Friends at my place

Waterloo meets Boston

Sunset at baker beach

I love this city

Congratulations, Alex!

One of my best friends since I was 14, Alex Finlayson, is moving to the Bay Area!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is freakin' AMAZING news. Alex and I went to high school together and we were best buddies after just a few days in Grade 9 English class! We both ended up in Computer Science in University, and both spent a lot of time doing leadership training and motivational work with new students at our Universities. Our interests have been similar for quite some time, the clear definition being Mr. Kerr's OAC Electronics Interfacing class, which we both attended at Beal Secondary School as "roadrunners" from Central Secondary School in London, Ontario.

This is really fantastic news, and I'm really psyched to have another one of my best friends move out here to come to this area that has now very quickly become my home. The inspiration in the air, the entrepreneurial spirit, the keen sense of adventure... there is a lot about the Bay Area that freakin' rocks, and I'm daaaaaaaaang psyched that my buddy Alex is making his way over here. This really is the hub - so much of the computer, internet and technology revolution has happened (and continues to happen) from about a 50-100 mile radius from here, and maaaaaan it sure is exciting to be a part of it. I have no doubt that Alex will just love it here, and will fit in perfectly with the other ultra-motivated, driven, entrepreneurial people here in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.

If you know Alex, I'm sure he'd appreciate a word of congrats, and you'd better catch him quick! He's moving out here pretty soon.

He'll be working at Apple in Cupertino, on the iPhone!!

What a perfect job for him, and he's just gonna love it. Congrats buddy. Welcome to the greatest and most exciting area in the world for a Computer Scientist!!

Just bought the craziest shoes ever

Just when you thought my Red and White Ferrari Puma shoes were crazy...

I've seen these shoes before and they are totally INSANE! I love them, they are crazy, and I'm near to the only person in the world who could plausibly pull these off in a business meeting at work. Done.

I had a few giftcards sitting around, so this seemed like the best idea. :) Found 'em on sale ('cause seriously, who would buy these except for Mike Jutan?)... great deal.


adidas centennial lo oddity

Attack of the packing peanuts

An explosion. Of awesome?! Note that this post was sent from mobile phone! :-)

Finaaaaaaaaaally solved the multiple photo upload problem

I use Blogger with Picasa exclusively. This should work like it used to back in the "Hello" days where you could send a stack of captioned photos to your blog in 1 swoop. Thus photoblogging became awesome.

Picasa has an annoying "feature" where you can only send 4 images at a time, per post, to your Blogger account. After suffering through tons of manual photo re-sizing while on the road in Europe in 2007, and multiple crazy length posts with like 30 photos since then, I've FINALLY found a good solution to solve this issue.

You still can't caption them, but this is close enough!! Saves literally hours of wasted time selecting 5 images at a time manually, and hoping they get into the document correctly, pretty amazing stuff!!

The secret is: get a Mail2Blogger Blogger email address. This is an email address with automatically converts your message (and photos) to a draft post in Blogger. So you select all the images you want in Picasa, and Picasa resizes your images to 800x600, then it uploads the whole lot of them with room for captions. This is an amazing discovery because it'll save me ages of time on my next trip. Great stuff!!

Tilt-Shift Video

This is sooooo coooool. Tilt-Shift lens on a Digital SLR... gives this cool minature feel... amazing!!


Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Aparment is coming together...

The new place is coming together pretty well. I still have a lot of work to do here, but I managed to get the desk together this afternoon (actually, it was a lot easier than putting together the futon)... but then took about 1 1/2 hours trying to get the supports onto the desk.

Then magically, Frank and Jess came by for a visit and Frank the master craftsman took one look at the desk and affixed the metal supports in about 2 minutes, it was absurdly amazing. That was great and really helpful! Then finished the like 6 loads of laundry I did (re-washing everything again that was in the old musty chest-of-drawers)... so everything is much fresher now.

So that's pretty great. Gonna go fold a bunch of laundry now, and try to pack up the suitcase so I can put together the chest of drawers tomorrow (or soon) and then I'll be pretty much sorted out here in the new place.

Once the new computer is rollin, then I can finally take some pics of the place and blog how awesome it is.

Some comments on the Extended vs. Aired edition of the Jon Stewart/Jim Cramer interview

Aired Comedy Central interview here:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=220536&title=jim-cramer-pt.-1
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=220538&title=jim-cramer-pt.-2
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=220539&title=jim-cramer-pt.-3

Extended Interview here:
http://blog.indecisionforever.com/2009/03/13/jon-stewart-and-jim-cramer-the-extended-daily-show-interview/

This extended interview is a LOT better than the one that was aired on ComedyCentral. I am a heck of a big Jon Stewart fan, but one thing I think The Daily Show needs to be very careful of is walking on the thin line between exciting, riveting entertainment and true journalistic commentary. Jon always talks about how noone needs to take him seriously because his show comes on "after puppets making crank phone calls" - and while it is true he is on a Comedy network, we ALL know that we DO take Jon Stewart seriously. If he was on CNN I'd watch him just as much as I watch him now, and I'd respect his opinion just the same as I already do.

One issue I see though is that there is (at least in my mind) a fair bit of discrepancy between the aired interview and the extended "full interview". The aired one makes poor Jim Cramer look like he's more often fumbling for his words, and it, in a way, focuses more on the old clips that Jon rolled and how they seem to throw Jim Cramer off track.

So my gripe is not with the interview, Jon's passionate response to the markets or the "shenanigans", or even that Jon brought up some old clips to shine some light on his thesis for the interview. My gripe is that the EDITING of this interview for TV removed the context of some of the back-and-forth... it seemed to me that when it was aired (i.e. the version that MOST people saw), the point of the editing added a much larger embarrassment factor for Jim Cramer. This is just the kind of "sensationalizing" that Jon Stewart always says he hates, and one of his major criticisms against CNBC, too. I just think The Daily Show needs to be extra careful not to fall victim to a similar problem that they are criticizing other networks for doing. The American public is not stupid - and we don't need the extra emotional factor added - just give it to us straight, Jon!

On the other hand, I appreciate that during the Comedy Central airing they said you should come to this site to see the Extended interview, and that's exactly what I did. I understand it needs to be cut for TV airing time, but there's no need to make the guest look weak unnecessarily due to some careful editing.

The full uncensored Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer interview

This was so intense.

http://blog.indecisionforever.com/2009/03/13/jon-stewart-and-jim-cramer-the-extended-daily-show-interview/

Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer

Oh man, this interview was intense.

After a week of bad-mouthing the CNBC network, Jon Stewart had Jim Cramer on his show. What resulted was an absolutely intense, 30 minute power-slam from Jon Stewart. It seems to me that the news networks pretend that Jon Stewart is "just a comedian", and that since his show is on Comedy Central, somehow that means he can't hold his own in purely intellictual arenas... I tell ya - he even outdid himself this time.

The main purpose of the interview was to try to hash out some of the details about why CNBC touts itself as a business news network and Jon Stewart argued that the network was "in bed" with the seedy Wall Street underground. He talked about the disconnect between long-term pension fund growth from regular Americans, and speculative/risky short-term stock trading by Wall Street "insiders" which rests on the shoulders of the regular Americans who want to protect their future earnings.

This interview was ABSURD!!!!! I feel pretty darn bad for Jim Cramer - it was almost of Jon Stewart vs. the Crossfire dudes proportions... totally nuts. Jon Stewart was SO angry. Just one punch after the next. Jim Cramer didn't stand a fighting chance. Also I should note, it was a good "interview" - though it was really more like a very well-researched, "intellectual rant" than a 2-way conversation. Jon Stewart just ploughed him down. Whether or not he "deserves it" is a totally different story. The video clips were brutal though - just so harsh and such an awkward situation...

