archived entries for July 2006

Thursday, July 27, 2006
boy, i don't know
I... just... um... huh?

Just look for yourself.

And for the Muslims (since the above mentioned would be too risque), there's this.

car soccer!
I'm wondering if this wouldn't be a better ad for the Toyota Yaris than those weird bug squishing ones. I mean, after watching that I'd want to get one just so I could play!

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Wednesday, July 19, 2006
cake, and almost eating it too
Whoa. Okay, so now I’m intrigued!

135 mpg.

0 – 60 in four seconds.

Designed and built by Lotus engineers.

Um… yeah, I want one. And I think I would get one day one except the whole could be $80,000.

It’s released tomorrow!

the HD gaming experience
So over the weekend I made sort of an impulse purchase. I had caught wind that the new NCAA football game was making its debut on the XBOX 360 sometime soon. And well, one thing led to another and bam, a new 360 sitting in place of my vastly neglected gamecube, whose reclamation helped subsidize the new purchase. And really the impulse part about the purchase was the timing since I had expected to pick one up around the time Gears of War came out which would have been in November. Plus with work and other things, I didn’t really have time for video games so I wasn't paying too much attention to what was going on there. And not that I do now, but at least I’m up-to-date, so to speak.

So is the glory of HD video gaming all that it’s been hyped to be? Well… no. But there is potential. I think the underwhelming feeling with the visuals is more a function of lack of development time than the machine itself. The system has only been out for around six months or so and as any of you gaming aficionados know, the programmers don’t really exploit the full potential of a platform till about a year or so of maturity. Second and third generation games are about the time when a system is more fully utilized and more accurately displays its capabilities. But in addition to the graphical horsepower, high on my list things expected from the next gen system is more detailed and interactive environments along with improved non-player character AI which still leave room for improvement.

But that’s not to say that I’m suffering a too much cognitive dissonance. I am impressed with the progress video game consoles have made. But I’m a little dismayed at the continuing trend of bringing more PC like power to home entertainment devices such as game systems, DVRs and DVD players. Why? The freaking fans that have the cool the more powerful chipsets and hard drives. Nothing ruins the experience quite like having to hear mini turbine fans blowing in the background. Very annoying. I think these manufactures should start looking into some silent cooling cause it’s starting to get ridiculous. If I wanted to put the beast that is my PC in the living room I would have done so. Now that these things are coming out of the dungeons and caves for geeks into the more mainstream living rooms, a better solution has to be found.

One of the more impressive things about the machine is the network connectivity. There have been quite a few times in the past I thought how phat would it be to play a game of NCAA football or Mario Cart with friends another state away or against people from all over the world! Well, starting with the previous generation that became a reality. However, the 360 is my first opportunity to check out gameplay across the internet (this is of course outside of PC gaming where online games have been done since the days of BBSs). It’s kind of weird actually since on the PC a lot of the stuff you take for granted for an online games (forums, patches, expansion packs, etc) seems all new on the console.

But I haven’t really had the opportunity to check it out too much, but I’m sure over the course of ownership I’ll have ample opportunity to compare notes. The really cool thing is that I can now make use of my home networking! I knew there was a reason I went through such an ordeal to get my house wired. Yes indeed, I have the 360 connected to the network so now I can stream pictures and music from my PC or my sister’s to any wired room in the house (which is all of them). It’s pretty cool. Actually I was thinking about picking up a music server a while back but never got around to it. Fortuitously, this dandy piece of electronic gadgetry handles the task nicely. Now I can stream the Gladiator soundtrack and listen to it as I lead Tulsa to a national championship (as opposed to you know, just playing the CD on another stereo in the background). And I suppose if I were industrious enough, I’d rip all my CDs (why I haven’t yet is because I still haven’t picked up an MP3 player) that way my entire music collection would be available without having to change out a single CD.

Now I’m searching for a way to stream HD video content from my PC to the 360 so I can watch saved HD movies that would be backed up from the HD DVR. But no matter, at the heart of the machine, it’s supposed to be all about the gaming experience. So far, it’s been okay. But I expect the real good stuff to start trickling out at the end of this year with more excellent titles being released steadily thereafter. Now the problem is seeing as how a good deal of my television watching and now video game playing will take place in the HD 16:9 aspect ratio (which wasn’t the case when I purchased my current display), I’ve discovered that I may need to make the jump to the HDTV form factor. That means a new TV. I wonder if I’m ready to give up the beauty of my direct-view tube (crt) XBR for the as yet equitable LCD or plasma technology. The slim sexiness with a bigger picture would be hot, but can it perform as beautifully as the old and trusted? But. I don’t think I’ll jump into the question just yet, but I do love to research! Maybe a birthday present to me for next year.

