I'm back from Switzerland. What a blast! I had to go over for work, but brought Tiffany with me to make evening excursions more fun. I'll post pics and other info soon. It was my first European trip and was an excellent experience. Mostly I want to go visit other countries now. I also want to take a remedial German class as well so I can at least be bilingual the next time. Oh, and if you're wondering what the ".CH" in my title post is, that's the country code for Switzerland as well as their TLD (top level domain) for web addresses.
Ciao!
-Jon
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
The One Where Brendan Makes a Discovery
We went down to the bookstore this weekend and as often happens, Brendan and I made an early exit outside because it was just time to. Anyway, it was a beautiful day and so I let him run around on the sidewalks. One of them wrapped a little behind the building and after running at full tilt down it, he came to a sudden, jarring halt. He paused for a second, walked slowly backwards a few feet and then came running back to me. I asked him what was wrong and he told me that there was "a man breathing fire down there!" I chuckled as I glanced back at the employee smoke break area. Funny kid.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Time Warner Cable Sucks
In case anyone reading this is contemplating moving to Austin, let me try to dissuade you from using TWC. Because of some bizarre set of Austin laws limiting internet providers, the only options available where I live (and in most of Austin) are TWC, AT&T U-Verse, and Dish. When we first moved here, TWC was the dominant internet and cable provider so we just went with "the big boy." However, our service was terrible, the installation was totally haphazard and left us with a mess of wires in our living room. It was over-priced and then to top it off, TWC announced that they were imposing bandwidth caps. Now, I'm not a big bandwidth user, but any company that is willing to take a step BACKWARDS from what they provide is a big no-no in my book. When you consider that Korea, Israel, Sweden and many other countries with much smaller GDPs have far, far better/faster internet connectivity than the U.S., this is a slap in the face. TWC has since backed down from that position, but like I said, any company even willing to go backwards like that deserved to burn in the fiery infernos of the lowest reaches of Hades. (Ok, so that's a little over the top, but it DOES make me really mad!) I'm also mad because when I called to disconnect my service they were VERY rude to me. I told them why I was switching and they basically told me I was wrong and being stupid. Nice work Mr. Call Center dude. Way to put a cherry on top of my awful experience with your stupid company.
Fine, so I called AT&T U-Verse and they came out and installed a really cool setup that has a minimal amount of wiring, has a built in WiFi routher, is cheaper than TWC, has more channels and the installer sat down and showed me all the features (of which there are tons!) I haven't worked with Dish so I can't comment on how they are, but if you live in Austin and want Internet/Cable connectivity, I definitely recommend AT&T over TWC. Bleck to Time Warner!!!
Fine, so I called AT&T U-Verse and they came out and installed a really cool setup that has a minimal amount of wiring, has a built in WiFi routher, is cheaper than TWC, has more channels and the installer sat down and showed me all the features (of which there are tons!) I haven't worked with Dish so I can't comment on how they are, but if you live in Austin and want Internet/Cable connectivity, I definitely recommend AT&T over TWC. Bleck to Time Warner!!!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Milo and Otis
So we had our weekly family night last night and we decided to watch that timeless classic: "Milo and Otis". If you've never seen Milo and Otis, it is a touching story about a dog and a cat that go on an amazing journey and have adventure after adventure. There are some amazing shots with different animals ranging from a young bear cub "wrestling" with them to a scene where Milo actually rides on the back of a sea turtle!
The shots were too amazing in fact; Tiffany and I had to do a little research as to how they could possibly have done some of them. Turns out (as we suspected) that many, many of the animals allegedly died during the creation of the film. Now, if you check the web and wikipedia, you'll find that the American Humane Society investigated the allegations but could find no concrete evidence of this since it was filmed in Japan. That has left the case effectively closed, however, as any normal, logical human, it isn't too hard to infer the filming conditions.
For example, during the scene when a small kitten was thrown approximately 100 feet from a cliff into the ocean below, it's difficult to envision some damage not occurring to the animal. Another clear example is when Milo went over a 40-50 foot waterfall in a small crate; it is difficult to imagine that the director got the take right on the first try. The list goes on and on, and if you have Netflix, you can check it out on their watch instantly. From almost the opening shot, you'll be left with a somewhat sickening feeling as you watch a "heartwarming" story about two animal friends that surely involved many deaths of small animals.
Now, I'm not a particularly squeamish kind of guy and I understand that lots of times animals do die (including humans) during the filmings of movies. That's just life. Statistically, accidents happen. However, Milo and Otis take this to a new level for me. Take a look for yourself if you don't believe me...
The shots were too amazing in fact; Tiffany and I had to do a little research as to how they could possibly have done some of them. Turns out (as we suspected) that many, many of the animals allegedly died during the creation of the film. Now, if you check the web and wikipedia, you'll find that the American Humane Society investigated the allegations but could find no concrete evidence of this since it was filmed in Japan. That has left the case effectively closed, however, as any normal, logical human, it isn't too hard to infer the filming conditions.
For example, during the scene when a small kitten was thrown approximately 100 feet from a cliff into the ocean below, it's difficult to envision some damage not occurring to the animal. Another clear example is when Milo went over a 40-50 foot waterfall in a small crate; it is difficult to imagine that the director got the take right on the first try. The list goes on and on, and if you have Netflix, you can check it out on their watch instantly. From almost the opening shot, you'll be left with a somewhat sickening feeling as you watch a "heartwarming" story about two animal friends that surely involved many deaths of small animals.
Now, I'm not a particularly squeamish kind of guy and I understand that lots of times animals do die (including humans) during the filmings of movies. That's just life. Statistically, accidents happen. However, Milo and Otis take this to a new level for me. Take a look for yourself if you don't believe me...
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Do Only Animals Die?
Brendan asked Tiffany and I at dinner tonight very sincerely if only animals die. We both sadly looked at each other and then informed our little boy that no, in fact everyone and everything dies eventually. It was difficult to gauge his response, but he looked very pensive for a few seconds.
It's such a bittersweet thing to watch your babies grow up, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.
It's such a bittersweet thing to watch your babies grow up, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Unstoppable
I wish I could stop time. Or just put it on a loop.
Tomorrow my daughter will be seven. I have no idea where the time has gone or how she has gotten so big.
I probably only have a few more years of being able to pick her up and carry her to her bed.
I probably only have a few more years after that until she stops spontaneously hugging me for no real reason.
I probably only have a few more years after that until she doesn't want to be seen in public with me.
And then only a few more years after that and her bedroom will be empty.
Where is my rewind button?
Tomorrow my daughter will be seven. I have no idea where the time has gone or how she has gotten so big.
I probably only have a few more years of being able to pick her up and carry her to her bed.
I probably only have a few more years after that until she stops spontaneously hugging me for no real reason.
I probably only have a few more years after that until she doesn't want to be seen in public with me.
And then only a few more years after that and her bedroom will be empty.
Where is my rewind button?
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Fail Blog
If you've never visited the infamous fail blog, I highly recommend spending a few hours perusing their catalog of fantastic fails. Nate, if you haven't seen this, I think you'll love it. Link as follows:
http://www.failblog.org
For you to enjoy.
-Jon
http://www.failblog.org
For you to enjoy.
-Jon
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