New Mac Mini!

I MUST be busy. How the heck did I miss this announcement?

http://www.apple.com/macmini/

Last week Apple announced new Mac Minis!! This is great. I was planning on getting one of these last year and they have improved it in a few ways that benefit my current setup. They now have 2 display outputs, a Mini-DVI port and a Mini DisplayPort. Both can output to DVI or VGA which works well for output to my new LCD TV (which has inputs for HDMI or VGA), and for output to my 2 LCD monitors. The cool thing is that now the MacMini natively supports 2 monitors, since I will obviously want to get a KVM switch (or, actually, probably the software solution "Synergy") and use the Mac Mini and my Windows Dell Desktop on with the same keyboard and monitor setup.

So why else is this cool? Well the potential for more iPhone Development is obviously awesome. But the other cool stuff is that it comes with iLife, which includes RockBand and iMovie and some other really great software packages that I'd love to use.

It has 802.11N wireless which is good (guess I eventually need an "N" router, then) and some other nice features like 5 USB ports on the back. I could see using this as a sort of DVR if I could get a TV Tuner for it somehow and hook it up to my cable. Or more likely I'd connect my desktop to the cable and then stream the DVR-captured TV shows from the Desktop over the wireless network (or wired network, more likely, for speed issues) and output it directly to the TV. The other cool thing is that sites in the US like Abc.com offer HD Streaming on tons of their shows. Since this has a reasonably decent video card now, it could probably handle output to my LCD TV pretty well, and that would mean free (with advertisements) HD streaming LOST episodes on my sweet TV. Interesting possibilities!!

So anyway this is a great invention, and I could definitely find some great use for it. Also with my friend's discounts, I can get quite a good deal on this little guy, so it might be worth it for sure!

So there's a lot of general computer stuff to set up before I could have that crazy streaming-to-the-TV setup, but I think I could make it work. Also other cool options like renting a movie on iTunes and then watching it on my TV would be quite easy to work out.

This is pretty cool and exciting, and I'd probably get just the cheaper Mac Mini, but upgrade the RAM to 2 Gb instead. That takes it to $649 before a discount, which isn't too bad.

Unfortunately I also have my eye on another cool toy, the new Canon Rebel Digital SLR camera which is possibly coming out soon. That looks awesome, and I'd really like to get more into Digital Photography before I go traveling again. That'll be awesome, but it's gonna be about the same price as the Mac Mini, so I'm going to have to hold off for a while on both of these things and save up a lot. But anyway, lots of cool toys lately, and this one is particularly interesting in the realm of "wiring my house" for the "digital content revolution" - or something to that effect. :)

Pandora Radio frickin' rocks

So "Pandora", the online music radio, is absurdly good. I don't have my new desk ready yet, therefore I don't have my new computer up and running yet, therefore my Mp3s are who-knows-where, and I don't even have a stereo system yet, therefore I presumably have no way to play my beloved Dave Matthews Band, right? Wrong! Enter this glorious Pandora radio awesomeness.

I thought that was a reasonable backup plan, and I figured it couldn't be too bad, right? Anyway, it's like glorious. It's what I've always said - wouldn't it be great if I had a radio station with NO COMMERCIALS that also played pretty much ONLY Dave Matthews?! And... problem solved.

This is amazing. I'm on the "Dave Matthews Band Channel" which plays literally a DMB song every OTHER song. They are interspersed with other very very very reasonable Jutan-friendly artists: Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Counting Crows, Bush (Acoustic "Glycerine??!?!?!?!?!"), even some Pearl Jam and some other kinda chill stuff that would literally be the EXACT kinda stuff I'd choose to listen to anyway. This is amazing.

I am blown away. Who else in the world has my exact taste in music?!?!??!?! Well played, Pandora Radio, well played. Apparently the "Music Genome" project tested a sample of audience which included the Dave Matthews-obsessed and discovered that these key specimens also like other chill/sick jazzy blues-rock from artists with incredible talent, artists who are great on their studio albums but like absurdly awesome when live. I don't know how you'd quantify that as a specific musical taste, but apparently there is some underlying method to my musical-interest madness.

Neighbourhood-y

This new place is freakin' awesome. I can just call friends and wander over to a coffee place when the weather is nice (like right now). My old place felt so out of the way, so removed from being close to friends and stuff. This is so much cooler now... I feel like I have an actual neighbourhood now... this completely changes my weekend plans, my social life, everything. I love this new place for like 10,000 reasons.

Operation De-Chubbify continues

Good news, still on track...

Created by MyFitnessPal - Easy Calorie Counting

Zen Bound iPhone App

This is nuts. This app is from a friend of a friend from work... this is amazing. Really pushing the limits of graphics capabilities on the iPhone... pretty impressive work.


Zen Bound iPhone App

JogDial - My buddy Nathan's iPhone App!

Hey all,

My insanely talented buddy Nathan Matsuda just released his first iPhone App.
Check it out!
http://www.nathanmatsuda.com/jogdial/

"JogDial turns any iPhone™ or iPod Touch® into a scroll wheel for your Mac.®"

Pretty amazing stuff, and he's got a Client App that talks to the iPhone App... very cool stuff.

Description from Nathan:

It's just a jog dial, like you'd find in a professional editing suite, except it's on your iphone screen. I just set it next to my keyboard to scroll through clips while I'm editing in final cut. Much easier to find a specific frame then arrow-keying through or whatever. It also works well for navigation long lists of things, like songs in itunes (since it works like the ipod clickwheel), or photo albums.

Sharp website, too!
You can download it now in iTunes here for only $1.99, and support Nathan's work!

Sweeeeeet Lego Wall-E!

Thanks for sending this, Noah! Super cool.

http://www.e-klocki.com/2009/01/13/motorized-wally-from-korea/

My buddy Bill is famous

Booyah!

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/02/24/whats-in-the-bag-win.html

Meshugene Men

Check this out! My buddy Rob is a writer for Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" and his work is always frickin' HILARIOUS. He wrote the "Jewno" movie last year around this time (parody of "Juno") which was just amazing. This year, Rob comes back with another instant classic, "Meshugene Men". (Parody of "Mad Men").

If you're in NYC Monday March 9th, you should check out Rob's show! (tickets at http://www.92yTribeca.org)


Meshugene Men

My hotttttttttt new TV

I've thought for a little while that having a big, fancy TV was a huge extravagance - it seemed kindof unnecessary and just a little overboard. So I got an old school Sony Trinitron XBR 36" CRT TV from a colleague and hauled all 216 lbs of it into my old aparment. For the moment, I was fine.

So I thought, "I don't need a flat screen, I've got a beautiful picture right here! I've got excellent contrast and glorious colours and sharp blacks and strong reds."

Then I had to move to a top-floor San Francisco apartment with no elevator in the building... and try to determine how many Computer Graphics nerds does it take to haul a 216 lb, front-heavy beast-of-a-TV up multiple flights of stairs. The answer? Get movers.

But the plot thickened, because movers were going to be $400. Ouch. I decided instead to recruit some kind friends and get a ZipCar Toyota Tacoma truck, and lug all my stuff on a day with impending rain... but it was all a complete success. And I sold that darn TV on craigslist and got one guy and is 2 poor buddies to lug the thing outta my old apartment (which was the main floor, thankfully).

Now onwards and upwards. So I modified my original ideas, and decided that LCD TVs weren't just for people with money to waste... it was for people who didn't want to pay $400 to movers every time they wanted to move apartments and had to move a TV of sumo-wrestler proportions to their new home.

