Thursday, January 31, 2008

Poorly Shod

This is how I know that having 4 children is wearing me out, lowering my standards, removing all vanity from my life, edging me closer to insanity...



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I just could not search the house one more second for a matching pair of these:




Really, Seth, I'm sorry. But better to get used to the neglect and humiliation now. I have a feeling it's going to get worse, before it gets better.

Check the Flavor of the Rhythm I Wrote

Let me clear my throat!!!

Source: Let Me Clear My Throat by DJ Kool. Thankfully, this was the most notable track off of DJ Kool's hit 1995 album Allow Me to Perform This Bodily Function. (I strongly suggest you avoid the 24 minute Permit Me to Yawn track.)

Explanation: None necessary. Few sounds bring in the party better than the horns at the beginning of this song. I was wondering if there was an actual video for this song and it turns out there is, but not the Live in Philly version that I'm used to. Oh, and it stinks, so...

Special Blog Bonus: Somebody on YouTube created a Fraggle Rock version of Let Me Clear My Throat. I figured you might enjoy this more.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Six Degrees

Buffalo wings are served with blue cheese, which is served with salad, which is served with soup, which is served with bread, which shares a BLT with... BACON!!!

Explanation: That's right! It's six degrees of bacon!!! Want another? It doesn't even have to be about food. How about this:

Popeye eats spinach, which is in Quiche Lorraine, which contains eggs, which are served with... BACON!!!

Hmmm... Let's get tricky.

Jack Nicholson was in A Few Good Men with Kevin Bacon, who was in JFK with Jack Lemmon, and lemons are squeezed on scallops, which come wrapped in.... BACON!!!

There. I started you off. Give it a shot. It's quite fun.

BACON!!!

Special Blog Bonus: Here's comedian Jim Gaffigan talking about bacon:

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

How to make a portfolio website?

From now and on I will make less posts but more long, just between an entrance and an article (you can see Mercado de trabajo Actionscript) I´ve been searching information about this and to tell the truth, there´s no much. I saw something in Alzado but it comes from year 2004.

The main aim of this post is both:
- Help whoever wants to make a portfolio for his first time
- Give my opinion about the different web options for portfolios

Who is visiting your portfolio?
Besides your friends, family and partners, possibly someone who is thinking about recruitment, as a freelance or for a company. Have these things in mind:
- The language should be visual, you don´t need any explanation
- User does not like waitting
- Probably they won´t wee the 100% of your work. I dare say not even the 50%. Actually they´re looking for something very specific.

Three points:
1- Portfolio structure
2- Caracteristiques
3- Platform, References and examples


1- PORTFOLIO STRUCTURE
First you should organize your content, "content is king", this means content is the most important thing, although the form is also, at least for me and designers.

First question: How are you gonna show your work?
You have to choose. Are you making more relevant the format or the customer? It depends a lot on the number of works you have. Another option is to separate your portfolio in sections, usually you will see Graphic and Visual sections.

So, now you open a psd and prepare all your works, if possible with the same dimensions. You can think about a little explanation also, although works don´t need to talk too much.

You have the works ready and possibly an explanation of each, you could even prepare some miniatures so the user has an idea. With all these, you could make an XML (file, miniature, description, link) in order to make the loadings later. I made my portfolio this way two years ago or so (I hope I can update one day!), making some versions of it with all the works organised shouldn´t be hard.

Next question is about the way you present your work: Are you making in any special way such as a theme? This could make your portfolio more attractive but you could have also slow transitions and unneccessary preloads. If your content is well organized you should waste a lot of time changing the way you present your portfolio. What will be the bacground colour of the website? Which tipography? How is the content gonna be loaded? Any tween or easing? You shall think about the time you have to update your work in the future...


2- CARACTERISTICS
Some recommendations:

Very important: Theory of the 3 Clicks: With three clicks every user should be able to go to any place of your website. Just three, no more. If it is not like that the user will go to another url. Remember: Fast, simple, ready!

Some say you shouldn´t make portfolio in Flash, I am not gonna lose neither a second of my time about this. I just wanna tell these people to read down the post where I give some good alternatives besides Flash.

About files, each one shall not be bigger than 200Kb. The preload kills the user. If your works
are bigger, the better, but sometimes it is better to have an intermediate size with a link.

Your website portfolio should be at least at 1024x768. I think every work should have same size. I hate pop-ups to see the works (you make the user work). I don´t like full-screen (because I am a clever user and I can have ten urls opened at the same time and navigate with them, and the user, my friend, is clever also). I don´t like transitions larger than one second.

Remember this:
One second/one work + one second/preload = user gives up -> you lost the job!


3 - PLATFORM, REFERENCES AND EXAMPLES
Where to place your porfolio?

You can make a flip portfolio, is not cool right now, but it works. Check it out in Page Flip, or in Flipping Book, I made some experiment about it.

You can place a pdf with all your work, there are people who do not like surfing on the web, they want to spend a while studying you. In fact, there are plenty of Design Magazines where you can download a pdf.

You can make a blog and put there your work, Wordpress or Blogger are good alternatives. Take a look at Elmyra Duff.

You can make a Fotolog or use Google Picassa, or better Flickr, slideshow are quite good. I made some trials in Picassa but I did not like the white background. Better Flickr, moreover if you´re a photographer, see it here or Slideshow.

