|
|
||
 | The Piccadilly Circus tube stop. London, UK April 5, 2006 |
|
| Apple | Cool | Disney | Entertainment | Fitness | Geek | Microsoft | Politics | Seattle Storm | Transit | Travel | UW MBA | ||
June 25, 2008"He Didn't Stop Believin'"I have a total soft spot for Journey - they of "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Only The Young". Like Van Halen and David Lee Roth, Journey had a falling out with their lead singer, Steve ("Oh, Sherrie") Perry, and has never really recovered: But as far as Journey’s fans are concerned, there is but one true Journey vocalist, and his name is Steve Perry. Before Perry, Journey were a chops-flaunting jazz-rock outfit whose first three albums had sold poorly; when Columbia Records threatened to drop the band, their manager, Herbie Herbert, prevailed upon them to hire Perry, who had a supple tenor, a gawky, earnest stage presence, and one of the worst haircuts in rock. Together, he and Journey began writing new songs that showcased two of these three qualities, and by the turn of the decade they’d become one of the biggest bands on earth. Well, this month's GQ has a terrific article ("He Didn't Stop Believin'") about Journey's search for - and discovery of - a new lead singer, Filipino Arnel Pineda (via YouTube, of all places ... no, really). Pineda is rumored to sound exactly like Steve Perry - astounding if true, given Perry's distinctive voice. Seemed a little implausible to me, so I checked out a few YouTube clips of the band performing live this year. Holy cow, he's good. It's eerie. Listen to a few clips and judge for yourself: "Faithfully", "Don't Stop Believin'", "Only The Young". Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated June 25, 2008 11:14 PM. June 1, 2008ThrillNetwork Reviews "X2"ThrillNetwork is up with a review of the recently-rebooted "X2" at Six Flags Magic Mountain: X2 is at once a fierce new beast and a familiar friend. The layout remains the same, but new speakers mounted to the seats add driving rock music and sound effects timed to match elements of the ride. Two below-ground pits have been filled with mist, forming a refreshing cool zone on hot days. And, the most anticipated new effect, two flame throwers have been added before the final raven turn to spray jets of fire at the trains rushing by. I got to ride "X" back in 2004, and loved it; I can't wait to try out v2.0. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated June 1, 2008 8:23 AM. May 4, 2008"Iron Man"After several months of trailer-induced excitement and buildup, Iron Man opened this weekend, so Elaine and I caught the 12:15 showing at Pacific Place today. I'm pretty happy with the picture. Let's be blunt - Iron Man is about as straightforward a superhero movie as it gets. It's the standard-edition Origin Storyline (see: Spider-Man, X-Men, Batman Begins, Fantastic Four, (actually, don't see Fantastic Four) etc.), where the otherwise-normal main character finds they're endowed with special abilities, learns to manipulate them, incurs a mortal enemy in the process, and then heads for the big, noisy, Computer-Generated Extravaganza of Explosions in the third act. (Generally, the hero prevails and is ready for a sequel.) What makes Iron Man work is the simple, sheer joy with which it's put together. Robert Downey, Jr. is perfect as Tony Stark, and the sets, graphics, tone, and sense of the movie really gel. When Stark is learning how to fly in his powered suit through the Los Angeles skyline - well, you buy it. He's having fun, we're having fun, it's wonderful. I do have quibbles. There are a few clunky lines of dialog, the plot sort of teeters under its own weight at one point or another, and the stellar supporting cast - particularly Gwenyth Paltrow - isn't given a whole heckuvalot to do (it's Downey's movie). But overall, it's great, great summer popcorn fare. Word is it made over $100M this weekend, and, frankly, it deserves it. Oh, and if you don't know - be sure to stay until after the credits. (Thanks to Khan for the tip!) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated May 4, 2008 9:09 PM. February 5, 2008I Heart CosmoPodOne of the (under-appreciated) benefits of taking transit to work is being able to watch video on your iPod or iPhone while someone else does the driving. I love watching TV shows (I'm kinda addicted to "Entourage") or movies - particularly on the way home - as a way of unwinding after a long day. Problem is, there's a lot of great video on the Internet that I'd like to see, much of it on YouTube, and I've been somewhat stymied about getting that stuff from YouTube's Flash-based video player into a format that my iPhone can understand. Stymied, that was, until I discovered CosmoPod. CosmoPod is this kick-ass plugin for Safari that detects a video clip on a Web page you're looking at, and, with a click:
In short, it rocks. I find it incredibly useful for longish (40+ minutes) clips on YouTube - the sort I never have time to sit down and watch, uninterrupted, in front of my MacBook. (For some reason, these all seem to be taken from the "Talks @ Google" series - Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, "The Secret History of Silicon Valley"). CosmoPod detects this stuff, downloads it, and pops it on to my phone - fantastic. The product isn't free, but it is cheap - about ten bucks. If you're a commuter, it's well worth a look. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated February 5, 2008 3:13 PM. January 29, 2008How NOT To Use PowerPointChar sent out this terrific link, which is 3 minutes and 54 seconds worth of comedic awesomeness as Don McMillan takes the piss out of bad PowerPoint presentations. (My favorite is the first one - "Don't read every word on your slide.") Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 29, 2008 8:59 AM. January 27, 2008"Once"I wanted to take a moment to give a big, big thumbs-up for a movie called "Once." It's a poignant, touching, and moving low-budget indie film about music, creativity, and emotional healing. (That may sound like an After-school Special kind of thing, but it's not.) The actors are novices, doing fantastic, authentic work; the music is amazing (and original to the film); the characters make sense, in a real-world way. Movies about music, and the making of music, are notoriously hard to get right. The best I've seen so far is "Hustle & Flow", which really captured the light and heat of creating something new. "Once" does much the same thing, but in a totally different vein, with the music moving the movie forward, and driving the characters where they need to go. I can't recommend it more highly. It's short - just 86 minutes - and it's available as a rental in iTunes (which, incidentally, is how we discovered it). Give it a look. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 27, 2008 11:57 AM. January 24, 2008Deja Vu Confirmed For SilverwoodThe Spokesman-Review is reporting that, indeed, Deja Vu is moving from Six Flags Great America to Silverwood: Standing twice as tall as Silverwood’s tallest coaster, the ride will take thrill-seekers skyward at a 90-degree angle, down a 177-foot drop, through two loops and then climb again before dropping riders to do the whole thing again backward. This was rumored back in December, but it's great to see official confirmation. The ride is slated to open in July ... which means that I'll be heading out to Idaho this summer. (Tip 'o the hat to my Dad, who spotted the story!) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 24, 2008 2:04 PM. January 6, 2008In Which I Confess My Sad Addiction To "Super Mario Galaxy"We got a Wii. I won't bore you with the story of how we got it (it was one of those right-place, right-time kind of things where the Best Buy had a stack of, like, 12 of them, and, as I was standing there, staring at the Tower Of Wiis like it was some kind of mirage or something, the salesguy slides up behind me and whispers, "We just put those out 15 minutes ago"), but suffice to say we have one, with an extra controller/nunchuck and a copy of Super Mario Galaxy. I bought Mario because I remember how much I loved - totally, totally loved - playing Super Mario 64 on my Nintendo 64 about a decade ago, and the title seemed to be the perfect Wii title - playful, colorful, cute, etc. We set up the Wii, played a few rounds of bowling and tennis on Wii Sports, and then I slid in Galaxy to see what it was all about. And I am now totally, completely, utterly and sadly addicted to the silly thing. Look, it's a Mario game. There's no blood, guts, machine guns, Covenant, you name it. You're controlling a plumber as he races around collecting coins and "star bits" while trying to save the princess from the clutches of the evil Bowser. It takes place in Technicolor up-is-down-and-down-is-up landscapes that Escher only hinted at, and, once in a while, you turn in to a bee. 'Cause you need to. Or you ride a sting ray as you surf waterways. (I've always thought that anyone involved with designing a Mario game would pretty much be prevented from running for public office, if you know what I mean.) The thing that makes Galaxy so compelling is how well it makes use of the Wii's unique controllers. You shake your controller to spin around and beat enemies; you "surf" on those rays by moving the controller in three dimensions; you wave your controller at the screen to pick up "star bits." It's easily the most interactive, immersive Mario game I've ever played, and I love it. It's been a long time since I've lost time while playing video games, but, well, I blinked yesterday morning and I'd been playing for three hours. Sad, I tell you. If you have a Wii, buy this game. And clear your calendar. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 6, 2008 11:50 AM. January 3, 2008NetFlix To Make A Set-Top BoxFresh on the heels of my predictions about AppleTV v2: DVD-by-mail service Netflix Inc. will begin delivering movies and other programming directly to televisions later this year through a set-top box that will pipe entertainment over a high-speed Internet connection. The battle over the living room is going to erupt into a full-fledged shooting war in 2008. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 3, 2008 11:51 AM. January 2, 2008Slate.com On Keeping Your New Year's ResolutionNow that I'm commuting again (I took the last two weeks off), I'm getting caught up on my podcasts, and listened to a great one from Slate called, "Rationalizing Resolutions: Can economics make you a better person?": Economists rarely make good forecasts, but let me venture one: Most readers of this column will eat and drink heavily over the next couple of weeks (as will its writer), and many of us will, on Jan. 1, vow to do better in the future. Can economics provide a little assistance in coping with this annual ritual? The piece was interesting to me, mostly because the idea of a Web site that motivates you to keep promises to yourself by holding a pool of cash hostage is pretty nifty. Jeff and I had a running weight bet for most of last year, where we'd each offer to pay the other $10 for each pound we failed to lose, relative to our specific goal. As luck would have it, we both made such lousy progress that wound up resetting the bet (three or four times, as memory serves), and calling 'no harm, no foul.' If we had to park, say, $300 each in escrow and watch it go to charity if we slipped ... well, I suspect we'd have been $600 poorer between the two of us, but certainly more motivated. The article is certainly worth a quick read. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 2, 2008 1:52 PM. December 20, 2007A New Vision For The Fun ForestThe Stranger has a story this week about a possible plan to not just save, but actually improve the Fun Forest: Roller-coaster enthusiast John Sutherland—a former ski-school director, resort manager, and University of Washington administrator ... wants to breathe new life into the Fun Forest by bringing in new rides, new crowds, and $18 million worth of private investment over the next two years. Sutherland—who once held a Guinness World Record for riding 40 roller coasters in 24 hours—has brought in a team of designers, merchandisers, and investors (mostly former Six Flags executives, he says) to completely rethink, or at least retool, Fun Forest. The city, of course, isn't taking his calls - which is baffling. A good amusement park in the Center - one that's staffed regularly, with good attractions and regular operating hours - could be a vibrant part of Seattle Center, and 180 degrees from the dreary Fun Forest we have today. (Tip o' the hat to Screamscape.) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated December 20, 2007 9:04 AM. December 17, 2007"oPtion$: The Secret Life Of Steve Jobs"I'm a regular reader of The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs (if you like snarky tech, it's a must-read), and recently finished the book by FSJ, called, "oPtion$: The Secret Life Of Steve Jobs". Bill had snagged a copy when it first came out, and just raved about it, so I placed a hold through SPL. Now I know why Bill loved it so much: it's laugh-out-loud funny. Really, really great. First, the basics: "oPtion$" isn't some kind of tell-all book about Real Steve Jobs or Apple. Instead, it's all about Silicon Valley, unchecked egos, and narcissism. In fact, FSJ is sort of a geek Paris Hilton - he's famous, yes, but mostly famous for being famous, and woefully free of any actual talent. The book's got zingers a-plenty, mostly run through the lens of people doing things that annoy Steve: Suddenly the air feels really, really cold, and it's so quiet that I can hear the air conditioning whirring in the walls, and I'm thinking to myself, Holy friggin mother of Jesus, I am so going to kill the a-holes who did the HVAC work in this place. Because I specifically told them I want this place silent. Not quiet. Silent. Like a friggin tomb, I told them. Yet there's this whirring in the walls as if we're up in a jet at thirty thousand feet. How am I supposed to concentrate? This is how I'm supposed to work? I can't even hear myself think. Or consider this great example of how FSJ and Larry Eillison spend their weekends: Rat Patrol is what Larry calls it when we drive his Hummer up to the city and cruise the Tenderloin in the middle of the night, wearing balaclavas and commando outfits and firing Super Soakers at transvestite hookers. You get points for how many you hit, with bonuses for letting them get as close as possible to the Hummer before you leap through the roof and open fire. We've done it a few times and I'll admit, it's pretty fun, especially when the trannies get all pissed off and start shouting and swearing. Larry aims for the face, and tries to blow their wigs off. The book's plot revolves around Apple's stock-options scandal from earlier this year; Jobs is tortured by an incompetent board, rebellious iPhone engineers, and a Zune-toting, Windows-loving prosecutor who thinks Steve is a poseur. It's fantastic. FSJ, if you don't know, is really author Daniel Lyons from Fortune. Lyons did an appearance at Microsoft earlier this year (we regularly host speakers on campus), and the talk was videotaped ... it's damn funny (and not remotely safe for work - the guys swears a lot). Check it out (note: requires Windows and Internet Explorer). The book's a definite recommend. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated December 17, 2007 11:13 AM. December 11, 2007"Speed Racer" TrailerThe trailer for the new, big-budget, big-screen adaptation of "Speed Racer" is up, and I have just three words to say: Oh. My. God. I was never a big fan of the cartoon, and was pretty "meh" when I heard it was being made into a feature-length film, despite its pedigree (it's written/directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, the guys behind The Matrix). But the trailer ... wow. Just, wow. The Wachowskis have taken a sterile cartoon and blown it all out of proportion to anything that came before. And yep, it might suck, but I'm gonna be there opening weekend. Check it out, and see what you think. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated December 11, 2007 9:25 AM. November 25, 2007"Made To Stick"One great fringe benefit of Thanksgiving is the free time conferred by the day-after food hangover - everyone in the family is low-energy and sleepy, so they curl up on the couch/easy chair/bed and just ... chill. For my part, I decided to catch up a bit on reading, and finished "Made To Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die". Most anyone in the corporate world has sat through a handful of terrible, horrible, soul-crushing, tear-your-eyes-out, Oh-God-Why-Didn't-I-Bring-My-Laptop-So-I-Could-At-Least-Do-My-Email PowerPoint water tortures. And the authors (Chip & Dan Heath) basically wanted to know why these meetings are so terrible (and their content so forgettable) while other forms of communication (for instance, that urban legend where the businessman meets a woman in a bar and wakes up in a bathtub full of ice, missing a kidney) are so memorable, so vivid, and so sticky. Now, generally I find books like this to be a dime a dozen - most business books are 20 pages of content and 180 pages of repetitive fluff - but "Made To Stick" beats that rap by using its own advice to stay engaging, light, entertaining and educational. And while it's easy to dismiss some of the advice as "advanced common sense," it definitely got me thinking about how I like to present and package information. I'm giving a talk to the high-tech club at UW next year about marketing jobs at Microsoft, and a number of the points in "Stick" have got me re-evaluating both what I'm presenting and how I'll present it. Good stuff. Definite recommend. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated November 25, 2007 9:02 AM. November 22, 2007"Live Free Or Die Hard"Elaine and I curled up on the couch last night to watch the fourth installment in John McClane's legendary string of bad luck - Live Free Or Die Hard. It's got some flaws, and it's waaaaaay over the top (to the point of silliness), but it wasn't too bad. I consider the original Die Hard to be one of the finest action pictures ever made - thrilling, smart, well-written, and genuinely exciting (and I'm embarrassed to say how many times I've seen it - let's just say I could write good-sized chunks of the script from memory). Die Hard 2: Die Harder was an atrocious piece of crap (thank you, Renny Harlin - don't you have another Cutthroat Island or Deep Blue Sea to work on?); Die Hard With A Vengeance was a good return to form. The fourth one, though ... I was worried. Originally called "Die Hard 4.0", the plot is pretty simple: bad guy hackers break in to the nation's utilities, banking and traffic systems and begin shutting everything down. McClane, as the old-school 'analog guy in a digital world' figures out what's going on and starts busting heads. He's got help, too, in the form of Justin Long ("Hello, I'm a Mac"), a hacker who inadvertently built some of the software being used by the bad guys. Flaws abound. The film's got a zillion plot holes; the computers all run "HollywoodOS"; the feds are silly and incompetent (standard for the franchise, but still); the hackers have amazing, godlike abilities to control any electronic device, anywhere; and so on. But perhaps the biggest problem is that Bruce Willis' character has, somehow, become The Terminator. At one point i expected him to put on some sunglasses, extend his hand to Sarah Connor and say, "Come with me if you want to live." Nothing kills him. Nothing. Falls off a building? Gets up again. Thrown out a window? Grabs a truck on the ground floor and crashes it into an elevator shaft (really). Blows up a fighter jet with a semi(!), slides down a slab of broken freeway at a 60-degree angle as a huge fireball goes off over his head, and, uh, limp for a few scenes afterward. [Insert obligatory, "I'm gettin' too old for this shit" line here.] One of the things I loved about Die Hard was that McClane was human - you shoot him, he bleeds. He gets hurt and angry and really damaged as the movie goes on, and it adds an element of risk for the audience - what's gonna happen to this guy? It was such a nice change from all the crappy Stallone flicks from the mid-'80s (Cobra?, anyone?) where the good guys are all superhuman, and the bad guys are just Bond-esque henchmen. Live Free is still pretty good - I was entertained, even as I found myself rolling my eyes. I just miss the John McClane of the '80s. Ah, well. Rental. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated November 22, 2007 9:25 AM. November 19, 2007The Onion Takes The Piss Out Of BloggersBack in 2000, The Onion ran a hysterical op-ed piece ("Barryploegel.com Will Never Be Accused Of Having Too Little Information About Barry Ploegel") that, I think, perfectly captures the narcissistic tightrope that bloggers walk (sometimes more successfully than others): The purpose of barryploegel.com shall be twofold: First, it shall enable anyone to access all the information they desire about me at the touch of a button. Second, upon my death, the site shall serve as a monument to all that I was. Future historians need not wonder who this enigmatic "Barry Ploegel" fellow was. They need only access my site to find an abundance of photos of me, a selection of MIDI Music that I composed, and excerpts from my very own Babylon 5 fan fiction. What's even more hysterical is that The Onion also put up a fake companion Web site - barryploegel.com - that's just spot-on. I mention this because I've found myself referencing the Barry Ploegel gag a lot lately, and everyone gives me the blank stare when I do. Enjoy. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated November 19, 2007 1:45 PM. November 16, 2007Awesome Apple Ad ParodyValleywag carried a link this morning to this outstanding Apple ad parody. Any Apple fan who listens to the lyrics will immediately start giggling. And, if you're interested, the original ad can be found here. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated November 16, 2007 4:42 PM. October 14, 2007I Heart "Robot Chicken"So I may well be, as usual, the last guy to the party on this one, but I've recently discovered Robot Chicken, and I'm giggling my ass off. The show, if you don't know, is a stop-motion-animation comedy sketch show that runs on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim (also home to Aqua Teen Hunger Force, which should tell you something right there). RC is the brainchild of Seth Green (he of Austin Powers and Buffy The Vampire Slayer) and Mathew Senreich. I got turned on to the show via a clip called "Supervillian Carpool", whose premise is that Skeletor, Cobra Commander, Lex Luthor one other 80s comic book bad guy are driving home from work together, and being, well, guys. Money quote: "Behold the gaseous stench of Skeletor's breakfast burrito!" So then I get a link for a genius Star Wars parody where Vader calls the Emperor to explain that, um, the Death Star blew up (see it to believe it), and I almost peed myself laughing. O. M. G. Kim told me that Seth and Matt did a segment on NPR, which I downloaded and listened to (also very, very funny); this, in turn, pointed me to a parody they did of "Law And Order" - it's 90 seconds long, contains no dialog, and stars anthropomorphic chickens. Fantastic. The shows are in iTunes, and I just bought a season pass. Riding the bus just got a heckuva lot more entertaining. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated October 14, 2007 9:27 PM. July 30, 2007Eddie Izzard In Seattle August 11 & 12Funniest Man Alive (tm) Eddie Izzard is coming to Seattle to "workshop" his new solo comedy material. Called "Work in Progress", he's playing the Bagley Wright Theater at 8 PM on August 11 and 12. Tickets are $50, and go on sale at 10 AM this morning. I love Eddie ("Dress To Kill" is one of the best comedy DVDs ever) and have seen him twice in Seattle, once for "Circle" and once for "Sexie." He's not to be missed. Need convincing? See: "Covered in Bees", "Empires", "Cake or Death," "American vs. British Movies." (FYI: NSFW audio) Lane and I are going to the Sunday show. Anyone else in? Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated July 30, 2007 8:19 AM. July 12, 2007"Carmina Burana" At Benaroya HallElaine and I caught the Seattle Symphony's performance of "Carmina Burana" at Benaroya Hall tonight, and I just wanted to take a moment to highly recommend it. I'm not much of a classical music guy - my tastes usually run to dance/electronica and-or 80s pop - but of late I've been listening to more of the classical canon (pun intended). So when Elaine asked if I wanted to check out a few performances at the symphony, I thought, "why not?" I know only part of "Carmina Burana" (specifically, "O Fortuna" - if you've seen a trailer for an action movie in the last five years, you know the piece), so it was a treat to be able to experience the entire work, start to finish. What struck me most, however, was how vibrant the live listening experience is, relative to a CD or MP3. Classical music has always been something that's a little flat, as if it were boxed, put on a shelf, and was being broadcast from an AM radio contained within. I think this is because the speakers (or your iPod earbuds) just can't capture the full range of the sound in a way that being there does - feeling your sternum vibrate when the drums go off, that sort of thing. In many ways, it's the difference between watching Storm basketball on TV (generally tolerable) and the Storm at Key Arena (full-throated, hot-blooded excitement). You just have to be there. So go. If you've never been, I recommend it. The audience was totally diverse - lots of ages, lots of different people (translation: it's not just old ladies and their bored husbands), and, if you can, land something in the second-floor balcony. It's fabulous. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated July 12, 2007 11:13 PM. July 9, 2007Don't Take Your iPhone To The MoviesSo Elaine and I scored some advance passes to "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" tonight, 7 PM, at Cinerama. She left work a bit before 5 to get in line and hold our place; by the time she arrived, the line was already down the block, and the show was clearly going to sell out. I got downtown from work around 6:15, joined her in line, and we spent the half hour chatting and catching up on the day. So the line moves, we're at the doors to the theater, turn in our passes, get our hands stamped, and then they want to look through our bags for camcorders, etc. I take off my backpack, open it. It's all work stuff - binders and folders and notebooks, really - and then I open the front pocket, which has my wallet and my iPhone. (Which is off.) The woman's got a flashlight and a little stick that she's using to do security screenings, and, once she sees the iPhone, says, "I'm sorry, you