After some massive research, emails to friends, reading articles upon articles on CNET, referring to Consumer Reports, talking to co-workers and family and friends... I decided actually against the Samsung LN40A550. I was pretty sure I was going to go for that and turns out when I looked at it side-by-side with the S-Series and V-Series Sony Bravia's at BestBuy, I was not too happy with some of the pixellation that was happening from the source channels. The picture in even the cheaper Sony seemed to be "cleaner" (that's the S-Series) though the colours didn't seem as vibrant in the S-series Sony. Anyway, the pixellation artifacts really bugged me in the Samsung LN40A550, and so I looked at the upgrade one, the Samsung LN40A650, which was almost $1700... and the picture was a lot better and sharper in that one. But it was pretty expensive.

Soooooooo... long story short... the Sony Style store downtown is closing. They will sell their stock and their floor models for a ridiculously amazing price. I ended up getting an absolutely ridiculous price (like 55% off MSRP?!) for the Sony V-Series. Since the deal was so good, I went up a size and got the 46" TV... the KDL-46V4100!! It is gorgeous. It looks AMAZING, the quality is great, the size upgrade from my old 36" CRT to the new 46" LCD is massive. This looks just amazing, the local free HD channels look amazing, and I can't wait to watch some movies on this awesome TV!!

So far there are some amazing features, the menuing system is very, very good. It is clearly modeled after the PS3 system (also by Sony) and it is incredibly simple and efficient. The TV itself looks great, and the quality is awesome. I believe this model has 60Hz Sony "MotionFlow" - the frame interpolation stuff, so I doubt I'll use that all that much... I didn't really like it when I saw it running on the James Bond trailer at the Sony Store... I agree with what some people say, it looks pretty weird.

Anyway this TV is just amazing, and I'll blog some photos soon. I now am officially impressed with large LCDs... as long as you get the deal-of-a-lifetime on them. ;)



Soooo hot. Here are some of the specs.

46" BRAVIA® V-Series LCD Flat Panel HDTV
Model Number: KDL-46V4100
V-Series features: Full HD 1080p, BRAVIA Engine 2™ , Advanced Contrast Enhancer circuit (ACE), 24p True Cinema capable, enhanced XMB™ user interface, BRAVIA Sync capable, piano black gloss finish
(Screen size measured diagonally.)

This is HD done the Sony way. The awe-inspiring KDL-46V4100 brings 1080p picture quality home with amazing, Sony-exclusive features like the XMB (Xross Media Bar®) with 3D graphics, DMex capability so you can add functionality to your TV, and technologies like ACE (Advanced Contrast Enhancer) and BRAVIA Engine 2™ for impeccable picture quality. Add to all this a sophisticated, piano black design, 24p capability so you can get the most out of the movies you watch on Blu-ray Disc™ and DVD media, four HDMI™ inputs along with three other HD-capable connections, and you have a TV that dreams are made of.
16:9 Full HD 1080p

16:9 Full HD 1080p resolution panel (1920 x 1080) accepts any HDTV signal and renders them with optimum resolution.
Motionflow 60Hz technology

Motionflow 60Hz technology allows you to enjoy movies and prime-time TV (film-based content) with a clarity and resolution in motion that will spoil you. Sony’s Motionflow motion-compensation algorithm identifies film content and removes “judder”. That means you'll get a clearer picture during sweeping pans with reduced visible jerking or stuttering.
DMeX™² functionality

DMeX™² functionality lets you expand your HDTV’s capabilities by connecting optional BRAVIA® Link Modules, such as the DMX-NV1 BRAVIA® Internet Video Link module (sold separately).
Enhanced Xross Media Bar™ (XMB™)

Enhanced Xross Media Bar™ (XMB™) makes it simple and intuitive to navigate the television's menus, controls, and user settings.
TV Guide Interactive Program Guide

TV Guide Interactive Program Guide is integrated into Sony’s exclusive Xross Media Bar™ user interface to deliver continually updated program.
BRAVIA® Sync™ capability

BRAVIA® Sync™ capability combines the one-touch access and control functionality of BRAVIA® Theatre Sync™ with the ability to control CEC-enabled Sony® Handycam® camcorders using the TV’s remote and an on-screen display.
HDMI™ and PC connectivity

HDMI™ and PC connectivity transmit both uncompressed digital video and multi-channel digital audio on the same cable for maximum versatility. (4) HDMI™ inputs deliver up to 1080/60p input capable video content. Additionally, a PC input1(HD-15 pin) offers up to a 1920 x 1080p connection to your PC so you can use your HDTV as a computer monitor.
BRAVIA Engine™

BRAVIA Engine™ fully digital video processor significantly reduces noise, enhances overall image detail, and optimizes contrast.
Advanced Contrast Enhancer (ACE)

Advanced Contrast Enhancer circuit (ACE) dynamically controls the backlight improving contrast and resulting in deep blacks in dark without losing fine details in shadows and other dark areas of the picture.
24p True Cinema mode

24p True Cinema mode enables you to enjoy films at their intended 24 fps (frames per second) when viewed using a 24p capable output device, such as a Blu-ray Disc™ player.
S-Force® Front Surround enhancement

S-Force® Front Surround enhancement function generates realistic, virtual three-dimensional “surround sound” from the two speakers in the TV.
Favorites function

Favorites function features rich graphics capability that makes it easy and fun to quickly access video content.
Voice Zoom

Voice Zoom extracts the "center" sound (where the human voice is positioned) so you can control the volume of commentators.
VESA® compatible hole spacing

VESA® compatible hole spacing uses an industry-standard mounting hole pattern that can be used with VESA-compliant mounting brackets.

Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King

hahaha awesome.
From the Dave Matthews Band website:

DMB ALBUM TITLE ANNOUNCEMENT!

You heard it here first, the next Dave Matthews Band studio album, scheduled for release on June 2, 2009 will be titled Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King.

Haha, I'm a WonderCon "Attending Professional"

This is super cool! I signed up as an "Attending Professional" for WonderCon this year in San Francisco, and I'm on their website!!

WonderCon once again welcomes an incredible list of attending professionals from all areas of the pop culture industry, including comics, films and television, animation, toy and action figure design, illustration, video games and much much more.

http://www.comic-con.org/wc/wc09_pros_list.shtml#J

Pretty sweet!
I think it's gonna be pretty fun, despite the obvious nerdiness of going to a comic book festival, there are gonna be a frickin' truckload of frickin' awesome toys there!!!!!!! I bet they'll have the Big Lebowski figures... those would look good on my desk at work. :)

Researching LCD TVs

Spent a bunch of time tonight reading up about LCD technology and trying to figure out which TV to get.

This is a pretty is a pretty interesting article from CNET: "Six things you need to know about 120Hz LCD TVs", pretty cool stuff. Seems like this anti-jitter technology may or may not be good, some people like it and other people think it is doing to much post-processing to the image from a movie, thus modifying the director's intent for the film. Interesting points on both sides. I think I am just gonna have to go to Best Buy and the Sony Style store and see what it looks like in person.

So far I think I've narrowed the choices down to 3 awesome options, they all look good, and I'm gonna have to see if the 120Hz and smoothing options are worth it, or not.

• Samsung LN46A550 review on CNET
• Sony KDL-46W4100 review on CNET

So I think it's come down to one of these 3 options. They all cost about the same amount.

• Sony Bravia W-Series KDL-40W4100 40-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV
• Sony Bravia V-Series KDL-42V4100 42-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV
• Samsung LN46A550 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

The W-Series has the Sony 120Hz MotionFlow smoothing function, which is new, but may or may not be good. I want to see what that looks like in person. If I go with that one, they are more expensive so I'll go with a 40" one. The next is the Sony V-series, which is 60Hz, similar presumably to the Samsung A550 series. That's 60Hz so it's cheaper, and so I can get a 42" for about the same price. I am also interested in the Samsung. Those are more affordable, and it's a 60Hz too, so for about the same price I can actually get a 46" one. Gonna have to just go downtown on the weekend and watch a bunch of TVs to see what I really like.