You can use free space websites as Behance, Carbonmade, Creative Binge, Coroflot, Design:Realted, Devianart, Portfolios.com and the one I like more: Muse.

You can make it in Flex, I haven´t seen many of them. For example Clickbooq although you have to pay. I have also some failed trials algunas pruebas (no time, no time!).

The best option is making a personalized website, better in Flash with Actionscript (there is no discussion about it) than in timeline. I have to do one MVC OOP Actionscript Portfolio. Once you have the structure, changing the view shouldn´t be difficult. Here some good examples, also in Javier Ferrer Vidal or in FlashDen, there are millions. I have some links about it on your right, Studios and Porfolios ->

Another option: HTML: Simple, photos + text + links, exampleMisiva. The user just has to use the scroll. You can also combien HTML + Flash in two versions, but this used to be done before Flash had its implantation.

I also recommend to make a walk to Taschen or to IndexBook, just for having more ideas. Some good titles are:
Taschen
Web Design Flash Sites

Portfolios, Web Design Studios
Web Design Studios 2,

IndexBook
Cómo crear portafolios de Diseño
100% Proyectos personales
100% Design Portfolio
Sin briefing: Proyectos personales de diseñadores gráficos
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This is your song...

Each of my kids (and husband) has "their" songs. Here they are (click on the links if you want to see/hear it... okay, I just listened to them all on You Tube...you HAVE to click on them):

Ryan


When were first dating the song "All For You" by Sister Hazel was popular, and in that gooey, exciting, all-you-can-think-about-is-each-other stage, I loved the lyrics that said:

Wonder if I'll always be with you
Words can't say, I can't do
Enough to prove it's all for you

Because I knew that this was going somewhere big, the word "always" gave me the chills (still does!)

Emma


When I pregnant with Emma, and not knowing anything about "mother-love", I wasn't feeling much about this thing growing inside of me. Until one day, about 6 months along, I heard Good Riddance by Green Day on the radio. I felt this big desire for her to "have the time of her life". I knew her life would be unpredictable and I just felt this huge love for her and wanted her to have a happy life no matter what. So that's her song.

Gabe


Gabe's song is "Make you feel my love" by Garth Brooks. What mother doesn't feel this way about her child?

When the rain is blowing in your face
And the whole world is on your case
I could offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love

I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue
I'd go crawling down the avenue
There ain't nothing that I wouldn't do
To make you feel my love


Jane

Celine Dion's A New Day Has Come was on the radio when Jane was born. It's her song to her boy. It was perfect for our little Janey.

Hush, love I see a light in the sky

Oh, it's almost blinding me

I can't believe

I've been touched by an angel with love



Seth

We went to visit the Seeleys in Arizona when I was pregnant with Seth. My mom was playing from their song book collection of the Beatles. I know Beatles songs. I just had never heard "I will". I loved it and I sang it over and over. I now sing it over and over at night when I put Seth to bed. Here he is, joining me.





Who else out there has songs for kids or spouses that they want to share?

Guión de No Country for Old Men

Me encantan este tipo de ideas. Desde la web de No country for Old Men puede descargarse completamente gratis el guión. Os doy el enlace para evitaros el curro de buscarlo.

Ahora solamente me queda encontrar una impresora que pueda asaltar.


AÑADO:
¿No os dije que me encantaban estas cosas?.
Por cortesía de FOX (y completamente gratis y completamente legal), los guiones de:

Juno, Viaje a Darjeeling, The namesake, Once, The savages y La camarera

Ahora solamente me queda encontrar otras seis impresoras que pueda asaltar

Wait Wait... Don't Post Me!

"How are things in Vancouver?" "Ummm... kinda like Seattle, only metric."

Source: This exchange happened when Anthony, a caller from Vancouver Canada, was a contestant on NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

Explanation: Wait Wait is rapidly becoming my favorite podcast, which is unfortunate, because I'm burning through all of my past episodes. Soon I'll be stuck waiting for a new episode each week like the rest of the world. It's like "catching up to reality" on a TiVo-delayed program. You suddenly just don't feel privileged anymore, because you have to watch commercials like the rest of those non-TiVo-owning commoners out there.

Here's a behind the scenes look at Wait Wait:



Special Blog Bonus: Here's a Good Eats parody. "See how much easier it is when we work in metric?"

Monday, January 28, 2008

My Offering

This man was the President and Prophet of my church. He died yesterday, peacefully, at the age of 97 after serving the Lord all his life, and at President for 13 years.

This is why I loved him:

  • he was fearless
  • he was real
  • he was funny
  • he told us that his feelings got more tender as he grew older
  • he was tireless
  • he bore powerful testimony of what he believed
  • he LOVED his wife and missed her immensely after her death

I rejoice that he is receiving the rewards for his life of unfailingly service and purity: an eternal family, joy, rest and approbation from his Heavenly Father. I am grateful that all will continue in this Church in the same manner that it always has, that Christ will lead it through his next prophet and mouthpiece. I am unspeakably grateful that I get to be a part of it.

But... I will miss him.

