burnt ramen

hulu awards

2009-02-25T23:04:00.001-08:00

Amazon Prime dne Free Shipping.

2009-02-25T12:34:00.000-08:00

Ah Bezos' thunderous laughter takes me back to my old amazon days where one can hear him laughing a mile away. In this Daily Show clip, he introduces the V2 of the Kindle - a much sleeker, more Apple-esque version of the former. I had a gazillion issues with the first version so hopefully this one serves readers better.

Etc, etc...

2009-02-19T18:20:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Wallace Stegner! He celebrated his centennial on Feb 18th. It was his beautiful book Angles of Repose that made me rethink my breakup with my now husband. In Justin's version of the story, the book convinced me to 'crawl' back to him. I'll have to agree :)

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Damn, you did that with your finger?

IPhone launches a new phone app called Brushes. Hundreds of artists and finger painters are re-inspired.

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An old cohort of mine from A9 recently launched a wikipedia for Foodies called Foodista. It's growing into a monster of a database for Food Tips, Food Recipes and Food Photos - a food bloggers dream. I haven't played around with it much, but I am putting it on my daily browse list :)

My 09 Oscar Predictions

2009-02-19T18:19:00.000-08:00

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Director: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler
Best Actress: Kate Winslet in The Reader
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis in Doubt
Best Original Screenplay: Happy-Go-Lucky
Best Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire
Cinematography: The Dark Knight
Film Editing: Slumdog Millionaire
Art Direction: The Dark Knight
Costume Design: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Original Score: Slumdog Millionaire
Original Song: Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire
Best Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Sound Editing: The Dark Knight
Sound Mixing: WALL-E
Best Visual Effects: The Dark Knight
Best Animated Feature Film: WALL-E
Best Foreign Language Film: Waltz with Bashir -- Israel
Best Documentary Feature: Man on Wire
Best Documentary Short: The Witness From the Balcony of Room 306
Best Live Action Short: Spielzeugland (Toyland)
Best Animated Short: Presto

Teaser for the Palette

2009-02-17T17:22:00.000-08:00

Miracle fruit that rewires your taste buds. Very cool!

2009 Oscar Nods are in...

2009-01-22T11:44:00.000-08:00

BEST PICTURE

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), A Kennedy/Marshall Production, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
* “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), A Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment and Working Title Production,Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner, Producers
* “Milk” (Focus Features), A Groundswell and Jinks/Cohen Company Production, Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Producers
* “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), A Mirage Enterprises and Neunte Babelsberg Film GmbH Production, Nominees to be determined
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A Celador Films Production,Christian Colson, Producer

BEST ACTOR

* Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor” (Overture Films)
* Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon” (Universal)
* Sean Penn in “Milk” (Focus Features)
* Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
* Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)

BEST ACTRESS

* Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married” (Sony Pictures Classics)
* Angelina Jolie in “Changeling” (Universal)
* Melissa Leo in “Frozen River” (Sony Pictures Classics)
* Meryl Streep in “Doubt” (Miramax)
* Kate Winslet in “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

* Josh Brolin in “Milk” (Focus Features)
* Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder” (DreamWorks, Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
* Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Doubt” (Miramax)
* Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.)
* Michael Shannon in “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

* Amy Adams in “Doubt” (Miramax)
* Penélope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (The Weinstein Company)
* Viola Davis in “Doubt” (Miramax)
* Taraji P. Henson in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
* Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)

BEST ANIMATED FILM

* “Bolt” (Walt Disney), Chris Williams and Byron Howard
* “Kung Fu Panda” (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount), John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
* “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Andrew Stanton

BEST DIRECTOR

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), David Fincher
* “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Ron Howard
* “Milk” (Focus Features), Gus Van Sant
* “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), Stephen Daldry
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Danny Boyle

More here

Disneyland - here we come.

2009-01-21T13:08:00.001-08:00

Countdown begins!

2009-01-19T18:00:00.000-08:00

Host your own Inauguration party or watch from the comfort of your bed in front of your lap top. The live stream will be available on Hulu.com and my blog..

New Year's Resolutions 2009

2009-01-08T12:32:00.000-08:00

Resolutions - wahoo.

1. To write more in the blog.

I guess people do read my blog. Still don't know why.. But I guess it's the same as perusing one's facebook page, which I do quite often.

Anyways, I actually do have a few interesting things to post this time around. My cousin enoch and his wife kimmie - this multi-talented and creative duo, who make J and I look like lazy farts - are putting on a theater/dance performance called Aspiro at College Park in Maryland. They played scenes of the performance at their wedding, and it was absolutely breath-taking. Kimmie is similar to Edith Piaf on stage. She's tiny, but as soon as she starts moving, you can't take your eyes off her. She's truly mesmerizing.

If you do live in the NOVA area and are interested in seeing Aspiro, click here to see performance details.

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On another note, my friend J found Gwyneth Paltrow's blog that she updates regularly. The layout is nice and uncomplicated. And her entries are less political, and more about general well being. The tagline is "nourish the inner aspect" which is precisely what it does.

2. Learn Spanish. I do live in LA afterall, plus I want to try out the popular Rosetta Stone. And with our moving pattern (move south every 4 years), we're going to end up in Mexico next.

3. Watch less, read more. This one will be hard to accomplish especially since I work at hulu. Book Club has helped. Although keeping up with the one book a month schedule, trying to balance that with work, a social life and some down time is pretty difficult.

4. Less Down time, more gym time. Also difficult. It blows my mind now that I used to spend 3 hours commuting (via Caltrain and Muni), spend a good 8 hours at work, and still have enough energy for a 4 mile run or an hour at the gym. How did I do that?

5. Travel? Possibly. I always add this to my resolutions list, because it's always something I want to do more of. I've been craving a trip to Europe lately. I haven't seen my close friend Chris and my Parisian crew in years, and would definitely like to explore the wineries in Southern France. Oh Greece would be fantastic as well. After that, Australia and NZ, and another trip to Asia.

A year in review

2008-12-25T15:37:00.000-08:00

Highlights of 2008
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Managed to do some things despite the crazy work hours.

From Jan 08-Mar 08, I was pretty much in a cave the whole time. Typing, coding, making decisions, doing literally everything to get Hulu out the door. Launched early early morning. Still catching up on the sleep that I lost at that point.

Apr 08 - Made a quick trip to Texas, for Justin's cousins wedding. Spent some good family time with E, Grandma Lucy, the Voyles...

Summer 08 - Flew up to NYC for Ni's graduation. Some museum hopping, some hot dog eating. Mostly hung out in her cute little part of Brooklyn. Parents, Vanissa, and Eleanor all flew out on separate weekends for quick getaways. Lots of food, merriment. Saw Beckham bend it with the parents. Flew up to Toronto for a nice family reunion for Enoch & Kimmie's wedding. Found out that J's drinking tolerance is much greater than all my cousins' combined. J&R move out to LA. We are very happy.

Oct 08 - Turned one year older with two delicious meals with some generous family and friends. Eda came out to help in the celebration. Lots of friends take on the greater task of parenthood.

Nov 08 - Dec 08 - OBAMA IS ELECTED! Honeymoon in Tico-land. J and I enjoyed the Pura Vida lifestyle, got pummeled by the waves on Nosara beach, howled with the Howler Monkeys in Arenal and tried to stay dry in Monteverde. We slept 3 times a day, ate fresh fruit and fish, read books and attempted not to think about work :)

Much more happened, although it escapes me now. I'm too lazy to think about all that went into making 2008 so great. But I thank you all for everything. Cheers to the upcoming new year and hope this finds you well and in good spirits.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T15:03:00.000-08:00

Another year, and another 24 hour marathon of The Christmas Story. I wonder how long it's going to take before we are able to clear the rights to get that one on Hulu.
A lesser known family story written by the same author is a summertime classic called Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss. I haven't seen it but I've heard it's supposed to be equally funny. Will need to check that out some time.

Really?

2008-08-29T10:55:00.000-07:00

Seattle thinks outside the box.

McCain selects Tina Fey as his running mate for the 2008 Presidential Election. Ok, it's not realy Tina Fey, but Gov. Sarah Palin. Interesting move McCain...

Hollywood stars making a transition

2008-08-26T12:28:00.000-07:00

I've always thought it was a step up for foreign stars to make the Hollywood circuit, (Jackie Chan in various, Jet Li in various, Gong Li in Miami Vice), but what about vice versa? Usually no name American actors who have failed in the Hollywood circuit, try out the Hong Kong circuit and usually don't get very far. In fact, I remember watching several Hong Kong movies back in the day, and seeing a random British or American actor mixed in the crowd. They were usually on the bad-guy side might I add. Now with Asian movies getting a lot more popular, American actors are starting to make the transition over..

Nicolas Cage is coming up with Bangkok Dangerous with a predominant Hong Kong film cast, including Charlie Yeung (catch her Ashes of Time redux - an old Wong Kar Wai film that I think I saw back in the day, and thought it very slow - I was younger then, so maybe I'll give it a try now that I appreciate Wong Kar Wai a little more). And Josh Hartnett (who hasn't necessarily been a huge success in Hollywood) is going to be starring in a Vietnamese movie, I come with rain.