The Nerd Handbook

My buddy Matt just posted a link to this, and I thought I'd post one too... The Nerd Handbook.

This is frickin' interesting. It's a very good article and it points out some pretty interesting quirks and personality traits that you often see in someone with nerdy "leanings" such as, well... me... :)

I agree with Matt that a bunch of this stuff doesn't totally match up to every "nerdy" person. :) For instance, it says how nerds hate small talk, and how they don't like presenting to crowds or meeting new people, or traveling...?!?!? I definitely, certainly, love all of that stuff... a LOT. So I guess I'm not 100% nerdy, so that's a good thing I expect.

I loved the part about recognizing humour potential, and "scanning past experiences" for witty comments to make. Haha, that's awesome. The part about an unquenchable appetite for information is defffinnnnitely true (as well as the part saying "nerds have moderation issues") :) I have been known to spend 10 hours on my computer just reading and reading and reading.. even after a long day at work... crazy business. Yes, I am trying to achieve more moderation in my life, but it's tough!! When there is so much information out there, and so much of it is interesting... it's hard to turn off and just go sit on the couch and read a book.

The best part was about the "relevancy engine" - haha. I definitely do this all the time, and so does my Dad. You can be talking to me for a while, and it's quite possible that my mind is on something completely different than what you are talking about. I'm not being rude - it's just the "relevancy engine" kicking in, and my mind is wandering back to something I saw earlier that day, which reminded me of a lecture from University 6 years ago, which reminds me of some street sign I saw in Australia 9 years ago, which reminds me of what someone told me last week... which sparks an idea for a new iPhone app. :) This was a really cool article about the "nerd's mind" and I think a good part of this is quite (ahem)... relevant. :)

Wall-E wins Best Animated Feature!!!!!!

Oh maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-oscaranimatedfeature23-2009feb23,0,498059.story

Wall-E won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature!!!!!!!! 2 for 2, baby!!!!!!! ;)

This is just so incredibly exciting. It was SUCH AN AWESOME MOVIE, and I am convinced actually it was really one of Pixar's best films - it's certainly one of my favourites.

It was a dream come true to work on such a freakin' cool project, and I'm really grateful that I was given the chance to test the "technical director" waters, try my hand at the artistic and technical art-side of the job, and get my hands "dirty" with some 3D trash (literally) and get to work on Modeling and Shading for the Wall-E truck scene and scenes of the garbage and landscapes in the first act of Wall-E.

It was so fun to be a part of this project, and it is a movie that will inspire kids and adults alike for years and years to come. Awesome times. :) Congrats to the crew!!!!!!!!!

Moved!!

I just LOVE my new apartment.

Lots of updates soon and some nice photos of the new place, once I get things back in order.

Move Phase #1

Tonight Cabernet and Gatarelli came over (Matt and Sarah) and they were INCREDIBLY helpful and amazing. They helped me pack all my crazy kitchen stuff, wine bottles, glassware, plates, dishes, cutlery, EVERYTHING!! It was just amazing. We even got my new computer totally packed up and moved over to the new place. Sweet.

The truck is working out well and I managed to get it for tonight as well as tomorrow, so I could do the move in two phases. :)

Decided not to move the bed tonight since it's not supposed to rain tomorrow, and it should be easy enough to move over tomorrow with lots of people helping out.

Whew I am tired, we worked on all the kitchen dry goods and dishes tonight, all the cutlery and glassware, art and frames, and got all that stuff and my computer and monitors and speakers over to the new place tonight which is nice. Tomorrow it's just the boxes and boxes of books, some more kitchen stuff and dry goods, and then the furniture... the bed, the bookshelves, the desk, the futon, and the round kitchen table. Not a ton of stuff, and should be quick with so many people helping out.

Alrighty off to bed to get a decent sleep before the big moving day tomorrow.

Moving: Sold TV, got rid of stuff, almost ready to move

Preparing to move is going pretty well so far. I thought it would be insane to decide to move and then move like 6 days later, but packing up and throwing out stuff has actually gone very quickly. I craigslisted a bunch of stuff and finally got rid of my TV which is awesome. A guy came to get it today with 2 of his buddies, and he was so excited about it. He said other people were selling theirs for $300 (I figured that would be the case) so my price of $50 was so good he had to take it. That's awesome - I was hoping for someone to take it who was going to be organized and bring a bunch of friends to help and a nice big truck (they brought a Honda Pilot!) Awesome.

Been looking for new TVs now and Amazon looks like the best deal, actually. Shipping is included and they even have someone bring it up to your apartment, unbox it, and make sure it's working and connected to the cable correctly. Pretty awesome stuff! Looks like I can get a much better deal on Amazon and might try for a Sony 42" now or even looking to see how much the 46" ones are. But hoping to get a smaller set but a higher quality one - CNET has a LOT of reviews to go through. Now that I don't HAVE to get a new TV this week so I get free "old TV removal", I can wait until I find the one I want and then order it from the place with the best price.

My neighbour is very nice, she is in the wine industry and came by to say goodbye and also to bring me 4 more fancy bottles of French wine to take with me to my new place! That was very nice.

Also, Comcast is pretty awesome. I told them I was moving and they scheduled to turn off my cable and internet on the day I move, and scheduled someone to come to my new place to hook them both up the NEXT DAY! And also it's awesome, I said they should cancel my TV for now since I wasn't going to be using it right away... and so he offered to continue my internet and my cable tv, but give me the cable tv part FREE for a YEAR!! Amazing. I was really impressed with their service, actually. It was awesome, and it saves me $300 this year! Amazing.

Now I'm just continuing some more packing. Gonna have to spend a decent amount of time in the kitchen packing up stuff there tomorrow, but shouldn't take too long. Then moving this weekend!!

New Transformers 2 Trailer!!

This is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Check out ILM's work in the new Transformers 2 trailer... super amazing!!!!!!!!!! This is so awesome, and the effects are insane!!


Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen from Bay Films/Michael Bay Dot Com on Vimeo.

Crazy Ikea Rugs

Going to IKEA tomorrow after I hit up my "bros" over at Pixar for lunch. Good times.

I need to get some carpeting/rugs for my new place, and man there are some awesome (though near insane) rugs at IKEA right now. These are all pretty cheap... and HILARIOUS.

I think I am gonna get the blue one, cause it's crazy, but not totally over the top. These are pretty nuts though... would look nice in my office at work! :)


Hehe, this one is nuts. It's not too big, and I think it's only $30 or something. Kinda ridiculous, but I like how crazy it is. Not so keen on the background being white though... that'll get super dirty.


I love this one, but it's too expensive ($199!) Ouch. It's super cool, but I don't think I want to spend that much on a technicolour rug. I also suppose it's kinda tacky... but I'm a computer scientist... so I'm not supposed to have a reasonably sense of style.


This one is the coolest, I think I am going to get this. It's cheap (like $20) and the right length that I need for the hallway. It's busy/crazy, but not overly insane so I think I really like it.

Don't worry, the rest of my IKEA purchases tomorrow will be in a more regular colour palette :)

Do I dare open the Pandora's box of Twittering?

So I've been trying my darndest not to reveal every single piece of information about myself in small chunks over the last 4.5 years I've been blogging.

Do I dare enter the world of "Microblogging" (aka "Twittering")?!

I am essentially ALREADY twittering since I am updating my Facebook status several times per day... that's basically the same thing. Although Twitter is more like a blog since anyone in the world can read it, I think.