**For a personal remembrance, go here.


Calle Arenal. EXT - DÍA

X camina por la calle Arenal y una pareja con la que está a punto de cruzarse le mira fijamente. Él tiene cincuentaymuchos, ella treintaypocos y es gorda, muy gorda.
Los tres se cruzan y la pareja no deja de mirar a X. "No creo que quiera" dice la gorda al de cincuentaymuchos.
X sigue andando y, pasados 10 metros, se detiene en mitad de la calle. Reflexiona sobre lo que acaba de oir y se gira para ver cómo se alejan.
Ellos siguen en el mismo sitio, mirándole y hablando entre ellos.

Not-So-Super Monday

Today is the Monday before the Monday between Super Sunday and Super Tuesday, which makes it... a letdown.

Explanation: Next Sunday is the Super Bowl, making it "Super Sunday" in the sports world, while next Tuesday is "Super Tuesday" in the world of politics. Why am I not talking about next Monday when it comes? Well, because next Monday I'll be talking about the Super Bowl, like the rest of the world.

Special Blog Bonus: Today is the 50th anniversary of the LEGO Brick as we know it today! Even Google has joined in the party:



Late Addition: Gizmodo has a great LEGO timeline today as well. The Galaxy Explorer (497) was one of my all-time favorites.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Perdóname, J

Hace unos días pensé en escribir esta entrada pero no me atreví. Hace unos días estaba pasando toda mi música a iTunes para que me fuera más fácil llevarla a mi nueva casa y, casi sin querer, sólo por comprobar que se escuchaba bien, pulsé “Play” sobre un disco de Los Planetas.

Los Planetas llegaron a mi en los tiempos de Canciones para una orquesta química, conocía su nombre y conocía las portadas de alguno de sus discos pero nunca me habían llamado demasiado la atención. Estábamos en el norte, en un festival en el que acababan de ser sustituidos por Killer Barbies y aquello hacía que la gente no hiciese más que protestar.

Al volver, Belén me grabó Super8 y aquello fue el comienzo de todo. Los Planetas fueron una de las mejores cosas del final de los 90 y del principio de ésta (una década que nos importa tan poco que no sabemos nombrarla). Recuerdo aquellos años y recuerdo a Antía, una amiga que les ponía los vídeos en una gira y que me regalaba entradas para los conciertos, recuerdo a Antía contarme historias de J y de los demás, de cómo Floren tuvo que comprarse un jersey a última hora para algún concierto y recuerdo que yo las contaba al resto de la gente. Recuerdo canciones con letras que ni este ni casi ningún blog tiene capacidad de analizar, recuerdo La caja del diablo, Mi hermana pequeña, La copa de Europa, La Playa, recuerdo Que no sea Kang, por favor. Recuerdo ese himno generacional en que se convirtió Un buen día, con la gente gritando lo de los cuatro millones de rayas y el gol de Mendieta. Recuerdo que un día, nosotros mismos, los que compramos Unidad de desplazamiento el mismo día que salió, empezamos a olvidarnos de ellos.

Perdóname, J. Perdónanos. Nuestra adolescencia no hubiese sido igual (no igual, hubiese sido peor) sin tu voz baja, sin ese sonido tan raro que era como contemplar las cenizas de una explosión atómica y sin el fenómeno fan con mejor gusto musical de la historia de España. Te di la espalda al poco de salir Encuentros con entidades, creo que muchos lo hicimos, pero reconfórtate al saber que te olvidamos poniéndonos en contra, que es como se olvida a las cosas más importantes.

Hace unos días, casi sin querer, pulsé “Play” sobre un disco de Los Planetas y además de ponerme a cantar, tuve ganas de pedir perdón. Al día siguiente, me desperté casi a las tres y me quedé en la cama más de tres cuartos de hora.

¿iPhone en Marzo?

Hoy le he escuchado a un dependiente de K-tuin asegurarlo, como no me lo creo os dejo este enlace para que podáis tener uno.

Sunday Summary

Emma's week of domesticity included cleaning: On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Emma wanted to invite the Daines over. During their stay, I began to walk up the stairs near where they were playing and heard someone say, "oh, no, Jessica's coming." Bad phrase to hear. I looked into the boys' room and the kids were seriously ankle deep in the remnants of my bean bag. You know, the little, static-clingy, spongy balls? They were everywhere. (I have to say...if they are going to make a mess, this is my kind of mess. With liquid messes, you know you'll be re-cleaning any "cleaning" they do. With those little balls, I knew their little fingers were perfect for a complete job. I didn't even get mad.) Once the vacuum cleaner bag got completely filled, they were on their hands and knees for the better part of an hour. I thought it was particularly amusing when Heather came to get them, and they complained, "but we didn't get to play, we had to clean the whole time!"

and cooking: she made us Blankets-in-a-Pig on Monday for dinner (which she, despite being the chef, refused to eat) and sewing: she made this quilt in an Activity Girls' Service Project on Saturday.



Gabe's week of parties started on Monday: a few days before MLK Jr. day, he approached me with the plan to go over to his friend Ryan's house on his day off from school. "We thought we could play the Wii and some games. You know, we thought it would be so we could celebrate Martin Luther King and stuff." Gabe had a dream.