New York, Je t'aime.

2008-08-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

Bored and recovering from a much needed family reunion in Toronto. Now just surfing the web to catch up on internet stuff that developed over the past week. Came across the new trailer for New York, I Love You:

A star-studded follow up of the collaborative film, Paris, je t'aime for our own beloved city, New York and all its hidden ventures and gems. Paris, Je T'aime failed in many ways, but some of the skits really spoke to me and I loved seeing the city in the background. The highlight was the final skit about a retired mid-west post women and her first trip to Paris.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to the New York rendition.. There's no release date for it yet, but it'll serve as a distraction from waiting for the next Harry Potter (which has been removed to a July 2009 release date - I'm pissed about it too).

I heart the Olympics and Lezak

2008-08-11T12:37:00.000-07:00

This is the stuff the Olympics is made of. The US team beat the French team by 0.08 of a second, and smashed the World Record. I don't think you have to be a former swimmer to truly appreciate the last few seconds of the race.

If the 4x100 Men's Freestyle Relay was the only event that I ended up watching from the 2008 Olympics, I'd be set for another four years. The finish of the relay was over the top. All I can say is that Jason Lezak rocks.

Propects are looking good for Phelps to acquire 8 Golds.

If you missed the race, catch it on www.nbcolympics.com.

MAD MEN

2008-08-01T05:39:00.001-07:00

The Green Dance Floor - Brilliant!

2008-07-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

I may have to go clubbing now....

The Fourth

2008-07-07T17:57:00.000-07:00

Marathon training report - I'm up to 4.2 miles. Heh. Ran it this morning, thinking it would help get me energized for the week. Instead, I'm hungry and tired. Grrr.. I know I can do a 12 miler at this point. Just finding the right weather conditions for marathon training has been challenging. It's always too hot. I figured out that it's actually nicer to run in the evenings, because it gets cooler, the later it gets. In the mornings, you get to a certain distance, and you just can't run anymore, because it gets so damn hot. I need a team to train with. I wonder how much of my needs are stemmed from being on a swim team for almost a decade. I would've never gone to the pool by myself. And while I was on TNT, it was really hard to motivate to run unless it was a scheduled run, and I was expected to pick people up.

I'm so not discipline. Probably need to work on that.

The weekend was nice. Ni flew in for a few days. We spent the 4th on the beach, soaked in the sun, and watched four sets of fireworks with our feet buried in the sand. It was actually a pretty good 4th - weather was perfect, and it was fun to be surrounded by new friends, Justin and my sister. Quite relaxing, indeed.

Acupuncture progress report.

2008-06-17T16:06:00.000-07:00

Over the past few years, I've been battling skin allergies. It all started in Seattle while living in Greenlake, coincidentally the same time I started dating J - I swear at one point, i thought I was allergic to him. Skin allergies or Eczema is extremely dry and sometimes itchy skin. I've been on all kinds of allergy medication - seen several dermatologists and several allergists - all with the same monotone response of "there's no cure". I have shelves and shelves of different hydrocortisone creams, lotions, sprays and ointments. If you have a skin ailment, I most likely have a cream that can put it to rest. My eczema was never put to rest though.. it go away and come back in some random cycle that was neither food related or seasonal. Moving down south from Seattle seem to resolve some issues, but the symptoms came back.

While I believe that a lot of progress has been made in Western medicine, it's always left me disappointed and drugged up. Finally I made the switch to try out Eastern medicine, after a fellow allergy-sufferer had some good results with acupuncture. I found an office not far from my own office and started going there weekly.

After three months, a lot of progress has been made.. The itching has stopped - atleast 85% of it. And now, I just have dry skin which (thank goodness for Aveeno and Kiehls) I can easily find good non-cosmetic creams for. The doctor also suggested that I do less intense gym regimens so I've taken up Yoga and Pilates... and I've been trying to run outdoors (I still have to train for NYC). She also mentioned that I should avoid eating seafood (esp Shrimp) and spicy food and wine - anything that causes my blood temperature to rise.

Currently, I'm on my second week drug free, and itch free. Hopefully this continues on..

My Personal Star

2008-06-05T17:55:00.001-07:00

So in my blog absence - I forgot to wish my hubby and I a Happy First Year Anniversary on May 19th. I'd post the lyrics to our wedding song but instead, I've totally fallen for "My Favourite book" by the Stars - mind the "u", they are Canadian afterall.

Anyways in celebration of us, here's the song I'd request on the radio for us. I think it fits us perfectly, since reading his favoUrite book convinced me to call him back 6 years ago, and yes he makes the bed.

"My Favourite Book"

I was always late, you never afraid, that we could be falling
All our friends would say, maybe we should wait, but they can't see what's coming
And to this day, when everything breaks, you are the anchor that holds me

And that is why we'll always make it

How I know your face, all the ways you move, you come in, I can read you
You're my favourite book
All the things you say, the way you shift your eyes
I never knew there was someone, to make me come alive

When the days are long, and the thunder with the storm, can always get me crying
You can make my bed, I'll fall into it, shattered but not lonely
Because I never knew a home, until I found your hands, when I'm weathered
You come to me, you're my best friend

And that is why we'll always make it

How I know your face, all the ways you move, you come in, I can read you
You're my favourite book
All the things you say, the way you shift your eyes
I never knew there was someone, to make me come alive

And when we're making love
I'd give up everything up for your touch

How I know your face, all the ways you move, you come in, I can read you
You're my favourite book
All the things you say, the way you shift your eyes
I never knew there was someone, to make me come alive

When you go to work all the day I wait
For you to come home, recount our time, in our little place

Really?

2008-06-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

I watched Spirit of the Marathon a couple of weeks ago - and while it was an amazing story covering experiences from 6 different marathon runners all training for the Chicago marathon - I didn't feel motivated to do another marathon.. BUT I always said, that if I got into New York's, I'd run it. Even when I was there, visiting Vanissa for her graduation, I was thinking "it's nice, it's flat, I can totally run this".

Lottery result (drum roll, please).

And there it is. My first words were "Shit!"

And the reality of it is, New York's Marathon isn't flat, it's just flatter than SF which doesn't help me at all. Everything's a hill to me now since I haven't been running at all.

Save the Date

2008-04-23T15:01:00.000-07:00

Every once in awhile, I run into genius ideas that make me want to plan a wedding again.. If not mine, then someone else's. Anyways I ran into this genius Save the Date photo on Flickr and had to blog about it.

If only I had seen this a year and a half ago.

NO GOSSIP GIRL ONLINE????

2008-04-22T21:13:00.001-07:00

WTF? Perhaps I've taken the internet for granted. I haven't been as obsessed with my keeping my Tivo queue up to date because I can watch it online and legally too. I've never bought a show of Amazon.com or ITunes, or used BitTorrent. Usually I just plop in front of the computer and watch it off of Hulu.com (of course), abc.com or even MTV.com (it's the only way I can catch on up "The Hills" without pissing off J). So yesterday, upon returning from the gym, I wasn't mad when J mentioned that he stopped recording GG because he wanted to channel surf (our Tivo and cable are set up in such a way that you can't do anything when the Tivo is running). I told him that I would just catch up online without further thought.

This morning, as I was having my morning cereal, I came across this article that explains why they won't be streaming the last 5 episodes of GG online and I thought WTF.. I'm in the business of online TV streaming. If nothing else, this is making me more passionate about getting more content online. I would actually stage a protest against CW and not watch it or Tivo it next week, but the show is just too good.

Maybe it was the heat...?

2008-04-13T20:11:00.000-07:00

A crew of us attended the LA Galaxy vs Toronto FC game to cheer on soccer gurus Donovan and legendary Beckham in the hot hot LA heat at the Home Depot Center (which happens to be the mecca of sporting fields - they had tennis courts, a few soccer fields, a baseball field, and who knows what else - the place was huge).. Thankfully our goldstar tickets landed us seats in the shade so the 95 degree heat wave didn't hinder our enjoyment of the game.

Despite the soccer jerseys, soccer is still a very ad-free sport. There are no flashing signs anywhere, no announcers talking about the sponsorships during the game ( they managed to mention a few during half time ), and there's no music blaring over the loud speakers. All you can hear is the crowd cheering or stomping on the bleachers.. and I bet if you sit close enough, you can hear the ball being kicked around. I loved it. Usually at a basketball game, or a baseball game, I'm much to distracted to really concentrate on the game. Here, all I did was follow Donavan's distinct yellow shoes, and Beckham's long sleeve jersey. Sadly LA Galaxy lost to Toronto - apparently one of the worst teams in the FCC - but I'll definitely attend another game in the near future.