So why the discussion at all? Well I just saw that the one, the only Dave Matthews actually has a twitter account. Even crazier, he updates it a LOT. This means he essentially sends lots of fans back a small, 160 character response to a question/idea/quote they send him. That's pretty AMAZING. Pretty interesting way to follow the life and details of someone you want to "keep in touch with" or just want to follow their Microblog or just want to "Microstalk" them. Anyway seems kinda cool and also super intense in the "always connected" realm. I could see how this could possibly be even worse than my addiction to blogging.

So not sure if I'm gonna open the Pandora's box of Twittering... but for now, this Dave Matthews twitter page sure is cool.

http://twitter.com/DaveJMatthews

Weight Loss: 1 down, 19 to go

Hey all,

So I presume most people are embarrassed to talk about weight - I guess I could say I am, in a way, too.

On the other hand, let's talk about it. :) I was as thin as a toothpick basically until I turned about 16. Then I got broad shoulders, taller, and bulked up a lot. I was doing cardio and weightlifting in Grade 12 and OAC and that was the toughest I've been. I was bulkier in Australia, but still a comfortable and reasonable weight. Then I got to Waterloo. Ouch. The stress of Computer Science at Waterloo and the many, many, many hours of stress mixed with no sleep and bad cafeteria food sent me over the top. I developed the "Freshman 20" like most people do... and I STILL haven't gotten rid of it. It's frickin' ridiculous.

Anyway I'm really fed up of saying that I care about this but not doing anything about it.

I talked to my sister a bunch about this and I've signed up for something called MyFitnessPal. Essentially this lets you track your calorie, fat, carbohydrate and protein intake per day, and subtracts the amount of calories you burn from exercise that day. Now I've heard that "just calorie counting doesn't work" but for me, it's better than not doing anything. I think I've gotten by for too long pretending I can eat whatever I like and not worry about it. So that's totally gotta stop. I keep making excuses (well, it's just a special occasion) but that seems to be the excuse every time...

I don't feel overly ridiculously overweight, but I would like to lose 20 lbs. That would be totally awesome, and I think my Tux will fit better if I get rid of this "Freshman 20" once and for all.

Anyhow, I feel like I need to "go public" with this so that I can energize myself to do better. If I know that one of my blog readers out there, somewhere, is interested in my progress... it then will motivate me personally to succeed at this.

Here's the tracker... so far 1 down, and 19 more to go!

Please wish me success and don't tempt me with cheesecake or Jones Soda. Or if you do, then please share it with me instead. ;)

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Food Diary

I'm selling my TV

So I did some calculations and the cost to pay movers to move my desk/bed/futon/coffee table and 216 LB beast of a TV is going to be expensive... nearly $400. So if I schlep all that crap myself, and someone buys my TV from craigslist (say, $100), that equals $550 which is about 3/4 of the way to a 40" Samsung 1080p LCD TV. It seems extravagant to buy such a fancy TV, but "the math doesn't lie". Also if you factor in (thanks, Lausch for this piece of genius) that when I want to move again eventually, I'll have to pay movers again to move this heavy beast (another $200 or something)... that means it's the right time to sell this one and get a new one.

If you know anyone who is in San Francisco and wants a Sony Wega Trinitron XBR KV-36XBR200 36 inch CRT TV in excellent condition, originally $1800 TV... for $100... please fwd my craigslist listing, thanks. I'm willing to take less than $100 if they can move it outta my ground-floor apartment.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/ele/1034171624.html

Hopefully I can get rid of that in a week or two!!

The best movie soundtrack I've ever heard

So right after seeing Slumdog Millionaire a couple weeks ago, I went out to go buy the A.R. Rahman Soundtrack for it. THIS IS FRICKIN' AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been listening to it almost non-stop for the last week, it is so insanely awesome.

It's such a good fit for the movie too... amazing blend of hip hop, dance, and Indian themes... this is absurdly awesome. I think it's gonna definitely win best song at the Oscars (I think maybe "Jai Ho" over "O...Saya", they are both nominated for the same category)

This rocccccccks.

The Simpsons in HD!

Sunday will be the first time ever that The Simpsons is created/broadcast in HD!! Amazing!

They made a reaaaaaaaally wicked new opening for it too, check it out here. This ROCKS! I love how the TV they are watching is now an HDTV instead of the old pink CRT screen they've had for the last 19 seasons. :)


The Simpsons new main title

iMenorah 1.3 Released - fixes non-USA "international" crashes

iMenorah version 1.3 is now available on iTunes! Includes a bug fix for non-USA ("international") customers who were seeing a crash or the wrong number of candles.

Please stay tuned for details on our upcoming donation to the San Francisco Jewish Community Center.

For more details on iMenorah, see: http://imenorah.mikejutan.com/

I'm moving!

Exciting news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am moving soon!!!!!! This is really awesome, and I am so excited for my new place. It's really nice there, beautiful garden and nice and chill area, great neighbourhood and it's a really cool place. It's actually got a bedroom now rather than just a studio which is great, and... a.... DISHWASHER!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is amazing news 'cause washing up before/after/during my last Thanksgiving Party was near insane.

I'm planning when I'm going to move in, and how fast I should move my regular run-of-the-mill stuff compared to my furniture and other heavy stuff. More details soon, I am really excited for my new place!!

New Canon SLR, New Apartment?!

Pretty cool stuff going on lately.

I'm waiting for Feb 17th which is supposed to be the Canon announcement for the beginning of this year and it is quite possible they will be releasing the upgrade for the Canon Rebel XSi Digital SLR camera. This is siiiiiiiick cause I've been waiting to get my new camera and I really wanted to wait for this. If it's announced now then presumably it's for the PMA camera show which is March 3-5. So if it's announced next week, I guess that would mean it's available about 2 weeks after that. Pretty awesome stuff!

Tonight I looked at a new apartment, it is BEAUTIFUL. It is so nice, and I like it a lot. I really hope I get it! If so, it's going to be so relaxing there, the place is a lot quieter and a nicer area than where I am now... pretty amazing stuff. The place is amazing for many, many reasons. :) 1 bedroom (finally) so I can stop having my guests in the same room as I sleep in, i.e. less combined snoring and more sleep. The kitchen is newly remodeled, looks fantastic, the appliances are very new and it has a DISHWASHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh man, that would have come in handy for the Thankgiving Party I had last year. The owner/building manager/landlord was so great, and you can tell that he takes a lot of pride in the building. He would be so excellent to talk to if there were ever any apartment problems. There's a great spot to store my bike, there's a shared laundry room but there are way less apartments than the complex I am currently in, so I bet it would work out great. The bathroom has a good ventillation/fan system in it, which is a big plus. It was an issue here in my current place that there's no way to get the moisture out of the bathroom other than opening the windows (which lets in the moist air from outside) ;) I LOVE the new apartment, and I should find out really soon if it's mine! Very awesome, this will be such a great change and will even encourage me to cook more at home since it has a super nice, big kitchen. I love it!!!!!!!! I really hope I get it!!

Japan exchange rate is nuts!

I just looked into the exchange rate for USD to JPY and it's terrible. I am still potentially going to Japan and South Korea in December, but if the exchange rate it SO bad, it could have an effect on my trip and it might make more sense to delay it (or go somewhere different for this trip)?

Check this out:
http://www.dailyfx.com/story/currency/jpy_fundamentals/US_Dollar___Japanese_Yen_1233689655719.html

So it's currently 1 USD = 92 Yen. This website talks about the "Purchasing Power Parity" which is basically what a currency "should" be so that prices would remain the same once you factor in the exchange rate. Anyhow it says that the PPP price of the Yen should make it so 1 USD = 120 Yen. I.e. you should be able to buy a lot more in that case. Therefore the USD is undervalued compared to the Yen, (the Yen is overvalued compared to the Dollar), and that's going to make a place that is already expensive even more expensive.