On Friday night, he went over to the Rowell's for Tyler's birthday party. It was a sleepover and we are the mean parents who don't allow them, and so Gabe returned home at 11:00 pm and then went back for breakfast the next morning (he woke up at 6:00 to be sure not to miss any of the pancakes). I'm sure he had a great time, but dealing with him the next day...not so much of a party for his parents. That kid was ridiculously tired. Here he is with both Ryan and Tyler.

Jane had a week of child-care that started on Tuesday when she got the much-anticipated Bunker Bear from preschool this week. If Bunker had been a real child, CPS would have been called, as it got left at Pack Meeting, in the car on a -1 degree day and cross-dressed in girls' clothes. Jane sure enjoyed herself, though. She even suggested that she might be too sick to go to Preschool, so that she wouldn't have to return poor Bunker.

Seth's week of injuries included a climb up this:

because he wanted the exercise ball. Notice the cement floor below. Which he fell on, after apparently hanging for a few seconds by his fingers from the top shelf. (Jane witnessed, but didn't feel compelled to stop him...remember her previously mentioned poor parenting skills?). Later that afternoon, after repeated reminders to STAY DOWN, when Mom's back was turned, he fell from the counter top and garnered a huge "Goose Bump" (as Jane calls them).

Which might have contributed to this moment of insanity: Seth had ripped a page in a book. I admonished him to, obviously, "stop ripping pages." He ripped again. So he got sent to the Not-Listening chair. When it was time to get off, I told him to say sorry to me for not listening to my instructions. He said a very sorrowful sorry and then proceeded to left the bathroom, mumbling something about saying "sah-wy a papers". He headed to the place where the sad little page remnants were lying and, in a very repentant voice, proceeded to say TO THE PAPERS, "Sahwy a wipping you." Thoughtful kid.

Ryan and Jessica had a social week. With 3 lunches, 2 parties (one was DDR party, see below), a temple date, a book club, Pack Meeting, the cannery, being in charge of all carpools, and a basketball game...I wasn't surprised when on Friday night (when I didn't have anywhere to go) Jane said, "I love you, Mom, so I'm sorry you have to go to a meeting tonight." When I replied that I didn't have a meeting, Jane said, "That's weird." We are thankful for fun neighbors and friends, but are hoping for more calm this week!

C Code Run. Run Code Run.

From the archives:

"C is a language with the flexibility and speed of assembly combined with the ease of use of assembly."

Source: I got this quote off the internet somewhere. I have to agree, considering how confusing C can be at times. If you haven't seen my post on the International Obfuscated C Code Contest you should look now.

Explanation: I sat down at my Linux machine the other night in an effort to put together a web site using a Content Management System (CMS). I had high aspirations. After three hours of work, I was proud to say that my web server was recognizing the directory in which the CMS code resided. Mind you, the site didn't work for squat, but I had managed to figure out the intricacies of SELinux, which the developers put into Fedora to keep people like me from being productive. The amazing part was that I was PROUD to have accomplished what I did.

Let's put it another way. Imagine getting a new jigsaw puzzle and being really excited to put it together. After three hours, imagine the puzzle still being in the box, but being really proud that you managed to find a table on which to assemble it. That's about where I stand. You have to love technology.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

I Could Go For Some Fun in the Sun

From the archives:

It's tough to complain about the sunburn you got at work when work consisted of shuffleboard, miniature golf, a horseback ride through the woods, a little tennis, some time on a climbing wall, and no actual work.

Explanation: This was my status the day after our organization's "Fun in the Sun" day a few years back. When it's 30 degrees outside, I like to reminisce about those great days of yore, back when we could comfortably wear shorts outside and the waterslide was a great way to finish up a "tough" day at work.

Special Blog Factoid of the Day: Shaquille O'Neal, whose financial information was made public as part of his divorce proceedings, averages spending $12,775 a month on food. Other expenditures of note are $110,505 a month on vacations and $3,345 in phone bills.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Happy Wedding to Joshua & June Yen

Here is another wedding dinner i attended. joshua is my current colleague, meanwhile June Yen is my ex-colleauge back in Kompakar(world really small).so no surprize to see my friend in their wedding dinner .

Photobucket
One World Wedding Chocolate. the wedding dinner is held in One World Hotel.

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Formal Wedding dinner, grab some wine and cake while waiting.

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The Dinning begins. it very nice decorated. environment is superb. and guess what.. this is the longest wedding i ever had. nearly midnight only we left the hall. and the dinner start at 8 pm. after that, we straigh away go for 2nd round. Neway K session. till 4:30am..everyone is panda for the next day :P

Sweater Whether

Jessica proudly displaying her persuasion abilities, last Saturday night.

Every winter the question resurfaces … whether to sweater. As Jessica and I browse for some gay apparel the inevitable suggestion comes, “What about that sweater?” A flash of the neatly folded pile on the top-corner shelf of our bedroom closet rushes to mind. That is where I keep my stash … my sweater stash. The pile is actually only 3 deep now thanks to last year’s donation to the local Goodwill. I won’t disclose how many of Spokane’s less fortunate are truly less fortunate due to their wives’ undoubtedly bringing home a recent sweater find.

I could sense Jessica’s eyes wandering to the sweaters as I rummaged through the T-shirt table. I had hoped that by somehow projecting exuberance over one of the graphic Ts, I could stave off the suggestion of a sweater. All to no avail.

