Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Best Band of the Decade

I didn't know their name at first, but I knew the song. Later they appeared again on some complilation album and I got interested.

But it wasn't until after I saw them at the Henry Ford Theater in L.A. that the lightbulb went off and My Morning Jacket became the best band of the decade -- and the hairiest -- between all of the band members, Supercuts could get out of their stock slump.

Looks aside, these guys, especially Jim James and Carl Broemel (a guitar genius) remind me of early Who, Kinks, Ramones and Glen Campbell all mixed together.

Bravo, boys. See you at Bonnaroo.

Monday, March 20, 2006

Why Would Anyone Want to Live Here?



Between the free public transportation, the weather, the Kid's Room at the Public Library, and the Chili and Pizza at Baked, I can't understand why someone would want to subject themselves to all this community and ease. It's so much more annoying than a place like, say, Los Angeles.

Friday, March 17, 2006

Shiprock, New Mexico



I love this new wide-format camera.

Yahoo!




Speaks for itself.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

The southern chief

I'm writing from somewhere outside of san bernadino onboard amtrak's southern chief.

I've decided to take the family on an overnight train ride to gallup, new mexico, where we'll pick up a car and drive the 5 hours to colorado.

I haven't been on an overnight train in 20 years, and I can now tell you, for absolutely sure, that nothing has changed. It's as strange and magical as it has always been.

Dinner is included in the dining car. What a strange feeling to be eating a salad and steak watching the baseball diamonds and truck depots fly by. Strange and magical.

Its hard to believe that it's so much cheaper to ride the rails than to brave the security lines and delays at the airport and be stuffed into a can. There's so much more life here.

We arrive in gallup at 9am. Photos to follow.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Maybe A Crank Will Do

With siding going up on the house, I'm turning my attention to more important things, like how many different places I can watch a movie in my new house. The whole issue of "TV in the master bedroom or not" came up for a second, but since my wife's a TV writer, I put a big check in that column and moved on.

Being a sensible fellow, I didn't just want to stick an LCD up on the far wall (I really hate the need for binoculars at home to read the crawl) so I thought of a better solution. I said to myself, "Self, why don't you get one of those motorized lifts and put it at the foot of the bed?" Pop up, pop down. Form and Function. Happy husband, happy wife.


When I owned a "digital contractor" company that designed systems for people's homes, we used these all the time. Besides being a bit slow, they were fantastic...and expensive...like $10,000. Well, it's a couple of years later, and the price (and weight) of plasma TVs have dropped considerably, but somehow, the price of these little lifts haven't dropped proportionately.

You can now pick up one of these suckers (frame only, no cabinetry) for about $1,800. Nice drop, you may say; but just to put it in perspective, for about $300 less, you can pickup a lift that will raise your car up 7'. Plasma lift: 51 lbs. and 2', Car lift: 8000 lbs. and 7' You do the math...no, I'll do it for you.

LCD lift: $35/lb.
Car Lift: $5/lb



Somehow, that "convenience cost" is a bit out of whack. If anyone has any old elevators (or maybe Grandma's Inclinator) lying around or have bright ideas for finding a solution, let me know.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

A Little Bit of Happiness to Brighten Your Day

Feeling a bit down? Then read this excerpt from The S.F. Chronicle and just chase those blues away.

"An 11-year epoch of increasingly severe solar storms that could fry power grids, disrupt cell-phone calls, knock satellites back to Earth, endanger astronauts in space, and force commercial airliners to change their routes to protect their radio communications and to avoid deadly solar radiation could begin as soon as this fall, scientists announced Monday."

""I'm really excited about this (discovery)," said NASA's {David} Hathaway.

Barn Door


Every house in our neighborhood has a beachy feeling -- probably because we're 1/2 a mile from the beach.

Anyway, the wife and I wanted to shake it up a little and give our place a little bit of a ranch feeling. There's an opening from the main stairwell to my office, and we're gonna add a barn door on some very cool hardware that can swing open or closed (depending on if the in-laws are in town).

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Give thanks

My wife, son and I returned from a trip to the shoestore today (it's amazing how fast those litttle feet grow), to find a group of people in black suits standing in the courtyard below our apartment.

It's a scary sight to see groups in black at your home. After the initial wondering, I realized death was here.

Our landlord was one of the sweetest men I have ever known. He was always welcoming, always kind, always around with a knowing and wise face. He let us put my son's toys in his courtyard and gave him presents at the holidays.

We never knew he was sick until last week when he collapsed and was taken to the hospital for tests. He died friday.

today hiis son said that the lung cancer he had been living with had spread to his brain, causing extreme headches and ultimately, his death. We never knew.

I want to say something like "how fragile this all is", but if you understand that black, solemn wave of mourning people, you already know.

Thank you for welcoming us into your home, jay. It was a pleasure knowing you.

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Dog Walker Available


Took a nice hike up Westridge Fireroad with my parents and the family. Finally, my kid will start paying me back for all those diapers.

Friday, March 03, 2006

Vonage Phone Service


I've been using Vonage voice-over IP since we moved out of our house. We had a killer home number, and Verizon wanted $120/yr. just to hold the thing until we got back. I said no, I don't think so.

So I hooked up with Adelphia cable for high-speed internet, signed up for $24.95/month unlimited nationwide calling, and ported my number over. Goodbye Verizon.

The service is, for the most part, fantastic. You get all of the features Verizon charges $90/month for, PLUS voicemails are sent to an email address, so you can listen to them anywhere you are and forward them to other people. The only problem is when the internet signal goes out (which in Adelphia's case is FAR too often) everyone says I sound like I'm underwater in an echo chamber. But overall, I think everyone should make the switch. Monopolies hurt everyone, especially me.

(I still use Skype for international calls. You can't beat their rates. I called someone in the Seychelles the other day, was on the phone for 10 minutes, and it cost me $2.50).

It's about time for this revolution. Ma Bell's been dead for years now, but nobody really wanted to believe it.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Powder Rooms



Powder Rooms are the strangest rooms in a house. They're a leftover from the Victorian age where style was everything, and the sight of a tub in a public restroom was strictly declasse. For some reason, this "license to do anything" has spilled over into the modern age, and we are left, oftentimes, with rooms that look more like they belong in Cirque De Soleil, rather than a place where your guests can remove the piece of spinach lodged between their teeth.

That's why I'm following suit and putting reeds on the ceiling of my powder room, to give it a natural, earthy tone with a little bit of Singapore Raffles thrown in. Kinda fits with the beachy theme.

anyone with interesting places to find this stuff?

Fanimation



I love ceiling fans, probably because they remind me of airplane propellors.

In my house, I get one room that is mine to do anything I want with (except when people come to stay over). That's why I've decided to put this in "the studio". These guys at Fanimation make some of the most interesting fans I've seen. Each one reminds me of a different adventure travel trip around the world. Check out their other models.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

A Great Home Sound Resource

I recently had the house pre-wired for stereo. Boy, I forgot how much those A/V guys markup work and other stuff. Along the way, I ran into a great user forum where you can get real-world stories and perspective.

Very helpful.