can't go in." I blink. "Excuse me?" "No cell phones allowed." I point out that it's off, and she says that doesn't matter. "The rules are clear. No phones." She then suggests I leave it in my car. "I don't have a car," I tell her. "I just came from work. On the bus. All my stuff is with me, and I don't have any place to put it." "I'm sorry," she says, in a very I'm-not-at-all-sorry-voice. "The rules are clear. No phones." I blink, look at Elaine, blink again, shrug, and then we leave, walking past the hordes and noticing that replays of this conversation ("What? It's my cell phone. I have it on me all the time...") are happening all over the place. So now Elaine has wasted two hours of her time, we're not seeing the movie, and the studio (Warners) clearly doesn't give a hang about it. I understand the need to combat piracy - I really do - but pissing off honest moviegoers with ridiculous (and ridiculously ineffective) rules like this is insane. Be warned. Leave your phone at home. As for us? We're planning to rent something on DVD ... and preferably not made by Warner Brothers. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated July 9, 2007 8:45 PM. July 8, 2007Aways Be CobblingMy friend Benny sent me a link this morning to a fantastic Alec Baldwin short from Saturday Night Live. Baldwin basically spoofs his (legendary) turn in Glengarry Glen Ross as the guy from "head office" who's come down to the local office to crack skulls and get performance up. In Glengarry, he's yelling at real estate salesmen; in this clip, he's yelling at ... Santa's Elves. (And he screws up at one point, which is even better). If you've not seen the original Glengarry performance, you can get it here (NSFW). I loves me the YouTube. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated July 8, 2007 4:13 PM. June 30, 2007David Allen ProfileGreat article in Business 2.0 (one of my favorite magazines, by the way) on productivity guru David Allen, he of "Getting Things Done": All these are merely the bottles carrying his mysterious elixir. What he is really selling is a thought process designed to help people keep track of the endless tasks of modern life -- whether buying birdseed or closing a billion-dollar merger. People who commit to his step-by-step program, Allen claims, will not only gain control of their frenetic lives but waltz through their days stress-free. A bit long, but totally worth the read. (Link) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated June 30, 2007 8:15 AM. May 29, 2007"David Blaine: Street Magic"Kim turned me on to two hysterical YouTube videos this weekend, both of them parodying David Blaine's "Street Magic". Each is about five minutes long: I don't know what impresses me more about these shorts - the spot-on parody, the amount of planning these stunts must have taken, or how the actors are able to keep a straight face throughout and not burst out laughing. (I certainly wouldn't have been able to keep going, I know that.) Audio is NSFW, so wear headphones. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated May 29, 2007 8:43 PM. May 23, 2007Kids Say The Darndest ThingsI've seen two videos in the last few days, each featuring adorable moppets saying, uh, surprising things. Both are hysterical. The first is Will Ferrell's rampant, gosh-it's-everywhere "Landlord" sketch (tip of the hat to Jeff); the other is of a cute little three-year-old named Kassie talking about what she would do if a monster came in to the room (mad props to Melissa). Each is less than three minutes, and both are totally worth your time. (Wear headphones.) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated May 23, 2007 12:01 PM. May 15, 2007Keane, "Hopes and Fears"Elaine turned me on to Keane a few months ago (their stuff is getting a fair amount of radioplay right now), so I recently borrowed her copy of their 2004 album, "Hopes and Fears." It's fabulous, just amazing, and I've been spinning it on infinite repeat here at the office for the past few days. Their sound is eminently hummable, catchy, ethereal, bouncy - especially "Everbody's Changing" and "Your Eyes Open" Like the Pet Shop Boys' "Fundamental", the whole album is just rock-solid, and stands up well on repeat listens. Give your ears a treat. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated May 15, 2007 11:48 AM. May 14, 2007"Road House"Last night was "Bad Movie Night" at Kristen & Aaron's; we chose the Patrick Swayze vehicle "Road House" as our flick du jour. Hoo, boy. Look, if you haven't seen "Road House" I can only say that are clearly leading a life of both privilege and disadvantage. "Privilege" because most people should never, ever, ever have to see "Road House." "Disadvantage" because, like the Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal or Pyramids, watching Swayze's feathered mullet flutter in the breeze as he delivers one hackneyed kung-fu ass-kicking after another to the bad guys is just one of those spectacles in life that cannot, under any circumstances, be replicated or imitated. You just have to see it for yourself. The "plot", if you don't know, is that Swayze plays Dylan, the second-best bouncer in the bar business. He studied philosophy in college, has a high tolerance for pain, does Tai Chi, doesn't drink, and recommends his fellow bouncers "be nice" to the rowdies. He's called in to clean up a bar in a small town ... and then ... uncovers corruption! Which needs fighting! By him! Personally! It all feels very 1989, which is good, because, well, it was filmed then. ("Road House" also has some of the worst lines ever delivered in any movie, anywhere -- and most of them are far too profane for a family-friendly publication like this blog. Suffice to say that we were catcalling and mocking the flick for most of the night. Oh, and the guy who does the voice for "Starscream" is in it. For two seconds.) Last night did raise a number of larger, taxonomic questions about "bad movies" - namely, what's bad? I mean, there are movies that are just awful ("The Pirate Movie", "Wild Wild West"), movies that are so-bad-they're-good ("Plan 9 From Outer Space"), kitchy flicks ("Big Trouble In Little China"), cult hits ("Buckaroo Banzai") and guilty pleasures ("Point Break", "Hudson Hawk"). Which of these is a "bad movie", exactly? I mean, "The Pirate Movie" is just about one of the worst, most unwatchable things ever put on celluloid. Clearly: bad movie. The problem is, I really have zero interest in spending a Sunday - no matter how drunk I may be - watching things of that, um, quality. But we still want to have "Bad movie night." How to tell one kind of bad from another? We obviously need a good criteria by which to judge bad movies. I've proposed a point system, of sorts - this is still really rough - whereby if a certain criteria is true, then the movie gets a certain number of points. Eventually, depending on the point total, the movie can fall in to a category from "re-runs on Starz for eternity" to "tear your eyeballs out." Possible candidates for points:
