daninbusiness: 2/25/07

Saturday, March 03, 2007

the pick of destiny

Saw "Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny" two times already this weekend (a good-quality pirated dvd release is making the rounds now).

What a fantastic film! Satire of hard/classic rock yet a very loving homage at the same time. The original songs for the movie by Tenacious D fit well, and Dave Grohl's portrayal of Satan was funny and spot on.

I get the impression that this film didn't get that much love stateside. It's not really an Academy Award style film, but it was a lot of fun. I guess if you like Tenacious D, then you'd probably like the movie. If not, then it may not do much for you.

perfect day in Shenzhen so far

Warm breezes, lots of sun.

Can't complain about the weather at all right now. It will be air-conditioning weather soon enough; just have to enjoy the nice weather while it's here.

(To give reference for those reading this in Minnesota - I'd say the weather right now is roughly equivalent to mid-late May...shorts aren't really necessary but you could wear them if you really wanted to and be comfortable...)

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

changing habits isn't easy

Need to change stuff around a bit if I really want to grow.

I'm trying to write a book; and I've made the deceptively simple goal for myself of getting 3 pages of material done per day.

I thought that this was a modest goal, but actually doing it still is a little challenging. Breaking habits (ie, instinctively searching the web when I have a free moment, turn on a DVD when I'm at home, eating alone, choosing to tinker with the computer rather than actually using it productively, blogging, etc) does take a bit of effort.

I guess I really should look at it like Iook at going to the gym - something I really just need to do, no matter what.

(I'm not slavish about going to the gym, but I average around 3 times a week).

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

My submission was accepted on slashdot...word!

Finally, now I too have joined the ranks of Slashdot readers who have submitted a news article for discussion!

Seems like I picked a good topic that has started some interesting conversation and not too many flame wars. Check it out; the Slashdot post about the NY Times Bee article.

One thing that is surprising, however - how many Slashdot readers are really that experienced in Bee-raising? Evidently more than one might expect, unless people are simply claiming knowledge for the sake of "winning" an on line argument .

(Check that link out, it's one of the better somethingawful articles I've read; satirical but kind of insightful if you've ever read any Internet forums).

Feeling way better

Got home early yesterday, took it easy. Ended up doing a bunch of updates to my Ubuntu install, including breaking the graphics drivers, then fixing them again. Since my friend Ron was kind enough to count on me to set up a new computer rig for his new movie, I felt a need to live up to his expectations and practice a bit at home.

After an unexpected (but always welcome) visit from my friend Jonid and his wife, I ended up coming home kind of late.

Woke up at 6 am from the sound of my cat Blackie going insane; she appeared to be having a seizure (she seems to have them around once every 6 months). This didn't help me getting any rest; I finally fell back asleep and kept having weird dreams where I was checking my watch and it was always unbelievably late, then really waking up and only an hour had passed. But then, sure enough, I did end up sleeping in, quite late...was finally roused by a call from one of my co-workers telling me to get online and chat via skype with a client.

The rest was good - I feel much better, have energy at work, and am actually getting a lot done today. Yay for sleep!

(perhaps I'm also in a good mood since my staff was all present in the office today, and we could actually get answers and work on things effectively, rather than the comparatively stale "vacation" environment that we were experiencing earlier)

Sunday, February 25, 2007

feeling a little sick today

I suppose that this is what I get for staying up until well past 2 am then getting up at 6:30 am.

Headachey.

funny piece of spam

This is a rather funny sounding piece of spam that I've received several pieces of:

Hi
How are you ? Call me.
for many children,
Poor you, i don't even think how much spam you are recive.
Jennifer Gervasio
68796D6D786671756679776A33746668796E726E456B68746E786872

I did a Google search on Jennifer Gervasio, out of curiosity's sake - I've no idea how this woman's name ended up in this spam blast but judging from the results, it doesn't appear as if she masterminded it.

Not so Beautiful

Reflection: It's oddly reassuring that without fail, as cheesy ballads are totally exhausted and over-saturated in the west, they will be enthusiastically adopted 3-4 years later by the Chinese mainstream.

Not so beautiful

Keeping my ipod on to block out the noise on the bus and the radio. To my surprise, I can still hear a song, and it's in english. Pause mp3, what could this be? Why, James Blunt's "Beautiful". No cause for alarm. Unpause mp3. Increase volume, significantly. Reflection: It's oddly reassuring that without fail, as cheesy ballads are totally exhausted and over-saturated in the west, they will be enthusiastically adopted 3-4 years later by the Chinese mainstream.

made it out

Shaking from having a bit too much coffee today (and in the process of having another).

It was a beautiful day outside; lots of sun, warm breeze, totally comfortable in jeans+t-shirt. It's February 25!!! I guess that is normal weather for this region, but I still can't get over the fact it's so nice in FEBRUARY!

Anyway, stuff to do now, among other things working through another chapter of "The Success Journey", by John C. Maxwell. It is pretty interesting and encouraging me to think about what success means for me, what I want to do with my life, blah blah blah.

Got a new playlist installed on my ipod, and am listening to a lot of songs by the band Muse. I am very out of touch with the "music scene" in the west, and I don't really know what kind of reception Muse has received stateside. For what it's worth, I'm finding it pretty good; their music has grown on me. The singer has kind of a whiny, Thom-Yorkish voice, the lyrics seem a little more complicated than the usual emo-rock crap, and the instrumentation skills are pretty tight, doing sort of complicated but rocking songs that average 4-5 minutes each. A little like Radiohead, with less slow songs and perhaps sticking a little closer to straight rock rather than Radiohead's tendency to write sprawling experimental songs (not that I mind Radiohead).

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