I do enjoy one aspect of the suggestion. My favorite part of the discussion is how as I try it on Jessica will suddenly become surprisingly amorous telling me how good the sweater looks on. As a novice, I used to believe the sweater’s effect would be re-enacted each and every time I wore the sweater. Thirty bucks seemed a very fair price for such a commodity. Yet time has schooled me in the sad lesson that the initial sweater response is replayed at most three times and in rapidly decreasing degrees.


#1 In the store – wide eyes, big smile, lots of extra touching, accelerated breathing, it looks sexy on you, oohs&aahs, etc. etc. (this actually continues for as long as I deliberate on the purchase … sometimes I will take a little extra time and bask in the attention).
#2 Date Night – “That sweater looks “nice” on you.”
#3 A few weeks later – “Um, can you scoot away a bit, that sweater is kind of itchy".

I have also learned that the sweater is only to be worn on date night. Sweaters seem to invite taunts from male friends. This is due to the fact most men understand the psychology behind the purchase of one. Sweaters aren’t really comfortable, and they aren’t versatile. I suppose if you are cold they might be okay, but I get cold about twice a year.

This is why my stash is the only pile in my closet that remains neatly folded, because we all know that after wearing it twice... the magic is gone.

Tom Platz Knows Squat

"After a good set of squats, I'm breathless and have difficulty walking."

Source: Tom Platz. THE Tom Platz. What? You have no idea who Tom Platz is? Shame on you.

Explanation: At his prime, Tom Platz had the best leg development in the history of bodybuilding. This was 30-some years ago, and in a sport where everyone has gotten bigger and better (possibly thanks to advances in modern chemistry) Platz's legs remain the gold standard.

At a 198 pound bodyweight, Platz squatted 600 pounds in competition. At his best he did 28 reps with 405 pounds and 52 reps with 350. With 225 pounds, he has squatted for ten straight minutes. And, amazingly, even with all that bulk, the man could do a full split. Just sick.

Anyway, the moral of the story is simple. Squats are good for your legs.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

The Art of Shoptimization

Shoptimization: The art of evaluating internet deals in order to pay the lowest possible price for an item or items. See Software, Financial.

Explanation: Yesterday, I made my annual TurboTax purchase. This is always a very exciting time in the Jeremy's Status Message household. After several days of monitoring internet deals, I decided that my best option was to purchase TurboTax Deluxe With State at Staples for $39.99 (a $5 internet-only discount off the normal $44.99 price) and take a $60 rebate on Quicken Deluxe ($59.99) along with it. Ordinarily, I would look for the best possible deal on TurboTax and take any deal I could find with it, but this year I'm in the market for a new version of Quicken, and I need the Quicken Deluxe version for 401(k) tracking and such, which you normally can't get for free with TurboTax.

Normally, I would be looking for Antivirus software - usually you can get Norton Antivirus for free with tax software, so I buy it and hold on to the free copy until my subscription runs out later in the year. Last year, though, my subscription ran out very late in the year, and I think I can get by without actually making a Norton purchase this year. Yes, I know that means not getting new antivirus updates for a week or so, but it's a risk I'm willing to take, especially after the last time I installed Norton.

So this year, I was actually looking at an OfficeDepot deal that offered the same $60 rebate (actually 2 rebates) on Quicken Deluxe, but they never posted one of the rebates on their web site. I even called tech support and they said they would fix it and never did. Luckily, I looked again at Staples and saw that they have the same deal, plus the $5 instant coupon on TurboTax. Throw in my Staples Rewards membership and the convenience of their Easy Rebates system, and this was a no brainer.

So, I knew the deal I wanted. The next step is to maximize that deal. The best offers I could find were a 12% store-only coupon (which means I would lose my $5 instant rebate on TurboTax) or a $10 off $100 coupon they had emailed me. I know what you're thinking, and yes, I could have probably bought a $20 off $100 coupon on eBay, but I never trust those and I think it's more hassle than it's worth. Doing the math, $12 off $104.98 was not as good as $10 off $99.98, so I went with my coupon. Unfortunately, when they say $100, they mean $100, so I had to buy a $0.58 eraser to render the coupon valid. A small price to pay for a better deal.

There you go. That's my shoptimization process in a nutshell. Stay tuned - maybe someday I'll talk to you about the last LEGO set I bought. It took three months to find the perfect deal, but it was TOTALLY worth it. Ooh! There was also my camera, which I ordered for store pickup with a sick coupon on a day when I was in the Delaware area. That was a major coup as well.

Sean Keller y Jim Agnew, dos nombres para la agenda

Según publica Fangoria, tenemos dos chicos nuevos en el gallinero: Sean Keller y Jim Agnew.

Poco se puede saber de ellos buscando por Internet, pero de acuerdo con Fangoria, son los responsables de dos guiones que se han convertido en los nuevos proyectos de Argento y Carpenter.

El proyecto de Argento es el más avanzado y está previsto que empiece pronto a rodar. Giallo, que es como se llama (no podía llevar otro título), cuenta la historia de una azafata americana y un policía italiano que siguen la pista a un asesino en serie que se hace llamar "Amarillo" (Giallo). En ella volverán a trabajar padre e hija, o director y maciza (ya son de sobra conocidas mis perversiones para con Asia Argento) tras el descalabro de la Terza Madre, todavía inédita en España.