And so on. So we want bad. But how bad? And how to judge it? Thoughts? Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated May 14, 2007 1:21 PM. May 8, 2007Introducing ... The OFone!Spoof videos, as a general rule, are hard to do well. Capturing the right tone of the thing you're spoofing - without being too obvious, too mean, too weak, or too "me too" (see: 99% of the "Get A Mac" parodies out there) is a challenge. So I'm pleased to report that this latest spoof - the "Microsoft OFone" is fantastic - just a perfect blend of breathless product-launch video and clueless crappy-tech product. The marketing guy, in particular, is genius: This is more than thinking outside the box. We're nowhere near the box! The box is on Saturn ... or Jupiter ... whichever is farther away. We showed this, apparently, at the Mobile and Embedded Developer Conference in Vegas. Do yourself a favor and check it out. (Tip 'o the hat to Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog.) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated May 8, 2007 9:53 AM. April 18, 2007Russell Peters Is Coming To The MooreCanadian funnyman Russell Peters is coming to Seattle's Moore Theather on May 5. We're getting a group together to see who wants to go. If you've never heard of Peters, don't be surprised - I had no idea who he was until I was up in Vancouver last Christmas, when my future brother-in-law popped in Peters' "Outsourced" DVD and we all started giggling. I find a lot of standup to be pretty stale, but I really laughed at Peters' material. His folks are Indian, and emigrated to Canada; Russell was born in Toronto in 1970, and uses his cross-cultural cred to do a lot of ethnic stuff. (It also helps that the guy is damn good at accents and mimicry.) If you're curious what he's like, you might check out a few gems on YouTube (most are NSFW):
A quick word about DVDs: if you're interested in Peters and want to rent his "Comedy Now" DVD off NetFlix (the only thing they have), you're getting two shows on one disc. The first is "Show Me The Funny"; the second is "Comedy Now." Do yourself as favor and skip "Show Me The Funny" because, uh, it's not funny. It was pretty clearly shot before Peters found his groove, and it's really awkward. Yikes. If you're interested in catching the show at the Moore, it should be a blast. Let me know if you're goin'! Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated April 18, 2007 11:53 AM. April 15, 2007Spiders On DrugsMy friend Dan sent me a link to this excellent "nature video" about the effects of drugs (THC, caffeine, LSD, alcohol) on spiders. It looks straight-up, but takes a left turn about a minute in. Hysterical. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated April 15, 2007 8:47 AM. April 9, 2007John Hodgman On "This American Life"iTunes was kind enough to download yesterday's "This American Life" for me this morning (you're subscribed, right?), and, as I often do on Mondays, I began listening to the episode as I strolled down Cap Hill to catch the bus at Montlake. Well, it turns out that this week's episode is all about jobs ("Nice Work If You Can Get It"), and it has a hysterical bit from John Hodgman (aka, "PC" of Apple's "Get A Mac" ads), where he talks about how hard it's been for him to adjust to being, well, recognized as PC just about everywhere he goes. (The best bit is when he walks in to an Apple Store - I about choked on my coffee. It's that awesome.) You can get the episode off the TAM Web site; Hodgman's stuff starts at 8:14. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated April 9, 2007 10:29 AM. April 8, 2007Sad Kermit: "Hurt"A little more than a year ago, I blogged/enthused about Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt." Well, this morning, Richard sent me this link to a YouTube of "Hurt" being done by ... Kermit The Frog. (So great.) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated April 8, 2007 9:29 AM. March 26, 2007Flu Film FestivalHey, you know that flu bug goin' around? That really nasty one that sneaks up behind you, smacks you upside the head with a baseball bat, and then goes after your family? Yeah, so it took me out late Thursday. As a result, I spent the vast majority of my weekend, well, asleep. Like, slept-for-33-out-of-72-hours kind of sleeping. Dead to the world, except when I'd wake up, slowly move my head around, and realize that I'd just slept far too much to get back to bed anytime soon. Ugh. For these kinds of days - days when you're too flat on your back to do anything productive, but not dead enough to be unconscious - there's only one to do: stock up on chicken soup and OJ, and then load up the DVD player with some big-budget trash. One trip to On 15th Video, and I was set. The flicks:
And that, dear readers, was my weekend. I hope you all did something a lot more fun, a lot more active, and a lot less bacteria-ridden. (And seriously - if you want to take your brain off the hook and watch things go BOOM, Pirates is your film.) Stay healthy, folks. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 26, 2007 8:46 PM. March 13, 2007Twirl-A-SquirrelToday's Moment of Zen: Twirl-A-Squirrel. No sound, but in this case, a picture says it all. Hypnotic, I tell you. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 13, 2007 1:46 PM. March 3, 2007"Bridge To Terabithia"Elaine and I had a hot date last night, catching dinner and a movie at Pacific Place. Our choice? "Bridge To Terabithia", based on the book of the same name (and that, in truth, made me cry my eyes out at age eight or ten or whenever I read it). Verdict? Well, let's just say that, er ... old reflexes die hard. The sound of sniffles - mine included - echoed around the room for a good chunk of the evening. Yowza. If you're a fan of the book, you won't be disappointed. But I do recommend waiting for video, if only so you can have a big 'ol box 'o Kleenex next to your popcorn and beer. Recommended. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 3, 2007 5:33 PM. February 19, 2007Introducing The BookThe internal "Office Product Planning Random" e-mail alias delivered gold (again) this morning (tip 'o the hat to colleague Jill for sending it over) with the video, "Introducing the book." It's non-English (but does have subtitles), and anyone who has done in-person tech support at some point in their life will laugh, laugh, laugh (and cry, cry, cry) over this puppy. Be sure to watch the whole thing, too - the last 20 seconds or so (when it's "flipped over") are just priceless. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated February 19, 2007 8:48 PM. February 1, 2007Kitty Washing MachineAlan sent this YouTube video ("Kitty Washing Machine") around at work this morning, and I can't decide if it's the saddest thing I've seen this week ... or the funniest. (Marnie, at any rate, will be horrified.) UPDATE, February 26, 2007: One or more of the original hyperlinks on this page expired, and has been dereferenced. The hyperlinked text is now underlined. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated February 1, 2007 11:27 AM. January 16, 2007"Fundamental"Have you heard the Pet Shop Boys' new album, "Fundamental"? It's terrific, and I'm completely addicted to it. (Like, three-times-a-day-at-the-office kind of addicted.) I was a big PSB fan in the 80s (who wasn't?), and followed them into their early-90s material ("Behavior", "Very") with a grin on my face and a spring in my step. And then, at some point, right around "Bilingual" ... they lost me. The music was too overproduced, too ... something. It wasn't for me. So I moved on. But a friend of a friend is a PSB fanatic, so I'd been hearing a lot about them of late (plus, they were in town a month or so ago). So I checked on iTunes, found the album, and took the plunge. Whoa. It's lush, it's catchy, it's terrific. If you're looking for some state-of-the-art, smart (and political) dance music, it's the way to go. Try these: (And if you're going to dip a toe, do it with "Integral." I can't get it out of my head.) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 16, 2007 2:42 PM. January 14, 2007Wii-ha!Last weekend, Kristen & Aaron hosted their monthly "Game Night", inviting the usual merry band of malcontents and tricksters to come over and best one another at high-stakes "Risk", "Taboo" and "Trivial Pursuit." (Elaine and I are both malcontented and trickster-ish, so we're on the list.) The novelty of January came in the form of a Nintendo Wii, which Ryan was kind enough to bring ("Santa brought it for my boy," he said, "And I thought I should share"). Now, as K & A have converted their downstairs into a shockingly effective Home Theater On The Cheap (TV projector, shining brightly on a white Target-acquired shower liner ... you get the idea), we had a great place to plug in said Wii and put it through its paces. Holy cow, it's awesome. Truth be told, I'm not much of a gamer. Yes, I loves me some Roller Coaster Tycoon now and again, and Stan and I blew most of Christmas doing the slack-jawed, crazy-thumbs, boy-gamer-on-the-couch thing while we finished "Gauntlet." But those are exceptions. The Wii? It makes me want to play video games. Much ink has been spilled about the Wii's revolutionary and innovative new controllers. In case you're not familiar, it's pretty simple - the Wii controllers don't have wires that connect them to the core console. While that's pretty nice (the XBox 360 does this, too), the kicker is that the controllers are able to communicate all kinds of information about their location in space back to the console. Step closer to the Wii, and the machine knows it. Move your controller hand up and down rapidly, and the machine knows it. And so on. What this means, in effect, is that you play Wii games by holding the controller and moving naturally. Wanna go bowling? Fire up Wii Bowling and start throwing strikes. Notice -- you're really throwing strikes, because the controller tells the console when you're moving your arm, as well as the position of your hand at the apex of the swing. The faster you throw, the harder you throw the ball. Wanna play baseball? Fire up Wii Baseball, put the controller in your hand, put your hand behind your head, and start swinging at the virtual pitches (in a stadium that looks suspiciously like Safeco Field). Pitching at the opposition works much as you'd expect: over-the-shoulder fastballs, baby. We simply could not get enough of this for the course of the evening. We tried tennis, boxing, all kinds of stuff. The natural movements, coupled with the large screen, meant that we were "in" the game in a very real sense. This was particularly true of boxing. To box, you plug in an attachment to the Wii controller called a "nunchuck". Put the controller in one hand, the nunchuck in the other, and square off against your opponent. Wanna block a punch? Hands in front of your face. Wanna hit the other guy? Throw a punch. Wanna hit him hard? Throw it faster. Wanna avoid him? Move your feet! Go! Go! Go! I was winded after boxing. And, believe it or not, still sore two days later. (And, not to make it sound like I'm an out-of-shape nerd or anything: I boxed a lot. And I totally whipped some ass.) Wii-related injuries have made the news of late - controllers accidentally thrown through windows, and so on. I can totally see why - Ankur was going mano-a-mano with the tennis game, and, in a particularly aggressive overhand serve, managed to smack the ceiling with this controller. (Try that while playing Halo.) This has led my buddy Patrick to coin the self-explanatory terms "Injur-Wii" and "Fatali-Wii". So, yeah, we're addicted. Elaine tugged my sleeve midway through the night and whispered, "Can we get one of these?" (Who am I to say no?) If you've yet to try one, I can't recommend more highly. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 14, 2007 8:26 PM. January 12, 2007McSweeney's: The iPhone ManualMcSweeney's has a very, very funny parody: the iPhone Manual (or at least, its table of contents). It starts reasonably enough ("III. Making a call using the iPhone") and gets progressively sillier. Choice excerpts: X. Using the iPhone to assist European antitrust authorities in understanding the difference between "tying arrangements" and "legitimate competition" in online music sales Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 12, 2007 12:57 PM. January 7, 2007"Rejuvenile"This weekend, I finished Christopher Noxon's, "Rejuvenile: Kickball, Cartoons, Cupcakes, and the Reinvention of the American Grown-up". I'd mentioned it on the last "Confab", and thought I'd take a brief moment to call it out. The book is an exploration (treatise, really) on changing social norms around adulthood, and what it means to be adult. We know that the 'traditional' notion of the Lifestyle Conveyor Belt - first high school, then college, then marriage, job, house and kids by age 25 - has been bankrupt for about 20 years now; people are marrying later in life, having kids later in life, returning home to live with parents after college, and so on. What's less explored, or less understood, is that the very concept of 'adult responsibility' has morphed and changed at the same time, allowing high-functioning, normal adults the luxury of engaging