Random LA goodness

2008-04-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

Fitness bliss..
5k/10k run - Santa Monica Classic

Musical bliss..
The LA Jazz scene - lajazz.com

No more ebay...
My GILTY new pleasure

Food bliss...
Looking forward to some fresh soba at Yabu

Did I mention that Hulu got mentioned in Daily Candy? It's funny, out of all the press that we've gotten, this mention was a real treat. Now if only we can get more female-oriented programming. Speaking of which, Gossip Girl is coming back on the CW on April 21st:)

And then..

2008-03-28T18:16:00.000-07:00

So this is dedicated to my mom who has worked tireless over prepping my taxes for the IRS. There were a number of changes in 07 that added to the immense complexity of my taxes - and she worked all angles on them..

Anyways this is her favorite clip from "Dude, Where's My Car?". It's the infamous "and then marathon between Ashton's character and a Chinese Lady". As a result, my mom cracks up everytime she says "And then.. " Oddest thing ever.

the sound of silence

2008-03-12T14:01:00.000-07:00

Taken at the office at 1:50am for the launch of Hulu.com on Wednesday morning. We could only keep still for literally three shots. Immediately following the brief photo session we were back at our computers to fix problems. I think I sat at the edge of my seat from 2pm to 4am - typing as fast as I could, working on moving things from server to server, making sure key art was good quality. Working on the product tour with folks. Reading through legal print.. Praying that things would not going wrong.

Today it's been calm. And it's a nice satifying calm.. servers are running okay.. and now it's business as usual. My typing speed has returned to it's normal heart beat pace. My brow is less furrowed.

I have never felt more like an owner than I have here. And I'm obsessed about the product/brand that we've made. It's genius I think.. but we still have a long way to go still. So there's much more in store.

The funny thing is that I haven't watched any television in 3 months. It's usually in the background now.. keeping me company as I type into the night. The Tivo red record button comes on every once in awhile, indicating that I have yet another video getting added to the growing inventory of videos I have yet to watch. I'm going to have a long weekend some time, where I'll just hole up in the living room and play catch up. I wish that queue was on Hulu.

Ventures in LA LA land

2008-03-04T13:44:00.000-08:00

Celeb sightings so far.

John Cho (MILF quoter, Harold from Harold and Kumar) at Quality Food & Beverage

Eva Mendes at Itacho

Sophia Bush, James Lafferty (One Tree Hill), Lionel Richie at Bed, Bath and Beyond

Ace Freely at Starbucks on the Promenade

And a handful of sketchy Paparazzi waiting for celebs. And a handful of reality stars.

Oh and I keep on running into Jai from Queer Eye. I've already seen him three times.

I'm white!

2008-03-04T13:39:00.001-08:00

Apparently I like what white people like.. Among the list are the following that apply to me:

- modern furniture
- co-ed sports
- toyota prius
- mos def
- michael gondry
- threatening to move to canada (well I am Canadian)
- kitchen gadgets
- Japan
- dogs
- sarah silverman (did you see the recent kimmel vids?)
- living by the water
- public radio
- indie music
- sushi

More than 50% of this list applies to me. I think I'm going to start a stuffyellowpeoplelike blog. Well, when I actually have time to do my own thing that is.

Politics is a fashion statement

2008-03-02T14:17:00.001-08:00

Marc Jacobs is making politics trendy. These were made back in the day for Clinton's Senatorial campaign back in 04. Not suprisingly, they are now back on racks at Marc by Marc Jacobs for $38. If you don't have one near you, check out ebay.

Axe Effect Ad

2008-02-18T22:58:00.000-08:00

It's a spoof but it's pritty pritty good.
(taken again from designverb.com)

Madewell is made well

2008-02-18T22:46:00.000-08:00

I had a little time today to run by the Westfield in Century City and check out some of the President's Day Sales. I swear there's a sale for every holiday.. but I'm not complaining. Anyways I think I found a new favorite line of clothing, called Madewell. I managed to snag a nice snug fitting red hoodie (because you can never have enough lounge wear) on sale. Incidentally, the line was started by the head of J.Crew a couple years ago, and there's only two locations so far. One here and the other in Dallas.

Some trailers

2008-02-18T22:37:00.001-08:00

Newest M. Night Shyamalan called The Happening, starring Marky Mark.

And a modern remake of Breakfast at Tiffany's from France, Priceless, starring Audrey Tautou.

Too much

2008-02-14T13:51:00.000-08:00

On consumption, the story of stuff. I always underestimate the amount of crap I have stored with me\.

Junk Food lovers - this is for you

2008-02-11T14:13:00.000-08:00

Grabbed this off of designverb.com - a slightly humorous and sad look into the future of how we will be able to consume fast food. More innovate than the spork? You decide.

Col-Pop: The Future of Fast-Food Technology from Adam Kuban on Vimeo.

Lipstick Jungle

2008-02-08T11:57:00.000-08:00

For those that don't have an invite to Hulu, here's last night's Pilot's episode of Lipstick Jungle - the other new Sex and the City show. I haven't watched Cashmere Mafia yet, so I'll hold my judgement for now.

If you are already in Hulu beta, here's the link to the Lipstick Jungle's pilot page.

And if you do want an invite. Let me know. We just launched an invite 10 friends campaign :)

The Thinker

2008-02-07T11:28:00.000-08:00

One of the entries for an art contest held at the Hirshhorn Modern Art Gallery in DC.

A tribute to Heath

2008-02-01T17:55:00.001-08:00

Very rarely do I post editorials on my blog.. but I felt like this was a really great tribute to the late actor:

By Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight's film director)...

One night, as I'm standing on LaSalle Street in Chicago, trying to line up a shot for "The Dark Knight," a production assistant skateboards into my line of sight. Silently, I curse the moment that Heath first skated onto our set in full character makeup. I'd fretted about the reaction of Batman fans to a skateboarding Joker, but the actual result was a proliferation of skateboards among the younger crew members. If you'd asked those kids why they had chosen to bring their boards to work, they would have answered honestly that they didn't know. That's real charisma—as invisible and natural as gravity. That's what Heath had.

Heath was bursting with creativity. It was in his every gesture. He once told me that he liked to wait between jobs until he was creatively hungry. Until he needed it again. He brought that attitude to our set every day. There aren't many actors who can make you feel ashamed of how often you complain about doing the best job in the world. Heath was one of them.

One time he and another actor were shooting a complex scene. We had two days to shoot it, and at the end of the first day, they'd really found something and Heath was worried that he might not have it if we stopped. He wanted to carry on and finish. It's tough to ask the crew to work late when we all know there's plenty of time to finish the next day. But everyone seemed to understand that Heath had something special and that we had to capture it before it disappeared. Months later, I learned that as Heath left the set that night, he quietly thanked each crew member for working late. Quietly. Not trying to make a point, just grateful for the chance to create that they'd given him.

Those nights on the streets of Chicago were filled with stunts. These can be boring times for an actor, but Heath was fascinated, eagerly accepting our invitation to ride in the camera car as we chased vehicles through movie traffic—not just for the thrill ride, but to be a part of it. Of everything. He'd brought his laptop along in the car, and we had a high-speed screening of two of his works-in-progress: short films he'd made that were exciting and haunting. Their exuberance made me feel jaded and leaden. I've never felt as old as I did watching Heath explore his talents. That night I made him an offer—knowing he wouldn't take me up on it—that he should feel free to come by the set when he had a night off so he could see what we were up to.

When you get into the edit suite after shooting a movie, you feel a responsibility to an actor who has trusted you, and Heath gave us everything. As we started my cut, I would wonder about each take we chose, each trim we made. I would visualize the screening where we'd have to show him the finished film—sitting three or four rows behind him, watching the movements of his head for clues to what he was thinking about what we'd done with all that he'd given us. Now that screening will never be real. I see him every day in my edit suite. I study his face, his voice. And I miss him terribly.

Back on LaSalle Street, I turn to my assistant director and I tell him to clear the skateboarding kid out of my line of sight when I realize—it's Heath, woolly hat pulled low over his eyes, here on his night off to take me up on my offer. I can't help but smile.

Almost as addictive as the Pinkberry theme song

2008-02-01T17:52:00.000-08:00

is the theme song for Obama Girl????

Heath Ledger: Rest in Peace

2008-01-24T14:40:00.001-08:00

So hard to sum up my emotions over this. Never thought I would take it this hard.. especially for someone I didn't know. I was looking forward to seeing him on the silver screen til I was old.

Holiday Photos

2008-01-18T11:58:00.000-08:00

This one captures it all. YaYa (my parent's puppy) staring up at her much anticipated Xmas present - a stuffed hot pink squeaky platypus - presented by my dad. Over the next few days, she will hardly leave the playpus' alone as she tries to puncture it with her tiny chihuahua teeth. More photos from the holidays here.

Wall E

2008-01-09T10:37:00.000-08:00

A new Wall E trailer has just posted. I love Pixar. The robot is sort of reminiscent of Johnny 5 from Short Circuit (see photo) - which I havne't seen lately, but I remember it being really good. Anyways, Pixar always gets the story right, so I'm sure Wall E will be as memorable, if not more.

New Year, WTF?