Lo de Carpenter ha aparecido en ShockTillYouDrop y parece que por fin, el regreso es un hecho y que quedan atrás los días en los que parecía que íbamos a quedarnos sin uno de los mayores genios del cine de terror moderno. En este regreso tanto tiempo esperado (las TV-Movies de Masters of Horror, al revés que las de Argento, no estuvieron a la altura deseable) Carpenter contará la historia de la hija de un antiguo sacerdote a la que acosan, y cito textualmente, "los poderes sobrenaturales del lado oscuro de Los Angeles". El sugerente título es L.A. Gothic.

¿Conseguirá el tandem de guionistas resucitar a estos dos genios?

Dípticos

Un día aburrido.

La Academia de Cine edita todos los años unos dípticos con la lista de los nominados. Sirven como recuerdo o para hacer la quiniela de la gala; ayer me dieron unos cuantos y me sobran 4.

Los 4 primeros que me los pidan en los comentarios, se los llevan. Ya inventaré algo para mandárselos o para que los recojan.

(Ni el café ni el tabaco están incluidos en los regalos, solamente era por hacer menos sosa la foto)

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

This is How we Wash the Clothes...

Just in case your laundry isn't exciting enough...we thought we'd share ours with you!

A few friends have posted about laundry and so I thought I'd share my method. (All credit for this idea goes to, of course, the dispenser of all Mother Wisdom--Heather Daines. See here and here for further proof of her all-goodness).

1. Wash the Laundry

That would be me. (Jane's taking this great shot of me in my sweats). I am way too scared to give them potentially-destructive access to our thousands of dollars worth of clothes. I wash any old day/time I want to, because of the following system.


2. Get some empty cubby things.

If I wasn't me, I would have them cutely labeled. But since I am me, I just told the kids whose was whose and told them to remember. (The top six our the family's...the bottom 3 are holding place for towels).


3.Take dry laundry out of laundry and put into baskets.

This is theoretically where your work should end. Good luck with that.

4. Remind laundry-job-person to do his job...

which is to sort the clothes into their proper cubbies. As Ryan discussed in a previous Christmas letter, be prepared to find Strawberry Shortcake panties in your cubby. The laundry-job-person then puts his clothes away, folds and puts the towels/washrags away (ha!).



5. Call family members to empty their cubbies


Be prepared to hear them all admonish laundry-job-person about how he mis-sorted (even though they do the same thing themselves). Mother puts away her own and 2 year old's clothes (which he will pull out every day and wear on top of each other at VERY inconvenient times). My kids roll their shirts, because it's easier and makes it so they don't have to mess everything up to find one on the bottom of the pile.




Key Element: Do not care if your kids' drawers look like this (which I don't because those drawers are closed):


Those with OCD might not be able to handle this...but it has changed my laundry life. I never have huge piles to deal with and I never have to dig through laundry to find my sports bra if I haven't had time to get to it. (Of course I have to nag and, of course, certain sassy 4 year olds do a worse job than nice almost-9 year olds, but it is SO MUCH EASIER than doing it all myself.)

What great housework systems have you come up with...share in a comment or email or, better yet, POST about it!

Que no, que no me busquéis el 1 de Marzo en Joy

Leo ahora que el concierto del que os hablé hace unos días no se celebrará. A cambio, Krakovia toca otras 2 fechas en Madrid: 13 de febrero en Pachá y 12 de abril en Joy Eslava.

¿Alguien se apunta al del día 13?

Go Green!

If I had a pet made out of #1 plastic, do you know what I'd call him? Pete!

Explanation: Whenever I check a piece of plastic to see if it needs to be recycled, I always see "PETE" written under the #1 symbol and think to myself, "I guess this can/bottle/container is named Pete!" Maybe I'm the only one...


Special Blog Bonus: We at Jeremy's Status Message care for our environment. We strongly support telecommuting as a way to help our planet and maintain a "green" lifestyle. Here are a few pointers:
  • Save gas. A mere fifteen mile commute for an entire year can add up to about 7000 miles. Even in a hybrid, that's over 200 gallons of gas. Working from home will save that gas. In fact, we suggest a healthy lunch of turkey chili, so you can help create gas right here in America.
  • An office is expensive to heat. Staying at home, you can turn your heat off and just throw on a few layers of fleece. Just be sure to properly ground yourself before using any sensitive electronic equipment.
  • Showers waste thousands of gallons of water each year. Baths may waste slightly less, but if you're working from home, who cares about personal hygeine? Shower once a week. Shaving is for sissies. If you do have to leave the house, just tell people you're growing a playoff beard for whatever sport is in season.*
  • Millions of trees are killed each year just to make napkins. Don't use them. An added bonus is that you can save extra food in your playoff beard in case you get stuck on a teleconference and can't run down to the kitchen.
As always, we at Jeremy's Status Message reserve the right to update and revise this list during the day.

Also, if you want a truly "Green" candidate we suggest you vote Hulk for president.

*If you don't follow sports, just say your playoff beard is for the local hockey team. The NHL playoffs last for about four months, so you have a high probability of being right.