Anyway this is something to think about when planning my trip. It's only 3 weeks and hostels are going to be expensive, but still in the range of $50/night so it's not totally crazy. If it gets a lot worse or something, I could aim for somewhere else... after watching Slumdog Millionaire I would LOVE to go to India. Peru or Chile might be very interesting, and I've never been to South America. Or I could go back to New Zealand. Anyway just a couple ideas in case, but I'd like to stick with the plan to go to Japan and South Korea unless it's totally unaffordable.

A few re-arrangements on the blog

Hey all,

A couple small re-arrangements on the blog here. I've moved around a few things, hid the extra Mike Jutan description, moved blog-specific links to the new Blogger "BlogRoll" gadget, and shuffled around the links section a bit. Any comments would be great, thanks!

Berserker Comic at NYC Comic-Con!

My buddy Nathan did the effects for this video. Awesome stuff! It's an announcement for a new comic series at NYC Comic-Con today. Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli from Heroes) is Producing.


Berserker Comic-Con launch video

Indian Coffee

Today was Indian food/music day in Jutan land. I went to Blue Bottle coffee today and got one of the last bags of "Balmadi Estate: Bindi" coffee beans they had there, from India. It smells awesome and they told me some cool stuff about how they grow and harvest the coffee, sounds crazy! Anyway it smells awesome and I am excited to try it out.

As well as this tasty coffee, I got the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack today, and MAN IT IS AMAZING. It's by the Indian composer "A.R. Rahman", who is very well known in India and also is obviously gonna win an Academy Award for this soundtrack - it's absolutely amazing and matches the portrayal of Mumbai in the movie SO well. That movie was reallllllly good, and the music play a really key role in the movie, too.

From http://www.elanorganic.com/India_Balmadi.asp: (looks like this place in San Diego also imports it from India)

India Balmadi Estate: Ramanand & Bindi
Elan Organic Coffees imports a beautiful award winning coffee from the Balmadi Estate, situated in the Blue Mountains of Southern India, the Nilgiris District of the state of Tamil Nadu. It is part of the O'Valley group of plantations that were developed over 150 years ago by an enterprising Scotsman, John Ouchterloney. These plantations are also home to the mysterious Toda tribes.
Elan will be the first to import these coffees into North America! The Ramanand is washed and the Bindi is natural processed, both from the Balmadi Estate.
The Estate produces one of the highest grown coffees in India. Their coffee is nurtured by native shade trees, called Sholas. The producer plants according to bio-dynamics, learned from Rudolf Steiner of Germany. This agriculture method depends not only on the quality of the soil, but also the cosmos-movements of the sun, moon and planets. To maximize the effect of their inputs, the producer follows a bio-dynamic calendar for planting, harvesting and applying natural fertilizers. The Estate is surrounded by a forest in which sambhar, bison, deer, elephants, panther and monkeys roam freely. Every year, the producer plants more shade cover and adds many new varieties of trees, increasing biodiversity and sustainability.
The coffee has won the Flavour of India, Fine Cup Award 2004. for India's best Arabica coffee.

Altitude: 3600-5400 feet
Variety: Kent and Selection 795
Processing Method: Washed & Natural
Grade: Strictly Hard Bean
Species: Arabica
Harvest: November to January

Cup Characteristics: full rich body, sweet acidity, citrus, caramel, apricot tones with a pleasant lingering aftertaste

My buddy Alex re-wrote the iPhone "Phone App" - and it ROCKS

CHECK THIS OUUUUUUUT!!! My buddy Alex in Toronto made a sick iPhone App which is a re-write of the "Phone" App for iPhone. It auto-dials a calling card for you, and it's a great integration with your pre-existing contact list!

Alex gave me 3 FREE App Codes (only valid in the USA - sorry Canadian homeys)

If you have an iPhone and call out of the USA often...
The funniest 3 responses to this post get a FREE AppStore code for my buddy Alexs new app: Alexceed's Connect.


Alexceed's Connect


- Automatically dial phone card for long distance numbers

- Allows you to call extensions with ease

- Allows multiple phone cards with multiple numbers

- View contacts by organization (companies)

- Tutorial link available within app

The app runs similar to the Phone app and can be used to dial any 
number

More details here: http://www.alexceed.com/connect/

Movie Review: Slumdog Millionaire

I JUST got home from the screening tonight of Slumdog Millionaire. Oh MAN it was SO GOOD. The story, the editing, the MUSIC (that was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), just unbelievable.
I've hardly ever felt tension in a movie quite like when Jamal sees Latika the first time at the train station... (I won't give away what happens for those who haven't seen it)

Such an intense, epic story - like Tantalus in Greek mythology - but on such a sweet and beautiful personal level. Jamal is such a likeable character, you just want him to succeed SO much. His passion rivals that of Romeo talking about how the walls of the Capulets cannot keep love out, and the kinsmen are no stop to him. :)

I LOVED IT.

The speed and confusion of Mumbai cross-cut with the relative calm of the "Who wants to be a Millionaire" set was very powerful, and the style of narrative was very different than the usual kind of movie that you see. This is not just a movie - it's a cinematic feat. Even being able to film such a movie at all is remarkable in it's own right, but to make a film this powerful and with this much passion... oh man it was amazing.

Strangely enough Slumdog Millionaire is the only one of the 5 Oscar Best Picture Nominated films that I've seen so far! Crazy. I am going to try to see Milk this week and hopefully get to see Benjamin Button soon too. But even though I haven't seen those other ones yet, I think it's gonna be pretty hard for anything to beat Slumdog Millionaire. It was so different than any other film you've seen in a long time, and everything in the film works in beautiful sync - the music, the sound effects, the editing, the direction and story... even the music offers a clash of cultures: classical Indian music mixed with fast-paced dance music and hip-hop. SO AWESOME. This soundtrack/musical score has got to win the Oscar, too. I think this one's in the bag for Best Director, Best Film... probably one of the Sound awards too. Amazing!

Pizzaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!

I love Tuesdays. Not just 'cause I've really gotten into the swing of the week at work and everything is awesome, but because Dominos has an absurd deal that gives you 2 large Pizzas, about 1 1/2 weeks worth of sweet, sweet Pizza (which still tastes glorious for lunches after being frozen) for about $15?!!!

So I love Tuesdays just 'cause I love weekdays. And weekends. But also because of the Pizza.

Oh, tax season, how awesome are you

I know I'm a huge nerd/dweeb/organizational powerhouse for actually getting my act together THIS EARLY and filing my taxes ALREADY!!!!!!!!!

You get all your tax forms by approx Jan 31st, so I figured... what am I waiting for?! They are due on April 15th, but if you wait that long it takes ages to actually get your taxes back. And this year I e-filed everything, and it's super awesome. Anyway I am totally psyched 'cause I never have any clue how much tax I get back, and I wasn't expecting much, but got a nice surprise!

Anyway, I love tax season, and it was fun to do my taxes (oh jeez, here come the Math student jokes) and anyway, great times. The money I get back is going straight into my Japan-trip savings account. I also love saving for cool stuff rather than spending my super hard-earned money on consumerist crap I don't need. Unfortunately any sort of direct money "stimulus package" from the government at tax time is going to result in me doing exactly what they don't want... saving it. I know the rebate last year was supposed to be a stimulus so people would "stimulate the economy" by buying stuff. I wonder with all the economic clouds forming last year if people actually spent any of it, or just paid off loans and put it directly into savings.