2008-01-09T10:08:00.000-08:00

I feel like 2008 kind of crept up. I wasn't prepared. Did I even complete my 2007 resolutions? What were they even? It's the 4th day at work, and the holidays are already a blur. I just remember nearly passing out from an overly stuffed stomach after gorging at the Wynn Buffet. In fact, I think that's all I did over the holidays: over stuff myself and pass out. Oh, we did play a few rounds of Wii golf/bowling. My sister was overly giddy with the Rayman Raving Rabbits game.

Anyways it's the new year and I'm feeling very unprepared, unorganized. New to LA. new foods, new friends (sorta - more of a mish mash of new and old), new traffic patterns, new attitudes. I haven't gone to the gym in about a month, and the holiday stuffing is finally taking its toll on my mid-section. That's when you know the 30s have hit.

So I guess to start my list of resolutions is to get back my life back back in order.

Unpack (we only have a few boxes left).
Get WiFi (sad how dependent I am on the internet. Free Wi-Fi doesn't seem to be the "in" thing around here so my Starbucks T-Mobile subscription charges are quickly adding up.)
Renew my Canadian Passport. 10 week process. Would really like to go on my honeymoon outside of the states, so a passport is essential.
Learn to surf. I am so close to the beach now.
Read
Run (planning on trying to get in to the NYC marathon again - please join me)
Get on top of work. This will prove difficult considering no one else sleeps.
Start up photography again - that is - if I have a life outside of work.
Someone last weekend brought up ultimate. Perhaps.
Learn a language? This may also prove difficult.
Perhaps become a puppy owner. I'd be overjoyed.
And as I mentioned, go on a honeymoon. We had planned to go to Costa Rica, but the hulu opportunity took precedence, so...

That sums it up. According to Chinese numerology, this should be a very profitable year, so we'll see how that goes. If so, real estate may be in the future :)

Anyhow enough blabbing. I leave you with a makeover. Not of myself, but of some guy getting made up as Johnny Depp. I'm not sure why I find this show (TVGuide's Look A Like), so amusing but I do (I like the Hills too - that may explain some things). Brought to you by Hulu :)

Lynn Hirshberg interviews...

2007-12-18T14:13:00.000-08:00

I came across these when searching for good quality content on YouTube. The interviews are all taken in black and white and you never hear the interviewer (in the same vein as the interviews that took place between Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick). The interviewed just blabs answering different questions varying from their first memorable movie to their five favorite musical sounds. The great thing is that the actors being interviewed are currently some of my favorite actors/actresses.

Screentest with Marion Cotillard

Screentest with Natalie Portman

Screentest with Joseph Gordon-Levitt (probably the most amusing one)

Observing Cyber Christmas

2007-12-18T13:58:00.001-08:00

In the year's past, I've often complained about fighting the crowds the week before Xmas, trying to find last minute stocking stuffers and what not.. This year's been different. We're in a new city, a little timid to fight a whole new crop of Xmas shoppers, and frankly we just haven't had time. All my shopping this year has taken place on my alma-mater, Amazon.com.

The interesting thing to note is that my shopping behavior on the internet is wildly different. I study each item ad nauseum... reading all the reviews, checking on ebay for different options, etc. And my purchases are less random. When I shop, I usually just grab stuff on the way out for stock stuffers, uttering to myself "ooh this is cute. ooh she'll like that". There's less of that in cyber shopping. Every movement towards the shopping cart is heavily calculated. Makes for less random shopping.

I can't say which one I enjoy more. I love having the reviews to scout out the best brand/product. I also like the challenge of finding it cheaper ( I am Chinese afterall ) and I worry about availability less. But cyber shopping, I've noticed, feels more like a task - like I have to get through a checklist. There's less of the Christmas spirit feel behind each purchases, even though, ultimately the gift gets presented the same way, in colorful wrapping under a Xmas tree.

Lucy stuff is up.

2007-12-04T16:51:00.001-08:00

Okay so I really have no time to update the blog these days. The basics are done with our move though. We found an apt that sits at the border of Beverly Hills, LA, and WeHo (West Hollywood - i'm trying to get used to all the slang here). And we are purchasing a 2008 Prius on Thursday.

We managed to squeeze in some time to update justin's portfolio with his Lucy concept and background designs, so I thought I'd post on that, since I haven't had time to accomplish anything else interesting. Here it is.

from norcal to socal

2007-11-27T15:22:00.000-08:00

Heh - I just thought this clip was amusing.

The last 72 hours have been pretty crazy. We've been on the move for awhile, and I've finally have a little time to breathe, and reflect over the last 72 hours. It's been difficult to move to LA. Much more difficult that I would've imagined. I was teary-eyed leaving A9, and even more teary-eyed leaving 1340 Washington - our place of residence over the last 4 years. That apartment was good to us.

Yesterday we drove around LA looking at our new environment.. trying to imagine our lives in different neighborhoods around the city. And so far, it hasn't been so bad. Still, it feels like J and I are just on an extended vacation, especially since we are in corporate housing - the furniture and the housewares are foreign to us.. and we don't know all our neighbors yet (although coincidentally Eugene lives down the hall from us which makes it a little homier). I'm sure it'll start sinking in when we find a more permanent spot.

With a Heavy Heart

2007-11-07T11:29:00.000-08:00

My sister's 27th birthday (Happy Birthday Ni!) marks the end of a very long venture. I am finally leaving the mothership. I handed in my official resignation to Amazon / A9 yesterday.

I'm going to be unusually reflective over the next few blogs, as J and i have decided to take on LA. For him, LA is the mecca of Animation, for me, there's the promise of parking, puppy ownership, and perhaps a shorter commute (my commute now by public transportation is about 1.5 hours) and a huge career opportunity at Hulu.com.

more to come...

So to continue.. today I went to the gym and saw some unassuming guy wearing a red tank top that read in bold "finalist". He turned around and I noticed that the back read "2007 South of Market Bare Chested Male Calendar". Ahh the quirks. I'm going to miss the Bay Area quirks - the fact that everyone is an obsessive wino or foodie and has their top 5's about every cuisine (it's no wonder that yelp.com started here), the Nob Hill dogs (like Tonka the neighborhood Chow, the Houdini, his boston terrier companion), Nob Hill celebs (the Brown twin sisters who dine at Nob Hill Cafe every Tuesday night at the same table), eccentric old ladies that wine and dine like they just got out of college, the Cable Car, the wine bars that keep on popping up faster then Starbucks can spread, the Muni bus drivers (the few African-American and Hispanic drivers that have learned Chinese to smoothen out the conflicts on the Chinatown route), driving through the Tenderloin, the smell of the ocean and the redwoods on my wednesday and saturday runs, the farmer's market at the Ferry Building, the restaurants, my 35 cent bbq pork bun that I get on occasion when I wait for the bus, the fog horn, the calming sway of the Caltrain.. Okay I guess I'm starting to speak less about the quirks and more about the stuff that I've fallen in love with in the last 4 years I've been here.

Sigh...

Oh and there are my friends that I never thought I'd make when I first moved here, and now, I can't ever imagine leaving them.

Speaking of which, I should join them now, as my time with them is limited. I know friendships don't change.. but the day to day dependency on their presence does. It's sad but I guess it's a part of growing up that everyone learns to deal with.

On a cold autumn day...

2007-11-01T16:33:00.000-07:00

Damn Sexy

2007-10-24T16:27:00.000-07:00

I admit, this pic isn't very flattering - eyes red, face red and sweaty, hair's a mess, ipod headphone cord flying in mid air, arms awkwardly chugging along. Last Sunday, I along with 27,000 mostly women (who probably looked like this) crossed the finishing line at the 4th Annual Nike Women's Half and Full Marathon. We all got great Tiffany necklaces to commemorate the occasion.

While the photo is no glamor shot, it does remind me of my love for running (even though I look pretty pained and exhausted). I'm constantly amazed with how much our bodies can endure and I always feel like I want to challenge it just a bit more. Besides the physical aspects, running has allowed me to see some of the most beautiful parts of SF on foot. I've also met some of my closest girl friends while training.

Race day for this marathon is always amazing. You're in the crowd with 27,000 or so other strong women of all backgrounds, shapes and sizes. It's incredible to be part of such a diverse crowd - every single person there has a different story of how they got there, why they are there and how they will finish. It is so empowering that I thought it was worth a post. In addition, this race helped raise 1.8 million dollars for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society which is not too shabby at all. Congratulations all!

Interesting techie stuff

2007-10-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

Now all inspired by the Web 2.0 Summit, I've been engrossed in tech reads.. One that I found most interesting was a recent article in Release 2.0 an O'Reilly newsletter zine covering the latest in internet technology about the rise of Facebook and using Facebook as an application platform. You can get an excerpt here. Applications are spreading like wildfire. The popular ones are actually pretty simple applications. The one that claims the most active users (over 2.7 million) is 'Top Friends' which simply places your chosen top friends in a separate widget that allows you to quickly access their profiles/walls on Facebook.

Speaking of sites that offer development platforms, Amazon announced last week that they had 250,000 independent developers on the AWS platform.