Cloverfield @ GoldClass Watching Viewcam Tape

Let talk about movie today. why movie? hahah, because is my first time went to GSC Gold Class for movie.. what movie ar? Cloverfield. what's it all about??? you will heard "ViewCam" from me as the answer.

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what? ViewCam? you must be kidding me? like pirated VCD capture inside cinema those type ar ar?
"erm... sort of, just they move around a lot"
who's the main actress in the movie?
"Kelefeh"
wow, congratulation. you SHIONG CHEH(being tricked) liao.

Bad Movie?? NOPE, i denied that! is a fantastic movie to me. why?
1 ) you'll feel like you're part of the movie. like you going through the whole movie.
2 ) Realistic!!! "ViewCam" + "Computer Graphic" = "Realistic"
3 ) Exciting! escaping! Run, fighting monster? being ate by monster? wow...
4 ) Mysterious! you won't know what going to happen next.

okay.. advice for watching this movie... get a REALLY confortable seat. don't get front row, trust me.. you won't want to go toilet vomit half way though the movie. another suggestion.. made sure u confortable while playing Counter Strike. yeah.. else.. dizzy.. viewcam mar. shaky! dun have anti shake i guess...

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yeah~ confortable seat. yeah.. really confortable. lay down and enjoy the movie.. wel.. if the story slightly boring? i'll sleep though the whole movie.. hahaha, if you feel sleepy, don't go for gold class. hahaha,there might be a chance that u sleep though the whole movie. hahahaa

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Gold Class Hall in One Utama GSC.it's.. really classy. man.. i love the seat.

"while you watching cloverfield ar.. i heard very dizzy wor.. you bought which row ar?"
"erm... third row from the screen wor.. "
"wah lau! so near ar?"

"No lar just nice."
"sure boh?"
"of course la, i love the movie summore"
"you sick ar?"
/*third row wasn't that bad jeh. hehehe*/

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

7 Things Tag

I got tagged about a week ago by Laurie. I haven't done it yet, because, frankly what haven't I already revealed? It took me a week to come up with some things:

1. I'm older than my uncle. Which probably isn't all that exciting in Mormondom, but I thought I'd mention it. My mom's dad died, my grandma remarried and had two more boys when my own mother was having babies. Cade, see his family blog here...oh wait, they don't have one, so never mind (ahem--Stacy!), is 3 years older than me and Dane, married to the lovely Lorena, is 4 months younger. You know what that meant? It meant lots and lots of fun when it was time to visit Grandma. Here's to the funniest (truly), most creative and most loyal uncles ever!


(Cade, holding brother Sam, brother Nate, Dane, brother Matt, the lovely 7th grade Jessica)

2. I have a numbers thing. It comes from the Sherrill side of the family. I could wile away the hours (and do, on the treadmill) thinking about "if I have this sort of calorie deficit today, than I will lose this much weight per week, which will translate into this total loss by summer" or "if we sell our Utah rental house for x dollars in 2009, than we can pay off our Spokane rental house and have this much leftover". I love it. I relate all things in percentages (ask my husband) and can remember birthdays and phone numbers like no body's business.


3. I eat chocolate in the middle of the night. I wake up (and have since I was a teenager) and need chocolate washed down with milk. I can be the calorie consumption Nazi all day and at 3am I will forget all of it and chow down. It's really like I can't reason at that point. I will sometimes (out of embarrassment) have to hide the following evidence: crumbs on the table, wrappers in the trash, glass with milk ring left in it, magazine out (I like to read while I eat). Ryan used to (still does?) get upset when there would be 5 cookies left at bedtime...and none when he woke up in the morning. It's bad.

4. I, with a friend, stopped a couple from pickpocketing us in Barcelona, Spain by catching them, shoving them up against a McDonalds' window, holding them till the cops came and then filing a police report entirely in Spanish. Have I not already referred to my Awesomeness?

5. I have a "keep things from getting messy" deficiency in my brain. It's like poor Ryan has 5 kids when it comes to messes. I'm not kidding. I really honestly always have drips on my shirt or am accidentally missing the bowl when pouring ingredients in, or don't realize that this action will lead to this mess. The whole problem here is...I like things neat. So making my house neat, is that much harder because everything I do makes a huge mess.

6. The first words Ryan spoke to me were: "If we are going to get married, shouldn't we go on a date?" Seriously. Our parents had been trying to set us up for so long (I'd be at BYU, and come home, and then he'd be gone, etc. etc.) that it had become a family joke. So much so, that Ryan before he'd ever met me would refer to Jessica Sherrill "The Mother of His Children". So it was that he proposed during our first phone call. Who knew?


7. I like potluck/buffet food. I am a good cook and I can appreciate all kinds of food. I love special cheeses and weird vegetables. I cook with Anise seed and fresh goat cheese. I also LOVE Golden Corral and Sweet Tomatoes. I LOVE potlucks at church. I am not grossed out by the germ possibilities. And I love variety in food so much that I think potlucks are the most fun ever. All you food snobs can laugh, as I cook you under the table, but any old time you want to hit Chuck A Rama...I'm there.

An Unusually Stable Market

Oddly, the company stock price didn't change at all yesterday.