And well, with the new machine, I might be a little more delayed in finishing off the trip picture updates… nah, I wouldn’t leave you guys hanging. I’m putting it out right now, that all the pics will be updated by the conclusion of this weekend! Hooray! Okay, maybe... we’ll see.

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Wednesday, July 12, 2006
¡Viva España!
Yeah, So about our trip a month and a half ago…

As apparently is becoming a signature beginning to our annual heterosexual lifetime partner trip we started with some drama. You may recall last year's passport and baggage claim drama and the missed flight. If not, it’s blogged here. Well, we should this year's be any different? With last year's events still in our minds we decided to leave a bit earlier than required to avoid any missed planes this time around. But I guess the travel gods didn’t really see it that way. After all, it wouldn't be our trip if it didn't involve a missed flight or two.

So heading south on I-95, an hour and a half past our intended departure because some one decided it was a good idea to take a business call as he was stepping out the door, we ran into a slight traffic jam around the Daytona/Palm Beach area just before the I-4 interchange. However, after sitting for about ten minutes with the rental in park, a further inspection of the situation was taken. The traffic jam stretched a good mile or two in front of us and one behind us. Obviously drastic action was necessary. Since we had something approximate to an off road vehicle, I was of the mind to put it to good use and cut across the highway shoulder to the service road. A thought stymied when it was realized there was a slight trench. Noticing an exit sign on the northbound side right across the way, we surmised an exit not too far behind us. So then it was taking to the shoulder and heading back north on the southbound lanes. Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones with that particular bright idea. What followed next was a scene out of every movie in which mass hysteria, traffic jams and imminent death colluded to make certain pandemonium prevented any rational thought from occurring. And we didn’t have the imminent death as factor in this occurrence. Let's just say seeing a 20 ft U-Haul attempting a three point turn in the middle of the southbound lanes of I-95 was a trip. Even more so with opposing streams of traffic swarming around it. At some point all we could do is laugh at the situation. We'd miss our flight our for sure. 45 mins later we were back on our way to Orlando International. I won't even cover the drama that was in the airport or on the flight (to and from London). Just know that with long lines and many, many… many British families towing amped-up kids heading back from or going to their vacation at Disney World couldn't have been a good thing. By the by, if you’re ever flying Virgin Atlantic, DO NOT FLY OUT OF OR INTO ORLANDO. You’ve been warned. But anyway, all went well for the most part. We managed to get the intended destination without too much trouble... and all was fine as soon as we hit the Iberian Peninsula.

Okay so Spain. Wow. It was definitely a great time. Madrid was pretty nice. We stayed mostly in the central area around the Museo del Prado (the hotel was right across the street from it). Kinda felt like we didn't really get to see all of what the city had to offer. Of course, you're not going to get that in a few days, but compared to Barcelona, it felt like we didn't venture out too much in the city. Then again, we might have seen all of what Madrid had to offer right there, but I doubt it. Or at least the better parts of it anyway. Much like our last trip, a lot of time was spent walking around just soaking in the city, but this time it was at more relaxed pace. Last year we were hopping from one site to the next without much time for just sitting at a cafe at a plaza and enjoying just being there. This time around we did a little more of the sitting and relaxing.

In Madrid, the place was Plaza de Santa Ana! Probably three or four out of the five nights there, we spent in the plaza at one of the many tapas bar/restaurants venues lining the perimeter of the square. Man, it was the life! Sipping on our pitchers of sangria and checking out life in full bloom flowing about us. No kidding, we downed at least two pitchers of sangria a night. Every night! It was awesome. And we dined like the Spanish as well! They have a weird eating schedule. Breakfast (those days we got up early enough for such a thing) was chill, a piece or fruit or toast or something. Really light, compared to us in the States with our huge pancakes, waffles, bacon, egg, sausage and toast meals. But then at around 11:30 it's a light lunch snacking. A sandwich or plate of Iberian ham and cheese. Then lunch! The big meal of the day for them! Usually started around 1 and lasted till 3:30 or 4! If you've ever been to Europe, you know service there isn't the model for express dining. Even more so in Spain. Very relaxed and chilled, but a little too much. Hence the long dining experiences. Expect to sit for at least an hour and a half. And getting the check! It doesn't just come at the conclusion of the meal (made obvious by the bored expressions of the patrons at a table full of empty plates and glasses who are looking around for... what could it be? Oh yes the bloody check!) or even inquired about by the staff, such as we’re used to in America when they ask if you’re ready for the check or just have one dropped off on the side of the table. No there you have to ask for the check, which they almost seem reluctant to fetch. It was a tad annoying especially when the wait staff barely returned to the table in the first place but it was something to which we became accustomed. Didn't much matter too much anyway since we were on vacation with no real particular urgency to be somewhere. At any rate, after lunch then there's the pre-dinner snacking at around 6 or 7. Than the final meal beginning at around 10 pm. Yeah, weird and apparently, not all that gastronomically correct but they didn't seem to have a problem with it and neither did we really. Cause night time activities didn't really even get started till around 1 AM anyway. And yes, the peeps out there do party till six in the morn. 7 if it's a real good time! I suppose we had been made soft be our aging or lack of true all nighters back state-side but we barely made it past 4:30 am those nights we did go out to check the nightlife.