Apple seems to have caught on to the swing of things by announcing late last week, that they will also open the iPhone, iTouch platform for developers. It'll be great to see what type of applications I'll be able to get in the near future.

Birthday Run Down

2007-10-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

Birthday was fabulous. Started with the arrival of my cousin Vivian and her boyfriend Alvin, along with a a few dozen t-shirts to promote their new line t-shirt line Crack Code Droopy (thought I'd help them advertise as well). Friday, we went to Berkeley to see the Shins at the Greek Theater. It got a little cold towards the end, but all in all, it was the perfect way to start my bday festivities. The next day, we headed out bright and early to the Ferry Building to eat at the Farmer's Market and take the ferry to Angel Island (where tens of thousands of Chinese immigrants were held before they were let on to San Francisco). On our way back to the mainland, we were greatly entertained by the Blue Angels for Fleet Week.

Afterwards, we got dressed up and dined at Nihon - a sushi and whiskey lounge. And after that, Justin surprised me with a private booth and bottle service at the Ambassador. Events into the night are a little fuzzy...

Sunday - we went to the Hardly Strictly BlueGrass festival at GG Park. Overall the music and food were pretty good, but it was WAYYYYYY too crowded. Oh and there was a band called Marley's Ghost that seemed intriguing as they were supposed to be a mix between English folk, bluegrass, and reggae. Sadly, they were highly unsuccessful.

My actual bday was on the 11th, a Thursday. I stayed at work late to catch up on projects, and went home to be greeted by a homemade chocolate cake a la Justin, and our usual crowd of bandits (shane, daniela, karl, and mike).

Thanks all for an unforgettable 30th bday, esp Justin who went above and beyond. More pics ici.

Naive spelled backwards

2007-10-04T10:24:00.000-07:00

I know I shouldn't even be drinking from plastic water bottles.. but we have a 6 pack of evian at home, and well, someone's gotta drink it. I remember the first time I heard about Evian.. in highschool, watching Reality Bities when Janeane Garofalo's character says "Evian is naive spelled backward."

Anyways if you try it now, it's pretty nasty compared to all the other options there are now, not that I should be encouraging one to buy plastic water bottles. Next time, you want water, go Tap!

Speaking of going green, in March SF passed a ban on plastic bags. It's old news, but on my last visit to Cala Foods, I noticed that they only offered paper bags. Whole Foods and Safeway still have plastic bags, but it's nice to see that the ban is slowly spreading.

Starbucks premieres celebrity chef blends

2007-10-03T09:50:00.000-07:00

Walked into Starbucks this morning for a quick caffeine pick-me-up.. and saw that they had some sort of chocolate cinnamon loaf by Marcus Samuelsson. I was of course lured by my I-have-to-try-everything-atleast-once foodie personality, and I had to try it. If it hadn't been by Marcus Samuelsson, I would've just glossed over it as I do with most of the pastries there. It was yummy - not over the top sweet or anything - but pretty standard Starbucks fare if you ask me. (It tasted a little like there chocolate cream cheese muffin). The foodie in me would've felt guilty if I hadn't tried it.

Here's the press release on Samuelsson's debut pastries and coffee blends at Starbucks.

Hump Day

2007-10-03T09:45:00.001-07:00

Despite my protests on dressing up small little helpless animals, this was just too cute - I just had to post it.

Thank you Ni!

2007-10-02T15:10:00.000-07:00

First snail mail bday package and what do I get? An Ipod touch from my one and only sister. Thanks Vanissa!

Signs that I'm nearing 30

2007-10-02T14:50:00.001-07:00

A week and two days away to the dreaded 3-0 and my body is in pain. In my last run, a painful 10 miler, I could hardly get through the first 4. My legs felt like tree trunks.. Apparently (diagnosed by my running bff), my calf muscles are probably all tangled up with each other.. they should all twitch individually but when they've worked too many miles, they start twitching as one muscle, which leads to pain. All this right before the Nike half (I signed up for the Nike full, but have since decided to just do the more sane half). I signed up for a sport massage to work on both calves for Friday at Psoas Massage & Bodywork. Hopefully it will do the body good.

My cousin viv and her bf are flying in from Toronto for a visit to start my 30th bday festivities. they arrive Thursday.. Friday, we'll be at the Berkeley's Greek Theater for the Shins (drool), and we'll try to squeeze in a visit to Zachary's (a deep dish pizza place that's supposed to outshine any Chicago deep dish pizza place - hard to believe but I'll report back). Saturday, Justin's leading the surprise festivities, but I'm hoping to run 8 miles on my newly massaged legs before everything begins. Sunday is unclear - I guess it depends on how I do on Saturday:) Maybe it'll just be a day of R&R and Wii, though I'm tempted to fit a ferry ride to hike on Angel Island. Monday, we'll be heading down to Santa Clara for south bay exploration.

Then I turn 30 on Thursday.. the monthly BBQ at work will coincidentally fall on the same day.

Saturday, we head up to North Bay for some sushi, and then to Napa for a night at a B&B. And wake up at the crack of dawn for a hot air balloon ride, and champaign brunch.. then over to another surprise bday party for a fellow libra friend - also turning the dreaded 3-0.

Don't worry. I'm not dreading thirty that much. I just have to realize that I can't get away with as much because I should be at a more responsible age. That goes for everything I guess... Like I can't get away with eating 3 cupcakes and thinking that I won't feel it an hour later.

Hello Angus!

2007-09-25T13:28:00.000-07:00

New hand held cell phone ban in California. I have no clue when I'll be able to call my friends again. Guess I better get myself a bluetooth ear piece.
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Amazon's stock skyrockets to 93 bucks yesterday.. in time for the announcement of their DRM-free Mp3 Download store. It's kind of funny how long it's taken them to come up with an mp3 download store. I mean Amazon had announced a service a long time ago, that allowed customers to download their songs after they purchase the album. I believe it was all stored in your own digital locker. It's unclear whether anyone still uses it, but this was launched in early 2002 I believe. Doesn't seem like a huge switch to sell single mp3's. Great to see that it is DRM-free.. and it only costs 89 cents for the top 100 songs.
---

On a personal note, congrats to Jordan and Alex on the birth of their beautiful first born. Angus Hay Edelman.

SF real estate can bite me.

2007-09-19T12:06:00.000-07:00

quizzes cuz they're fun

2007-09-17T22:12:00.000-07:00

Who is Your Future Husband?

Orlando Bloom is Your Future Husband
Take this quiz!

On becoming 30

2007-09-13T11:49:00.000-07:00

It just hit me as I was watching some memorial service for 9/11, that it was a mere month before the big 3-0. When I was in my tweens, 30 was crazy old. I mean I couldn't even fathom my life at 25. I just had a few goals in mind, mostly to have moved out from my parents, to be financially independent, to be in a different city other than blacksburg, and to be dating. Ha. Obviously 25 was a few years back, and I did accomplish those goals.

Since then, my goals have been more adventuresome - eat more, travel more, run more, learn more. And to an extent, I've accomplished this. Of course these goals are unending. After every good meal, vacation, run, I'm just ready to do more.

Now with my 30th birthday coming up, I find myself without goals and even odder, without a desire to have anything more. I guess it's how you look at it. From where i stand, my life as it is right now, is pretty complete. Sure I can always have more of something.. I have been eying a nice 50" flat screen tv, and the limited amount of space in our overstuffed 1 bdrm nob hill apt is sometimes less than desirable. But other than material desires, I'm pritty pritty good (as Larry David would say). I do need to travel more before I settle (whatever that means). And of course, (my parents always brings this up), I do at some point need to own some real estate, instead of handing my tax money to the gov't.

Anyways I bring this all up, because el wrote up her 'before 40 goals', and I was thinking 'ogod, 40 is crazy old'. I can't imagine goals that could span a decade to accomplish. Anyways all this blabbing leads to nothing. Just that, I don't have any before 40 goals besides staying fit, and staying healthy (I'm a little obsessed with looking at my red blood cells after watching Crazy, Sexy Cancer, a documentary about a NYC actress and her desire to get as healthy as she can after she gets diagnosed with vascular cancer. It's a great story - I highly recommend it).

Enough blabbing. I'm supposed to give J a list of stuff that I want, but I can't think of anything. Do you have any ideas? We're a little late with planning if I wanted a dinner at French Laundry. Maybe I can stick that on my goals before turning 31.

The Next Big Thing

2007-09-12T12:45:00.000-07:00

Amazon funds the next big idea. I am a geek, and I love that they are doing this, but sadly I'm not eligible.

Went touring through wine country this past weekend. Gotta love Napa. No matter how many times you do the Mondavi tour, you always learn something new. Photos from the weekend are here.

Napa always ends up being an expensive trip. Even though we took advantage of my connections there, you can't help but buy a few great bottles of wine (especially encouraged when you get the nice Friend Discount) from the tastings. I snagged a bottle of Frog's Leap 2005 Zin, Darioush 2006 Signature Viognier, and 2004 Darioush Signature Shiraz. Yum!