in silly, childish, or child-like behaviors, often in parallel with their other responsibilities. Three decades ago, adults were expected to act, well, adult, to repudiating things that were seen as frivolous or childish. Today, adults can adopt kid-like hobbies or interests (cartoons, Lego, hackey sack) and nobody bats an eye. This results, among other things, in otherwise-normal 34-year-olds having, oh, say, a crazy enthusiasm for Disneyland. (In fact, given that Elaine and I spent our Saturday at Kristen & Aaron's "Game Night" (think: Jack + Coke + "Karaoke Revolution"), I'd say most of my friends are rejuveniles, to varying degrees.) The book doesn't court controversy with a position or point-of-view; rather, it's a walk-through of demographic changes and trends, coupled with interviews of rejuveniles all over the country. Some of the market statistics are pretty amazing - Disney World, for instance, clocks more than 200,000 visitors a day; of those, fully half are adults without young children. When Disney figured this out, they began re-architecting Walt Disney World to offer more adult-oriented entertainment ... and hence we have Cirque du Soleil and the Richard Petty Driving Experience in Orlando. I also enjoyed the books' discussion of adults that do kid-like stuff, but without the kid-like enthusiasm: It should be clear, though, that not all play is created equal. There is a big difference between the sort of spontaneous, imaginative play embraced by rejuveniles and what play theorist Gwen Gordon calls "the enemy of play": recreation. ... Some adults have a talent for turning even the most childlike pastimes into exercises in adult efficiency, improvement, and status-accrual. Witness the owners of fifteen-pound bicycles who can't imagine riding without microcomputer systems that track pedal cadence, altitude, and heart rate. These adults play to lose weight, blow off steam, or spend "quality time" with the kids, in the process barely glancing up against the pulsating anarchic force of true play. (Not that this describes anyone I know.) I don't know that I'd buy the book (SPL has it), but if the subject strikes you as intriguing, it's definitely worth a look. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 7, 2007 3:17 PM. December 20, 2006Free "Expertise"Last month, I blogged about how much I was enjoying John Hodgman's (very) funny "The Areas Of My Expertise" on audiobook. Well, wouldn't you know it - I signed in to the Internets this morning and saw that the silly thing is available for free through iTunes. I don't have any idea how long this offer lasts, but I'd wager this is akin to finding a fresh $20 bill on the ground. Treat yourself, and give it a listen! Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated December 20, 2006 9:55 AM. December 10, 2006Ride The Ducks!
It was a total blast. Ducks aren't unique to Seattle; they're found in a number of cities in the US (Boston and Philadelphia both have them, for instance). If you've never seen a Duck, it's basically a truck that can go in water - an amphibious vehicle from World War II, originally used to get troops from boats to land. These days, they've been equipped with upgraded sound systems and very enthusiastic drivers, and they're found zipping all over town loaded with tourists. Out guide, Cap'n Daniel, was great - he (clearly) loves his job and has a real passion for Seattle. As we drove around, he was cracking corny jokes, pointing out landmarks, and sharing little bits of Pacific Northwest trivia. We started at the Space Needle and proceeded to see the waterfront, Qwest field, Pioneer Square, the downtown shopping district, Aurora bridge, and Gas Works Park. Ultimately, we launched into Lake Union and toured the houseboats. Make no mistake, the tours are goofy as hell. Think "morning radio show" goofy - sound effects, James Brown's "I Feel Good", the Gilligan's Island theme, B'52's "Love Shack" - you get the idea. It works, though: we found the enthusiasm infectious, and both of us were giggling for most of the trip. If you have relatives coming to Seattle for the holidays and you're not sure what to do with 'em, go on the tour. It's totally informative, fun, and a great way to see a lot of the city in a short period of time. (Plus: amphibious! How cool is that?) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated December 10, 2006 1:12 PM. December 5, 2006"Sneaky Driver"When Elaine and I were in Paris, we saw these metal cylindrical barriers that would pop in and out of the ground to prevent vehicles from driving where they weren't supposed to (back alleys, mostly). Garbage trucks and other "official" vehicles can cause the barriers to retract into the pavement; after the truck drives over, the cylinder pops back up. At the time, I remember asking myself, "Huh! I wonder what would happen if someone were on top of one of those things when it popped out of the ground?" Well, someone found out. And it's on YouTube. Awesome. (Tip 'o the hat to BoingBoing for this one.) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated December 5, 2006 5:44 PM. November 26, 2006Addicted To "Deadwood"Just some quick props for (and a recommendation of) a great (HBO) TV show - Deadwood. Allie suggested I check it out several months ago, and was even kind enough to loan me her entire six-disc (!) set for of first season. Now that my travel schedule has settled down a bit, Elaine and I have finally made some time on the couch to see what the fuss is all about. Wow. A lot has been written about the show (particularly its use of language and profanity), but the accolades are well-deserved. The characters are terrific (especially the corrupt, profane Al Swearengen, played by Ian McShane), the storyline is great, the drama ... the sets ... oh, hell, the lot of it is just fantastic. Oh, and there's swearing in it. (Did I mention the swearing?) We're getting Season 2 off of Netflix here shortly. If you're in-market for a TV addiction, I suggest put it in your queue. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated November 26, 2006 4:25 PM. November 17, 2006"Chad Vader, Day Shift Manager"Once again, I feel like I'm the last guy to the party on this, but have you seen the short-film series on YouTube called "Chad Vader, Day Shift Manager"? It's all about Darth's less-successful younger brother, Chad ... who works in a grocery store. (And he's not very good at his job.) It's sort of an Office/Star Wars mashup, and it's pretty damn funny. Check it out. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated November 17, 2006 7:30 AM. November 16, 2006"The Areas Of My Expertise"Comedian John Hodgman, of "The Daily Show" (and, more famously, the " |
Yesterday afternoon, Elaine and I took ninety minutes to "