While in Madrid we checked out two party spots the very first couple of nights! So stoked were we at being in one of Europe’s famed party destinations. Joy Eslava and Kapital. Pretty cool places. And house is still the de rigueur of musical tastes when clubbin it up. But again, for the most part while in Madrid we just walked around and checked stuff out. We visited the Prado museum and tried the Reina Sofía (which was closed the first time, open the second time but found out the display of Guernica was closed so we pushed it off for later, and then later when I returned, it was closed) so we didn't get to see what modern art was housed there. That makes 0 for 3 for attempted visits to the modern art museums. Missed out on the Centre Pompidou twice while in Paris. Booo. And the rest of Madrid? Well we took in a lot of sights and I'm drawing a blank at the moment. so guess I'll save the pics for the recap. Thousands more words and what not. Oh yeah! While in Madrid, we also caught a side trip to Toledo. I can see where the phrase “Holy Toledo” came from. Very reminiscent of my trip to Mont St. Michel while I was in France. Very cool self-contained town featuring really narrow streets, cathedrals, abbeys and synagogues. Very cool. So again Madrid was nice, but then it was on to Barcelona!

I didn't know much about BCN other than it was in Spain, the '92 summer Olympics were held there and it was the title to a Queen rock opera. Though many people had told me that it was going to be an awesome experience. So my hype meter was a little maladjusted. On one hand, I had no real crazy expectations, yet on the other everyone had good reason to pimp it as quite the place to be. So I went into it not quite knowing what to expect, but that it should be a very good time. Well, suffice it to say, Barcelona far exceeded all expectations harbored. Granted, perhaps it was a little lower since I had only hearsay to go off of, but had I known, I still would have been very impressed. I didn't quite get the urge to pack up and move there like I did with Amsterdam, but close enough. Yeah it was that pimp. Everything from the hilarious and fun cab ride with Jose (who so wanted to make sure we had a good time, gay or not, while visiting that he gave us his cell number to call in case we had any problems!) to running down from the mountain through the streets of Barcelona at four thirty in the AM, it was all wondrously magnificent. Indeed, Barcelona is a fine town.

Unlike our first couple of nights in Madrid, we took our time with the nightlife. Instead of jumping into the club spots right off the bat, we let things soak in a bit. Plus, we got there midweek so we thought it best to do the sight-seeing and what not first and save the partying for the weekend. Plus, by getting the sightseeing out of the way during the week, we mitigated the crowds and saved the later days for recouping from the evening’s excesses. Brilliant! But it was a good call on the crowds cause they just swelled over the weekend.

So the first few days we mostly did the sight seeing via the open topped buses and simply walking around. Cool stuff. Checked out the usual, the Barri Gòtic , the Picasso museum, Las Ramblas, the harbor and the beaches. Both mountains, Montjuic and Tibidabo as well. We even took one day to visit Figureres, home of the Dalí Theatre-Museum. Yes it was unreal. So was the ordeal we went through to get there. We sucked at reading train schedules and listening for last minute changes so we ended up at the tail end of a train depot, you know the place where the trains go to sleep and get washed, i.e., way far from where train passengers should be. The hilarity that ensued as we attempted eliciting directions/assistance from the train maintenance crew only enhanced the trip! One, as we were already handicapped with our very limited Spanish (me trying to learn as much as I could two months prior) and two, the fact that were now in Catalonia where Catalan was the dialect (something kinda like Spanish, but definitely its own language). Through lots of nodding and directional hand gestures we made our way back to civilization and eventually back on track to view Dalí's surreal edifice. Yeah, Dalí has some issues. But it was still some fantastic imagery. Then it was back to Barcelona for more sight seeing. I'll let you peruse the photo gallery for everything taken in. It was good stuff.