Well, another tax year, and another unexpected refund!!! Am I going to put it all on Red 3 in Vegas? Heeeeeeeeeeeecccccck no. And this, my esteemed homeys, is called "sound money management", something this country is unfortunately lacking in... TO THE MAX!

iMenorah version 1.3 coming this week

Dear iMenorah customers,

If you downloaded iMenorah over the Chanukah holidays and your iPod Touch or iPhone's region was not set to US English - you will have had 1 of 2 problems:

• A crash on startup
• The incorrect number of candles being drawn during the nights of Chanukah

Please accept our apology for this bug. This was due to an unforseen bug due to date internationalization formatting with Apple's iPhone SDK. Today, Matt and I were finally able to get together and get it fixed. We apologize for the workaround you may have had to do to make iMenorah function correctly. Please be confident that this will work correctly over next Chanukah... anywhere you may be on the globe!

iMenorah version 1.3 will be released later on this week, following approval from the iTunes App Store.

Transformers 2 Superbowl Trailer!

Holy sweet damn. The Transformers 2 trailer is out!!!!!!!!!!


Transformers 2 Superbowl Trailer

Star Trek Superbowl Trailer

Amazing! Star Trek trailer out today at the Superbowl.


Star Trek Superbowl Trailer

Movie Review: Let the right one in

Tonight I saw the Swedish drama/horror/love story/pain of adolescence/coming of age/vampire flick, "Let the right one in".

The genre of this film is generally hard to classify. It ranges from some pretty gross horror moments to some absolutely tender and powerfully moving sections of tender boyhood girl-next-door first love kindof feelings. It was really awesome.

It's not without a few faults, some pretty intense scenes and some very strong archetypes, but the general theme of the movie is very passionate despite covering a wide range of genres and topics.

The acting from the two young actors is just amazing, and laced with so many complex feelings and emotions - of confusion, of first love, of growing up and attacking (literally) your problems. The loneliness and need for friendship, companionship, love and mutual understanding between the two young kids is heartbreaking. There are some interesting moments where the young boy feels comfortable telling the young girl the truth about the bullies at his school - things he won't even tell his own parents. He confides in her and in turn, she confides in him. It's a very cute and powerful story, which acts as a great canvas to have some exciting action scenes, too!

What a great movie!

A response to "David Mamet on Anti-Semitism, Self Hatred and the Jews"

This evening I went to a lecture at the JCCSF where legendary playwright David Mamet was in conversation with renowned scholar and Professor of Jewish Spirituality, Rabbi Lawrence Kushner.

David Mamet has written some amazing screenplays over many years, including Glengarry Glen Ross, The Untouchables and Wag the Dog. Tonight, David Mamet commented on several ideas and themes he discusses in a recent non-fiction book of his, entitled "The Wicked Son", which is a commentary on Anti-Semitism, and Self Hatred within modern Jewish culture.

It was a very interesting discussion and very thought-provoking, but I found that I enjoyed the responses from David Mamet much less than some of the speakers at other lectures I have been to at the JCCSF recently. This had nothing to do with the serious nature of the conversation or the topic at hand - for instance, I thoroughly enjoyed a lecture by Daniel Goldhagen last year which focused primarily on the general lack of response from ordinary German citizens during the Holocaust - clearly not a lightweight subject, nor lacking in intensity or the potential to offend and provoke the audience.

What I took issue with was that David Mamet seems to approach issues (and perhaps the world in general) as "black or white", "yes or no" - a phrase he used repeatedly was "you're in or you're out". He took an incredibly one-sided viewpoint to some serious issues (the current war in Gaza) and even the idea of going to Synagogue or even being a serious Jew. "You're in or you're out, it's as simple as that", he said several times.

The other issue I had was that Rabbi Kusher's questions were vastly different in tone (and what I see as thoughtfulness) than David Mamet's responses. Rabbi Kushner clearly described his question in a very deep and what you might call "Professorial" way: the history of the situation, the reasons for asking a question, how one might answer such a question... this being a particularly common way for a Rabbi to ask a question. :) For example: "Let me pose you this question, but considering the comments from Rashi on this matter... and the nature of the human spirit... and the current economic climate... and the election of the first African-American President... so, what do you think about the original question and how it relates to modern American 20-somethings?" :)

Anyhow, I found the breadth of Rabbi Kushner's questions, and the questions from the audience were met with a very terse, very quick, sometimes even 1-word answer from David Mamet. A shrug of the shoulders, a "I don't know", or a quick "Well, I know it must be this way"-style answer without much verbosity, explanation or follow-up. I found that he spoke so much of the importance of Jewish culture and thought, though he failed to elaborate on many of the issues on which he spoke with so much passion. This was a bit unfortunate. I found I enjoyed Rabbi Kushner's questions more often than I appreciated David Mamet's response. Sometimes his response was very interesting, but there were too many times where it was almost forced upon the audience without much follow-up. I'd say for a JCC in San Francisco, and to an audience of sophisticated, educated professionals, you'd err on the side of verbosity rather than the opposite.

David Mamet's responses were very strong, and (almost by necessity) this made his opinions very one-sided. I think this was very interesting, and it is obviously quite amazing to get to hear directly the opinions of such an acclaimed writer and screenwriter. I think, rather than these responses being necessarily negative, I found they made me uncomfortable rather than necessarily keen to disagree with the actual topic. Since I'm from Canada and am living in America as a sort of "outsider", I think I see things with a different flavour... in Canada I'd say it's a golden rule that it's better to agree (or at least quietly and politely listen to someone else's opinion) than to be disagreeable. In the USA, I've run into many occasions where this lack of "unwavering stance" on topics is viewed as weakness, rather than an intentional aim for consensus. I think these kinds of strong-willed ideals - "pick a side" or "you must have a strong opinion on this issue" - are quintessentially American. This kind of attitude is often viewed as strength of character, and a testament of the will and energy and courage of a people. Those traits are certainly admirable, that is for certain. But what I think David Mamet fails to realize, is something that America should be wary of as well - the world is not always that simple. It's not always black and white, and there are more thorough and deep discussions needed to uncover the kernel of an idea. In terms of discussing war, it's not so black and white - small idiosyncrasies of culture need to be taken into account when discussing such an issue. I think he realized that, but I was concerned that on some of the issues he discussed, he seemed to paint a very black-and-white portrait of the situation. In reality, I don't expect that portrait would hold up.

I suppose it makes a lot of sense that in America you have strong-willed personalities like David Mamet. In a way, he is in good company with the polarized nature of the American public. George Bush said it himself in his quote, "You're either with us or you're against us." Election maps in general (although less this year, thanks to the inspirational and passionate efforts of Barack Obama) show a stark difference in opinion in this country - You're a Red state or a Blue state. You're for the Texas Longhorns or you're for the Aggies. You're a Republican or a Democrat. As Sarah Palin so casually blathered, You're either from the REAL America, the "Pro-America parts of the country" or you're from one of those Anti-American parts. To this Obama responded that ALL of America is (obviously) Pro-America. These rivalries are fun for college football, but when taken to the stage of the whole country (or worse, to the world stage), I find these arguments break down. When you look at the electoral map, you see it covered in red and blue states. What you don't get shown very often is that really, nearly every single state is some shade of purple... it takes only 1% extra votes to "turn" a state red or blue. When you think about this, in true reality, nearly all of the country, and all of the states are split right down the middle, republican or democrat. Within states, within regions, within households, even within 1 single person, you have different counterbalanced opinions. I don't believe that the world can be so black-and-white. Humanity is much more complex than that.