We'll be going up there for a mudbath and a hot air balloon ride (courtesy of Karl and crew) in a few short weeks. I can't wait!

Lucy Premieres!

2007-09-10T11:01:00.000-07:00

Photos can make your tummy grumble

2007-09-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

Taken over Labor Day weekend. Ramy (new CBS Mobile News Anchor) had to cover a story on Seaweed Cafe in Bodega Bay this past weekend, and took us along for the ride, or should I say feast. Everything was scrumptious and the owners/chefs were delightful. I wrote something on yelp about it, but I think in this case, the photos are the selling point

Good Advice

2007-09-04T15:45:00.000-07:00

Taken from on page 6 of
No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog.

Some good advice from the book:

To choose a spouse, find someone who is flawlessly kind but has an incredibly strong backbone.

Marry him only if you will be proud when your child turns out just like him.

Don’t make assumptions, and don’t take things personally.

What you give is what you get.

When you predict that negative things will happen, they do. The opposite is also true.

Quite possibly my cutest relatives ever.

2007-08-31T14:37:00.000-07:00

Latest additions in the Koo clan.

Don't mind me. I just can't stop staring at my cousins' kiddos.

Trailer for Mr.Magorium's Wonder Emporium

2007-08-31T13:59:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the latest project from the writer of "go" and "big fish". Looks like a cute kids movie, although does anyone sense a change in musical track when Jason batemen shows up? It starts feeling like a romantic comedy between Natalie Portman and Jason Batemen. Very strange.

Apparently I was wrong about the writer.. take a look at the comments.

Valley rivals

2007-08-31T13:57:00.001-07:00

Facebook vs Google
MySpace vs Facebook

It's like highschool all over again.

R&I Top 100 Independent Restaurants-2007

2007-08-30T11:34:00.000-07:00

R&I Top 100 Independent Restaurants-2007

Tom Riddle BE GONE!

2007-08-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

Just finished the great Harry Potter series. I'm exhausted, saddened, and excited to see what the director will do with this movie. Every single battle scene was extraordinary. I think I teared up nearly 3 times during the book. All I can say is thank you JK Rowling for an epic that transcends cultures and ages. It was a magnificent journey.

I'm ready for discussions if you wish to discuss.

Scrabulous out of commission...

2007-08-15T13:42:00.001-07:00

One of the better facebook applications is out of commission for a bit because it's too popular. Reminds me of the email thread on craigslist that took myspace.com down because he had too many friends..

I have 5 Scrabble games on hold for now. Here's the message that I got when I go to the homepage of the application:

Need another day.

What we did last night did not work, we need another day to get this running.

There's no point in letting everyone try to play and face errors, so we're closing it for some more time. Please check back in tomorrow.

Any programmers with experience in load balancing please email fb.scrabulous@gmail.com . We can do with some support in that area.

Sorry folks ... trying our best to give you the best.

I can just see the engineers scrambling around to try and find a solution. Best of luck to you guys. I hate load balancer issues.

Transit Bay Center

2007-08-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

The top 3 designs for the upcoming 2013 Transit Bay Center, to be the tallest skyscraper, west of the Mississippi. I find it interesting that all 3 designs take advantage of San Francisco's natural light. I wonder what they plan on doing for the other 250 days out of the year when the city is covered in fog.

Stuff

2007-07-26T17:03:00.000-07:00

If you're curious as to why you haven't seen any recent posts from me, it's because of my growing infatuation with Facebook. I spend all my free time there. For some reason it's so much cooler then MySpace or Friendster (I always feel bad for Friendster because i consider them the first one that gained an international audience). Perhaps it's all the apps that other developers have added, so that you can send virtual gifts to people, or my personal fave, throw nachos at anyone who has the food fight application. Regardless it's spreading like a wild fire.

Also, I haven't been as awake as a normally am. I'm giving up my coffee addiction. For many a years, I've avoided looking up the relationship between eczema and coffee. Then late last week, I was downing my 6th cup of coffee at work, and felt like I could scratch my back off.. Then I looked it up. People with eczema should not drink coffee.

AMZN is up again. If I had held on to my stock options that I initially got with my signing bonus, I would finally be above water (I joined back in Jan 2000, when the stock was up at 81). Today, reported a 7 year high of $89.00. Why? Good earnings. But if you ask me, it's because of Harry Potter's last installment. If you take a look at the graph over the last 7 years, there's always been an increase in the stock during the 2nd quarter whenever there's a Harry Potter release. It's just a theory.

Bayarea

2007-07-17T13:29:00.001-07:00

Do you live in the Bay Area? Are you constantly amazed with the food, the concerts, the street fairs, and the food? Do you lust after Thomas Keller and Elizabeth Faulkner? Do you love the fog horns that wake you up in the morning, and coo you to bed at night? Do have a constant tan if you live in the East Bay, or the Peninsula? Do you talk about how you want to go hiking in the Redwoods because they're so close? Do you talk about your view of Alcatraz from the roof?

If so.. you've been hit with the disease knows as Bayarea.

We were talking over the brunch the other day, and Sarah couldn't stop talking about how fresh her salad was.. and I was in complete agreement (I had ordered the same thing - a tuna nicoise salad at Le Petit Robert). Scott looked over and told us that we both had really bad Bayarea - people that live in the bay area, and get together to just talk about the bay area.

Apparently we have really bad Elliotbayarea as well because S and I get together and talk about Seattle as well.

And you thought your day was going badly...

2007-07-17T13:26:00.000-07:00

View story

Look it's J as a baby!

2007-07-13T17:00:00.000-07:00

This is probably not funny to anyone else but me, but I thought I'd post it anyways. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if J's mom handed me a video tape of him doing this sorta thing when he was younger. There would probably be some singing involved, that's probably the only difference.

Intro to Lucy

2007-07-10T15:55:00.000-07:00

This is the pilot that aired in late 2005. It's been a few years, but the guys at Cartoon Network finally agreed to sign on a full season to air "Lucy, Daughter of the Devil" on Adult Swim. And that's where J comes in. He's signed on to Fluid Animations to work on the concept design, backgrounds, and some character designs.

Just a warning that it's not for the religiously sensitive. I mean it's set in modern San Francisco, about the anti-christ "Lucy" whose an art student trying to lead a normal love life, while Dad "Satan" is trying to interject. All "hell" breaks loose when she meets the second coming of Christ - a techno dj named dj jesus.

Season premiere is set for first week of September. Their pilot was the second most popular pilot on Adult Swim.

Anyways like I said, if you can't get through South Park, this is probably not your cup of tea.

Back to Seattle

2007-07-10T12:15:00.000-07:00

(photo by eugene wei)

Another whirlwind trip to Seattle for Matt and Audrey's beautiful wedding.. Both bride and groom were stunning and so happy. You'll be amazed to hear that no tears were shed at the wedding - I'm getting better at these things. I was just incredibly happy for these two.

Highlights:
- The black and white photo booth.
- Seattle weather - 80 degrees, slight breeze. Gotta love Seattle summers.
- Seeing old Amazonians and Seattle-ites. There are a number of people that I've sadly lost touch with since my move to the bay area. The only updates I get are through blogs and online social networks. Welcome to the internet era. Good to see you guys.
- Running around red faced and giddy. My mom kept on saying "oh no, too red, too red." I felt like I was one of one those little kids running around a chinese restaurant during dim sum hours. Weeeeee!
- The dragon that iced drinks. Check out Eugene's photos to see the ice sculpture in action.
- Owen, Amy and Hubby J rushing into the wedding tent right before the wedding party. Owen got pulled over by evil greedy Factoria cops and got two tickets (one for expired tags and the other for an expired insurance card) for a grand total of 800 bucks. The pricey one is for the expired insurance card - we believe he can contest that one, so hopefully all works out.
- Uncle Adrian's speech in which he told Matt that it was a Chinese Tradition for him to take care of Uncle Adrian when he's older.
- Catching up with my parents, aaron(audrey's bro), euge, Team Red, and Team Med.
- Seeing Audrey and Matt Married! Congratulations!

UPDATE - My photos from the weekend.

Raise money for the kids!

2007-07-02T15:26:00.000-07:00

My running buddy (miss Katy McLean)is trying to raise funds to support kids to get into the NYC Marathon. We both entered but we didn't make the lottery, BUT she still wants to go.. So please, if you have and extra cent or two (Her company, WAMU matches any contribution at 100%), please donate to her charity of choice: Team For Kids!

Here are more details in her words:

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Hello Everyone,

Many of you helped me raise money for my very first marathon in 2005, which benefited the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. I am now gearing up for the New York City Marathon in November, but I cross the finish line without your help.

The Cause:

I have joined Team for Kids, the New York Road Runners Foundation’s team of volunteers who raise funds for youth fitness programs. I chose this foundation when I read these statistics:

· More than 43 percent of New York City children are overweight or obese, putting them at significant risk for early onset of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and other chronic illnesses

· Student-teacher ratios for physical education in New York City elementary schools are estimated to be 730 to 1

· 2 out of every 5 New York City public schools offer no after-school sports or fitness activities

New York Road Runners helps Team for Kids deliver running-based fitness programs to 25,000 at-risk school children each week in New York and a handful of other cities.