Then the weekend hit and it was time to finally hit up the night life. We checked two places really, the best of what the beach had to offer and then the best of the mountain. The first excursion, Friday night, we headed to the Carpe Diem Club Lounge (CDLC) around 10:30 for some fine dining and the some fine partying. It even featured some Iberian belly dancing! Hot. The place was on the beach and it maintained the fine dining motif till about 12:30 or so when it was "converted" to a club (by converted I mean they just moved the tables off the dance floor and cranked the sound system). Ha. Dancing and drinking till around 4 I think. The following night, it was time to explore one of the best the mountain had to offer. We hit up Danzatoria, a converted uber mansion, Saturday night which was situated up in the super expensive posh neighborhood on the front of Mt. Tibidabo. Again, kinda of the same diner to club type of thing. We dined and hung out on one of the upper floors till around 1 when the party starting to get going. No clearing of tables this time, you just went to another floor. One floor was a bar/lounge type thing. Another was the R and B/rap dance floor, another was the house/electronic dance floor then there was the garden outside in the back that was the outdoor bar/lounge equivalent. The place was super nice and quite the fun. But it closed down early at three in the morning (most likely so the very rich that actually do live in the surrounding mansions could get some sleep) and we were left to our own devices.

Now we were told it wouldn't be that much of a problem getting a cab to head back down the mountain back into the "city" where we would hit up some other places to cap the night, one of them being the Buddha bar or some various lively night spots down Las Ramblas. But nope, some of us were misinformed.

One, EVERYONE was getting a cap as things were letting out. Two, only four cabs came all the way up the mountain at a time. Yeah I dunno. So we started making our way down the street to catch one on the way up or something. Made some friends along the way, one who promptly took a tumble down the hill. I would have thought because of excess in imbibing but no, she claimed she was the most sober of the little girl click, so then it must have been karma cause she was really crabby when the rest of us were having a good time. Anyway, they stopped and decided to sit and wait. Industrious as we were, and feeling quite good, we motored on in our search all the while meeting interesting new people along the way... at four o'clock in the morning. Noticing Sheldon's fleet footedness as he tried to chase down occupied cabs I remarked on how I've never seen him move at such a speed. Well he must have been feeling real good since it led to the aforementioned foot race in which he got a glimpse of my former glory days as a collegiate track athlete. So yeah, unbelivably fun and comedy gold. Anyway, we ended up walking (and some running) ALL THE WAY BACK to our hotel from the mountain. We were a little miffed but it was still a fun experience nonetheless. In retrospect, we should have called Jose! But in America since we’re way behind in cell phone technology, or cell phones didn’t work, didn’t see any public phones and probably left Jose’s number in the proximity of a trash can. Kinda mean since he was nice and funny and made a valiant effort to make sure we know the lay of the land. Imagine such a conversation that occurs during a twenty minute ride from the airport to the hotel between a driver that speaks no English, a Canadian that speaks very little Spanish and an American that could only ask ¿Dónde está el baño? (neither of whom know a lick of difference between Catalan, the driver’s native tongue, and Spanish). I’m telling you, hilarity. The pinnacle was the moment he realized he might have been escorting two gays. Hoo boy, we all had good laugh at that after the vehement dissuasion of that notion. Not that he had a problem with that, he just wanted to make sure, either way, that we were going to the best night spots and sexual orientation was an important factor in determining where he would direct us. Jose was awesome.

Anyway, then we capped the final night and our trip in Spain with what else? Tapas and sangria on the beach watching the sun set and beach soaked peoples shift into night time party goers. Even dipped a toe in the Mediterranean. It really was a grand time and I can't wait to go back!

So, that in brief was our trip to the fine lands of España. Wonderful country with wonderful people. Many sights to see and many things to do! And the food and wine? Sublimar simplemente. Yeah, I liked it a lot.

I wanna go back. like now.

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Tuesday, July 04, 2006
hmmmm.....
crap... well that didn't work.

Well, while I'm here let me tell you that, yes, I'm an unabashed fan of Ms. Aguilera... well Mrs. Aguilera now I suppose. I caught her single, "Ain't No Other Man" the other day and gotta say, which is why I suppose they call it such, but I was hooked. If the single is any indication, I may have to pick up the new album in August. Shush you.

Yeah I know, it's been a month and all you got was some adolescent crap about a ridiculous crush on a pop star!? Say it ain't so... well, what do you want?

I did manage to get some of the photo section updated. London is up along with some new pics from Miami, Key West and Las Vegas.

wait, hang on maybe this will do someth--

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