Russian animaters(animaterers, animationists?) in the 70's or 80's called Contact. Enjoy.