How You Can Help:

I will need to raise a minimum of $2500 for Team for Kids to ensure my spot in the New York City Marathon in November. In addition to the fundraising, I will be training for the 26.2 mile race. Here are different ways you can help prepare me for the big race:

· Provide pedicures to keep my feet blister free and my toenails attached throughout my training

· Become a water stop volunteer and meet me along my training routes with motivational cheers and Gatorade

· Run alongside me singing "Eye of the Tiger" on my training runs

Bagels, Gatorade and/or moral support will gladly be accepted
· Make a monetary donation

- $1 per mile for a total of $26

- $50 will ensure you are not invited to run at 8am on Saturday mornings

- $100 will remove you from this email distribution

- $250 will buy you the license to laugh at my inability to walk/sit in the coming weeks

- $500 to be my best friend (offer expires November 4th)

Donations Can Be Made:

Online:

https://www.nyrrc.org/cgi-bin/start.cgi/mar-programs/nyrrf/team/2007/donations.htm

In the Mail:

Donation documents have been attached and can be sent to:
(if you need the pdf, email me)

New York Road Runners Foundation

NYRR Foundation Team for Kids

845 Third Avenue, 11th floor

New York, NY 10022

Be sure to note my Marathon Entry Number 114113 and Last Name (McLean) when submitting a donation. All contributions are tax-deductible and you will receive acknowledgement from NYRRF in the mail. If you have questions about corporate matching policies and processes feel free to let me know.

Thank You!

The Birthday Song

2007-06-28T12:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to Eleanor & Jenny!

Sorry I'm a little belated with this posting but the sentiment is still there :)

Congratulations to Shane and Daniela

2007-06-28T11:28:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my summer of weddings.. Heh. Actually there have only been 2 (mine and Daniela's) and Audrey's coming up on the infamous wedding day 7/7/07.

Last weekend, J and I flew down to Mexico City for a whirlwind weekend getaway for Shane and Daniela's Mexican wedding. Words can't even begin to describe how quickly the weekend went. Sadly, we had about an afternoon to walk around Mexico City. We stayed in the Zocalo area (which is the oldest part of the city - aka Plaza de la Constitución). It was beautiful.

Zocalo from our hotel room.

The view from our window was remarkable. We stayed at the Gran Hotel Cuidad Mexico. The church that sits on the left is the Metropolitan Cathedral, that's built on top of Aztec temple ruins.

The stunning bride and groom, right before their introduction to the reception.

The wedding took place in an old church a few blocks from the zocalo. It was a traditional Catholic ceremony, all in Spanish. (Kudos to Shane for his solid Spanish skills.) The ceremony was about an hour, but we caught the last 20 minutes. Let's just say that the transportation situation in Mexico City is not as reliable as you would like it to be. There was an incident where a cab got pulled over for going the wrong way, and the guests had to pay the cop off.. but that's another story for another time.

The reception was held in a convent right next to the church. The whole place (including a gigantic fountain in the middle of the convent) was lit by candles (here, that would be called a fire hazard).

The convent - wedding style.

I am now a big fan of Mexican weddings.

The wedding went from 7pm to 5am, with a nachos buffet at 3:30am (to help soak up the tequilla shots). The band played non stop from 8am to 4am.. singing everything from jazz to disco, to the Beatles, to Mexican pop. There were a ton of props - a guy on stilts handing out wigs, sunglasses, and who knows what else. A slide was brought out in the middle of the dance floor at one point, and all the guests lined up to go down it. Oh, there was a whole Grease montage that lasted about 30 minutes.. Shane and Daniela, all dressed in grease lightening garb, were propped up on a fake orange convertable with a lighting bolt on the side, mouthing all the words to the songs (atleast Daniela was). After 4am, a mariachi band showed up to accompany some karaoke. You'll just have to take my word on this, as my camera ran out of juice right after the Grease montage (I'll post one up later). I also have pics of the groom and his groomsmen dressed up as luchadores dancing on the dance floor.

Last but not least.. a pic of J and I before heading into the convent for the reception, completely clueless of the craziness that we were about to come upon :)

J & B

Name Change Goodness

2007-06-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

I grabbed this list of things to do to legally change your name from some wedding site. Good God!

I like how they listed "Costco card". Such an important thing to have these days. Guess I need to add Macy's Card, Banana Card, Best Buy card, AAA card... No wonder so many people are discouraged from changing their names.. There's just too many things. One of these days, I'll just be able to change my profile in facebook, or myspace, and it'll update the Social Security Office, my Employer, my Credit Cards, my bank, the post office, and whoever else I need to notify. Heh. Til then, I'm going to be in a line at some government office, or filling out paper work, and writing my new name on a gazillion different documents.

1.	Social Security Card
2.	Driver's License (get a photo ID first then the rest will be easy, but call ahead for an appointment)
3.	Bank Accounts (on checks, versatel cards, etc.)
4.	Post Office - change of address form but just change the name
5.	Credit Cards
6.	Employer's Records and Health Insurance
7.	All of your bills (for example - PG&E, Water bill, phone bill, etc.)
8.	Car Insurance and Car Loan (for a change in title when the car becomes yours)
9.	Costco Membership, Gym Membership, Membership in other organizations
10.	School identification cards if you have them
11.	Alma Mater or send announcement to them

My new toy

2007-06-19T16:02:00.001-07:00

In the absense of getting wedding registry packages at work, I've been trying to fill the void by purchasing online and having it shipped to work. Check my newest toy shipped via UPS from my favorite store ever!

Trash the dress

2007-06-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

I'm not really sure what to do about my wedding gown. Can't really sell it again, and doubt any of my cousins or my sister will want to get married in it. Every bride wants their own gown. So a lot of brides have been doing these photo sessions called trash the dress, where you go to a location where the dress will surely be trashed.. Some of the ones taken on the beach or in the ocean are pretty cool. This one below is just frightening. I think my mom would veto this.

There's a lot more here, less dangerous though.

Heroes Personality Test - thanks holly.

2007-06-13T16:03:00.000-07:00

Your Score: Mohinder Suresh
You scored 41 Idealism, 45 Nonconformity, 41 Nerdiness

My father spent his life chasing after this insanity. Now I'm wasting mine trying to prove he was sane.
Congratulations, you're Mohinder Suresh! You're a curious, passionate, and intelligent person. You're prone to changing your mind about the important things in life, though. You're interested in doing what you can to help people who are gifted with special abilities.

Your best quality: You're a maverick intellectual
Your worst quality: Your opinions can change rather quickly and suddenly

Link: The Heroes Personality Test written by freedomdegrees on OkCupid, home of the The Dating Persona Test

You know it's an off day when...

2007-06-12T16:12:00.000-07:00

You're out early, but the bus (that usually comes every 5 minutes) doesn't come for 15 minutes.

You miss the train because of the late bus

You are second in line, but the first person in line has a huge order.

When you get change back, you get 2 twenties, and 6 dollar coins. (All of a sudden I felt like i was in Canada again - who uses these here?) The cashier says with a grin 'That's big change'. Big Change???

You miss the second train because of the slow service getting coffee. You end up on the local train which makes all possible stops between teh city and Palo Alto.

The coffee lid leaks all over your white jacket, and cropped jeans. Both of which, you just washed.

You realize that you're late for an interview.

You don't get into the NYC Marathon because there were 98,000 applicants, of which they can only accept 30,000.

Professional Photos are In!

2007-06-08T10:50:00.001-07:00

After checking my email nearly every 10 minutes this past week, Ingrid finally emailed us our set of professional photos from our wedding in Vegas. I know, it's the only thing that I've blogged about this past month.. I promise I'll be more interesting in a few weeks when I can actually concentrate on other things.

If you want to view the photos, go to ImagesByIngrid.com. Then Click on Online Orders and find my name. You'll then get into our slideshow accompanied by wedding music (woohoo - turn it up). Then click on View Images and Order Photos and you'll get to look at our sets. Let me know if it doesn't work. You may have to install Flash, but most browsers have that already installed. The Username is 'imagesbyingrid' and the password is 'love'.

Overall I'm pretty happy with them. I've never seen so many huggy photos at a wedding before. The Bride and Groom session was really amusing. The song "VOGUE" was running through my head the entire time we were doing the poses. I sooo can't keep a serious face. Also, kinda funny - my false eyelashes are not doing so hot towards the end of the night. I suspected it, but at that time I was too distracted to do anything about it.

Oh and I've added links to most of the other photo albums on our wedding website.

This or that.

2007-06-04T17:52:00.000-07:00

Harry Potter mania! Oh, it's on!

Trying to decide between two DSLRs. Nikon D40x 10.2MP Digital SLR or Canon Digital Rebel XTi 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera. I grew up working on my the Nikon N Series in film.. but then switched to the Canon's when I finally switched to digital. Any advice?