Explanation: Usually, on a federal holiday, I totally forget that it's a federal holiday, but yesterday was different. Even though I was working, I remembered that there was no mail delivery. In fact, I was quite excited at the possibility that my wife might ask if the mail had come so I could show how smart I was that I knew it was a federal holiday. I was so smart, I could barely contain myself.

Meanwhile, all day I was checking the stock price on the company intranet and was pleasantly surprised each time that it was up $2.30. Each time. Never did it occur to me that the time next to the price was last Friday at 4:00 PM.

Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and forget about the whole market thing and start laughing at the people in my neighborhood who put their trash out last night, even though collection was postponed until Wednesday due to the holiday. Suckers!

Special Blog Bonus: It's been a while since I ran a comic, so here's a Far Side for you:

Polar bear and penguins

Entrega de medallas del CEC

La última (y única vez) que había ido a la entrega de medallas del Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos, una azafata se me acercó al poco de cruzar la puerta y sonriendo, me preguntó si yo estaba nominado. Tras confesarle (con vergüenza) que no, mi acompañante me dijo: “Pareces un actor revelación”.

Anoche, más viejo y más gordo y menos actor y menos revelación, crucé de nuevo la puerta del Cine Palafox y lo único que me dieron las azafatas fue un bolígrafo con publicidad de Imagenio.

Para el que no lo sepa, las medallas CEC son lo más parecido a los Globos de Oro que tenemos en España, es decir, unos premios justo antes de los Goya que sirven muy mucho para medir la temperatura de lo que ocurrirá dentro de una semana.

Tras unas cañas y algo de picar, Dani Méndez (gran persona, gran guionista y gran amigo con el que nunca puedo quedar) y servidor nos presentamos en la ceremonia, olvidando que las galas del cine español son españolas, y por tanto, aunque en el programa ponga que empiezan a las 21:30, la gente no va a llegar hasta las 22:00.

Entre la puerta y el bolígrafo de Imagenio me encontré a Gonzalo, al que todavía le debo un guión (como a mucha gente, ¿Cómo consigo organizar tan mal mi vida?). Gonzalo me presentó a su chica (soy incapaz de recordar el nombre, perdóname, chica de Gonzalo) y Dani y yo nos reímos porque el pobre no se había dado cuenta que estaba espalda con espalda con Bayona.

¿La gala?

Pues sí, pues presentaban Paula Echevarría y Fernando Cayo… pero da igual porque yo, no sé Dani, no podía mirar a otro lado que no fuera a las piernas de la que todavía no me puedo creer que sea Señora de David Bustamante.

¿Los premios?

El orfanato empezó como se le presupone, ganando. Luego el asunto se fue equilibrando hasta que Luz de domingo quedó por encima en premios (todavía necesito medicación por el premio a Garci y Valcárcel a “Mejor guión original).. Carlos Larrañaga subió a por el de mejor actor secundario y no pude no sacar mi cámara y hacerle una foto que mandé a Josito Montez (si alguien es lector de su blog, pedidle que la publique.
Mejor director fue a Jaime Rosales que, aunque estaba rodando, mandó un mensaje en el que le dedicaba la medalla a Lola Salvador (obvia decir que es el momento en el que más aplaudí).
Bayona ganó el premio a Revelación del año y nos privó de ver a Manuela Velasco subir las escaleras, pero supongo que puedo olvidar por unos instantes que soy un pervertido y pensar que sí, que “el gran Bayona” (Copyright Balagueró & Plaza) se lo merecía más.
Lo mejor, Aurora Bautista. ¿qué tengo yo que siempre me emociono en los premios “a toda una vida”?. Alguien, algún blog amigo debería escribir sobre ella. Subió como una aparición, dio las gracias proyectando la voz y lanzó besos a las cámaras; como si fuese Norma Desmond pero en versión Locura de amor.
La mejor peli fue para Siete mesas…, que debo ser el único al que le encanta.

¿Y después?

Pues después la gente se fue y yo salí a fumar. Nos quedamos a ver la proyección de Grace is gone, que os recomiendo que no os la perdáis cuando se estrene. Me gustó tanto que luego me costó dormir y hoy he llegado tarde al trabajo.

Os copio la lista de premiados, para que os sirva de cara a las nominaciones de los Goya.

Película: Siete mesas de billar francés.
Director: Jaime Rosales por La soledad.
Actor: Alfredo Landa por Luz de domingo.
Actriz: Maribel Verdú por Siete mesas de billar francés.
Actor secundario: Carlos Larrañaga por Luz de domingo.
Actriz secundaria: María Vázquez por Mataharis.
Guión original: Icíar Bollaín y Tatiana Rodríguez por Mataharis.
Guión adaptado: José Luis Garci y Horacio Valcárcel por Luz de domingo.
Fotografía: Félix Monti por Luz de domingo.
Montaje: Elena Ruiz por El orfanato.
Música: Fernando Velázquez por El orfanato.
Premio revelación: Juan Antonio Bayona por El orfanato.
Documental: Fados.
Película extranjera: La vida de los otros (Das leben der anderen), de Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (Alemania).
Labor literaria y periodística: José María Caparrós Lera.
Medalla de Honor: Aurora Bautista.