I think we reduce ourselves to a lower plane of thought when we view the world through such a polarized lens. To achieve co-operation, to achieve such mighty goals as peace in the Middle East... it comes down to mutual respect, and the willingness of both sides to reach a meaningful and honourable consensus. America the fierce and America the mighty is already showing signs of this kind of thought - Barack Obama today staged a truly valiant effort to reach out to the Muslim and Arabic communities through an interview on an Arabic TV network. His discussion of the need for diplomacy is amazing, mentioning how Iran will find that "America has an extended hand if they are willing to unclench their fist." I think Obama's approach will ultimately be much more human than the approach of the Bush administration, and ultimately I hope (and think) that this will be much more successful. Marjane Satrapi, the Iranian-French author and director of the film "Persepolis" told the audience at the JCC last year that if you look at your enemy as pure evil, if you demonize an entire people, then you will never find the common ground or common decencies that are bound to exist. I believe, and I think Barack Obama feels the same way, that this common ground is our best bet on an aim for world peace.

Target, BMW ZipCars, Saving, Taxes, Comic Books, Trader Joes, Travel

As you can see from the title, I've got a ton of stuff on my mind today.

I got up today and yapped with the family for a bit, then headed off to Target to get some necessities. In true "stop spending so much money on restaurants"-style, I bought a toasted sandwich maker, a cheese slicer, and some other useful house-related stuff.

To balance this, in a non-frugal style, I rented a BMW ZipCar today!! It was sweet. It was actually the only spare one from the rental location I was booking from, so I didn't have any cheaper options. Still in the grand scheme of things, having a ZipCar is so insanely cheap compared to actually owning a car... but... man that $14/hour sure is nuts! And, of course by "nuts", I actually mean "insanely cheap and awesome". I love ZipCar.

I also noticed Trader Joes while driving around the city today and figured I needed to pick up some groceries... did I ever! Turns out they still have totally amazing stuff there, and I really miss shopping at a decent grocery store like TJ's where you get awesome food, good quality, interesting/unusual stuff, and it doesn't cost 100 bazillion dollah-dollah billz, y'all. I think I am gonna start going there rather than the usual (Safeway) cause it's really a lot more interesting and better for the kind of food I get. I got some great fresh mozarella, fresh basil and fancy tomatoes to make caprese salad, and it was all super cheap. They have brie there that's like half the price of my neighbourhood grocery store. It's nuts. Also I got some interesting Indian stir fry sauces so I can try making some curry myself rather than ordering all the time. I have a rice cooker now too, and just opened it to realize that there is a steamer included in it, which is cool. Maybe I can make those freakin' tasty dumplings like they had in Waterloo?!!

So along with the better food preparation at home comes some of the other goals I am aiming for. I am saving a lot cause I'm going to get the new Canon SLR whenever it comes out, presumably it's called the Canon Rebel TSi or something like that, and articles online say it has 720p video like the Nikon D90 which would be SWEET. I want to stick with Canon, so hopefully they release this camera soon so I can get it and start practicing before all the trips coming up! I want to get practicing and also enrol in a camera course so I can learn a whole bunch and become somewhat reasonable so I can take some nice photos on some upcoming trips. Hopefully I'll get to go to Siggraph in New Orleans in August which would be AMAZING!!!!!! Then in October my best friend Matt is getting married back in Canada, so I am gonna head back to Canada for the wedding. It would be nice to take some good photos at the wedding. And then in December/January I am starting to get the ball rolling for a trip to Japan and South Korea! So of course I want to be a good photographer by then, too!

Tax season is coming up! Why am I excited? I don't know. This will be the first year I've had a full-time job for the whole 12-months of a year. In the past when I've gotten huge tax returns back, it's usually because I've been going to school at the same time as earning just a small amount, and paying most of it to tuition. So I guess it would be totally amazing to get a decent return back this year, but I'm not expecting anything major. If it's a few hundred bucks though, that would still be sweet (and I'll put it right into my savings account towards my Japan trip) :)

Hmm what else. I've started reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, which I think is sortof about the origins of the Comic Book industry in the US. Pretty cool. I think it's gonna be amazing, I just gotta keep at it. In the past I haven't been very good at reading often (possibly due to my over-indulgences in computer-land), so I'm doing my best to rock that out more often.

Well that's what's going on lately. Work is AMAZING, lots of cool and exciting stuff going on as usual!

Ok a few more things... new Dave Matthews Band CD in April! I can't wait. Also looks like there is a book called The Art of Pixar Short Films coming out next month, guess I'd better make sure to get that. Oscar Nominations were amazing and psyched to see Wall-E and Iron Man on the list of nominees.

Movies I want to see at the moment:

• Slumdog Millionaire
• Bolt
• Milk
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• The Year My Parents Went On Vacation
• Happy-Go-Lucky

LG Watch Phone - Dick Tracy style

This is sooooooooo cool.

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/01/lg-watch-phone.html

When this thing has hi-speed, affordable video conferencing over 3G Skype... I'm buying one.

Congrats to ILM and Pixar on the OSCAR Nominations!

Today the OSCAR Nominations came out, and Iron Man got 2 nominations, and Wall-E got 6!

The Nominations are:

Iron Man

• Achievement in Sound Editing
• Achievement in Visual Effects
  

Wall-E

• Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
• Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)
• Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)
• Achievement in Sound Editing
• Achievement in Sound Mixing
• Original Screenplay

Congrats to my colleagues at ILM for an AMAZING job on Iron Man!!!! It was some truly amazing 3D work, I could have bet a million bucks that Iron Man's suit was real in some of those shots. :) Amazing work, and congrats!

And for Wall-E... this is awesome. 6 nominations is pretty darn amazing, and the musical score and sound effects add so much to such an amazing story, that it was really nice to see that it all got nominations. :) It was a dream come true to work on such an amazing film, and my most sincere congratulations to my friends still at Pixar and to the hardworking crew of Wall-E. 6 nominations?!?!??!! This is unbelievable!!

Feb 22nd is the Oscars and I'm really looking forward to it. But what a great success already and it's clear how big of a splash these movies made in 2008. Rock on!

WhiteHouse.gov website is amazing!!

Whoooooa, it looks like the White House website has been Obama-fied!! "Weekly Video Updates from the President, every Saturday"?!?!?!??!?!?!?!??!!?

This is AMAZING.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Never expected I'd be a frequent visitor to THAT web address. Well, "change has come to Washington", as America's NEW PRESIDENT would say! I am absolutely blown away by the kind of openness and direct correspondence with the people that Obama is aiming for. BarackObama.com was an amazing site over the campaign, and if they can maintain that kind of readership and interest in the government... wow. That would be huge!

Beyonce sings "At Last" for Presidential "first dance"

If this ain't true romance, I don't know what is. :)


Barack and Michelle Obama's "First Dance" at the Neighborhood Ball

Obama St signs replace Bush St signs in San Francisco

This is hilarious. Someone went to the trouble of creating the exact same street sign font and making labels to stick on the Bush St. signs here in San Francisco. The funniest is that when a street comes to an end, the signs in San Francisco say "End" on them... so someone replaced these signs from "End Bush" (the end of Bush St.) to "Begin Obama" :) Hilarious. (Feel bad for the photo I saw of city workers having to take all of these stickers down, though)


The original street signs


The modified street signs

Obama's Inaugural Speech - text in full

What a moment this was today, the swearing in of the first African American President of the United States. A brilliant example for the world, and a historical triumph. A moment to remember! Here is Barack Obama's speech from today in full.

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path toward prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive ... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Congrats to Nathan Matsuda on his VES Nomination!

My old Pixar colleague/roommate/insanely talented buddy Nathan Matsuda has just been NOMINATED for a VES AWARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is SO AMAZING!! I know he worked SO hard on this student film over the past several years and put so much time and energy and effort into this amazing production. What a well-deserved nomination. Good luck, Nathan!

The short is available on Vimeo right now:
http://www.vimeo.com/1118299