Watched Knocked Up this past weekend, and believe me it was a riot. Go watch when you've got 2 hours to spare and avoid sitting in the three front rows where everything is gynormous. Beware for the end sequence. Labor looks so frightening.

Many moons

2007-05-31T17:45:00.001-07:00

I'm constantly obsessed with looking at photos of the wedding as if I missed it. Seriously, the whole event felt like an out-of-body experience. I was constantly worried that I didn't say 'Hi' to enough people, and hoping that the food and the drinks were good. I wasn't stressed though, and I was having a ton of fun.. I just wanted to do as much as I could which may account for my lack of sleep that night. Stayed at a blackjack table with some of my wedding guests til 4:30am, then off to FatBurger until 5:30am.

Now that I'm back in San Francisco, friends and photos have been showing me how wonderful it all was, and I wish I remembered every little detail of the wedding, but I don't. I just remembered that my cheeks hurt at the end of the night, and remembering seeing people that made my eyes blur with tears of joy... (tres fromagey)

Anyways now I'm on to Honeymoon planning. The original plan was to go to Europe, tour around France and Italy during the winter holiday.. and while all of that sounds absolutely amazing and romantic, there's the other side of me that just wants to lie around on a bungalow somewhere in the Caribbean and soak up as much sun as possible. The SF foggy summers make one miss the sun. We'll see. Planning on watch Paris je t'aime this weekend that may make me change my mind on the honeymoon destination.

Best Pic!

2007-05-25T22:18:00.000-07:00

Just got all 13 disposable cameras developed. There were some good ones, but this one of andrea and matt is one of the best. Check out the entire album here.

I should add that I got a couple boob shots as well, but I editted those :) Pretty funny though.

Simmer down...

2007-05-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

We got back early evening Tuesday, but even now, I feel like I need to catch up on my Zzzz's. I think I literally got at the most 4 hours of sleep each night I was in Vegas, so I'm sorry if I seemed a little 'deer-in-headlights' at the wedding. I now think that everyone should have a wedding.. or atleast one huge bash to gather all those that have been in your life. It was so amazing to have people that I've known for almost 30 years, to people that now live down the hall from me, all in one huge room. Of course, it helped that the room was oh-so-classy, as eleanor so willingly commented. Even if I'm from a small po-dunk town, I can be classy. J added that he's the classy one in the relationship..

And how is married life? Nothing's changed, except there's extra weight on our fingers. Ha Ha.. in desperation to not be that boring couple, we are going to Bay Meadows this weekend to do a little more gambling. I haven't been to a horse race in atleast 15 years. I feel like I should wear a sundress, a hat, and some white gloves. What say you?

Anyways wanted to add a small thank you for all those that made it to the wedding. It was so exhilirating and overwhelming to see all our favorite people in one room.. I just wish I could've spent a little more time with each of you.. but we'll be ringing your door bells soon :) Thanks again for making May 19th, 2007, super memorable. Please send me photos!

WE DID IT!!!!

2007-05-22T23:32:00.001-07:00

More photos to come!!

A sneak peek

2007-05-10T13:49:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd give you guys a little peek into the Vegas wedding coming up. Here's the pile of programs that we finished just last night.

I am taking off for Vegas this Saturday with an echo full of favors, chocolates, lanterns, programs, and let's not forget, the wedding dress!!

Then Mother's day and Yaya reunion on Sunday. Then full on Wedding stuff up til Sunday. See you soon and safe travels!

Bachlorette Party numero uno

2007-05-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

Took a break from wedding DIY projects on Saturday ( i left J with the laundry and the seating chart ) and went out on the town with P,K and S for a small bachelorette night. Started out at Luna Park ( i love their goat cheese fondue and smores) and ended the night dancing in sweat at the Beauty Bar. We stopped by Blondies but it was just too hoochie for our taste. All in all a good night, though there was a moment of panic at Lazlo's when my engagement ring went missing (S was passing it back to me and it totally missed my hand). The entire crowd on the first floor was on their hands and knees with their cell phones to illuminate the ground. After about 10 minutes, I found my ring admist broken glass.. that was a close one.

Anyhow here are some pics from that evening.. (thanks guys!)

(at K's,with our chic boas)

(No idea who that sweaty old dude is.. he kept on
trying to get into our photos - Grrr...)

Cake Cutting Practice

2007-04-30T17:27:00.000-07:00

So my company gave me a nice little wedding send off today... One of our pm's completely distracted me as they ran around the office gathering peeps for a little surprise party for me and battles (he's getting married this weekend in Florida, hence the blue and brown icing). It was quite the impressive themed cake. Thanks A9!

HARRY!

2007-04-25T10:19:00.000-07:00

New trailer for Harry Potter is posted on Movies.yahoo.com.

Very Good Things

2007-04-23T17:43:00.000-07:00

Tajine - I've always had a soft spot for mom and pop run restaurants that seat about 30 people.. each tiny detail of their dishes are usually done with heart, and you can't find more personnable service anywhere.. Here's a new one to add to the list. It's a Morrocan cuisine newcomer in the tendernob area that seats about 30 people tops. I'm told that their old location, in the heart of the tenderloin, sat about 10 people. We waited about 15 minutes to grab a table late Friday night, and couldn't be more overjoyed with the reasonable and diverse menu. I think their most expensive item is $12.95. Service is a bit slow, but to their defense, it's a tiny place - the wait staff has to maneuver around tables to get to all the tables. Definitely worth checking out.

GoldStar Events - Daily Candy just made a posting about it, but it's great for discount comedy and theater tickets.. they even have specials on spas and massages.. Ooh la la!

Zoe Bikini - Another Daily Candy find. I actually haven't been here yet, but the concept is amazing. They carry a huge line of bikinis and, even better, they will make you your own customized bikini.

Endless.com - So I'm constantly accused for shamelessly plugging amazon.com products (have you seen our stock recently??) but Endless.com is seriously a good thing. It's incredibly user friendly, giving you the tiniest detail of the shoe. The catalog is continually growing and the pricing is highly competitive. Plus you get an automatic 5 dollar coupon with each purchase, and free overnight shipping. I just bought these super comfy Jaques Levine ugg-like boot slippers for $34 bucks (down from $130). I ordered them on Monday at 4pm, and received them on Tuesday at 11am. You can't beat that.

Tuesday Parking on Nob Hill - Not that it matters to anyone, but it took me literally 1 minute to find parking last night. It's a personal victory that I thought I'd share.

Donations to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund

2007-04-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

Donations can be made here.

We will become silhouettes

2007-04-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

Despite the difficult start of this past week, I was able to escape reality for awhile and attend the much anticipated Shins concert Monday night - the first of 3 concerts at the Fox Warfield.

It was just what I needed.. uplifting, soulful, haunting music coupled with thoughtful, somewhat silly lyrics carried out by the amazing and modest James Mercer, who at the end of the crowd's applause would just say "Wow, thanks!", as if he was surprised that we liked it so much. The two band members on guitars whose names escape me now ( but I think one of them is dating Elyse Sewell - model from the first seasons of America's top model - her blog by the way is very entertaining. I peruse it on occasion when i want to look for unannounced Shins news ) totally rocked out, and were able to say a bit more to their captivated hipster-yuppie audience.

I was worried with their third album release for awhile, since their second album is one of my all time favorites, but it's proven to be equally addictive. I'm often seen bopping to their music on my morning commute. I've turned to it much more this week, in trying to make sense of everything.

i heart blacksburg

2007-04-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

I think most people that know me, know that I'm Canadian, but I actually consider my hometown to be Blacksburg, where I spent my formidable years from the age of 11 to 22. Shortly after I left for the west coast, my parents and evenually my sister (VT alumni) relocated elsewhere, but blacksburg and its people will always remain close to our hearts.

The great thing about this town is the people and Virginia Tech. I don't think I've ever felt a community quite as strong as Blacksburg's and reading the papers the past few days has quickly reminded me of that. Almost everywhere I look in the papers, there's a person that I recognize as someone that I interracted with through highschool, through the swim team, through VT and community events (like building the Caboose Park or going to the Stepping Our Fair), through running my dad's old restaurant Anchy's.

Virginia Tech had a huge influence on my life. My friends and I studied there on many occasions, making use of the huge hang out areas at Squires, and checking out books at the Newsom Library. I swam at the campus pool, and on occasions with the Tech team. We even held our graduation at Burruss Hall. Every summer during my W&M years, I returned to Blacksburg to work at various offices around Virginia Tech, meeting profs and sitting in on lectures. The research taking place there has always astounded me. Tech has always inspired me to do great things. (cheezy, I know - but very true).

When people ask where I'm from, I always say, 'you know the hokies? you know michael vick?... blue ridge mountains, shenandoah valley, virginia tech... that's where I'm from'. And then I sing the old "New River Valley mall theme song". *grin*

It saddens me to know that people who don't know blacksburg, will now associate it with the events that took place this past week.