LAist: Take the Westside Train

LAist: Take the Westside Train

Took them long enough. And I'm sure I'll still be here...in 5 years!!

My Gift to Myself: Canon Powershot A510

So I made somewhat of an impulse purchase yesterday...I bought me a brand, spankin' new digital camera. I've been wanting a nice one for a long time now and I found a good one at a good price ($170...thanks Dell!) so I bit the bullet. Besides I deserve it :)

Oooh and I just realized I'm almost 6 days away from my half birthday (Cinco de Mayo)...yet another justification for buying myself a gift. Cuz on your half birthday, who else will buy you a present other than yourself?

I decided on the A510 after checking out Steves-digicams.com ... a great site with extremely thorough reviews of digital cameras. Not only does the site have detailed description of every aspect of the cameras and links to the best prices but it also has a pretty cool quicktime VR tour that lets you rotate each camera so you can see every angle. This of course comes in handy for that friend who only buys a camera because its "cute" and comes in "my favorite color RED!"

UPDATE: Got the camera and I made the right choice. The Canon A510 is a great camera for anyone who wants to mess around with some of the manual settings and pretend they are Ace from the LoveBoat (ooh, my first Ted McGinley reference...nice!) And for $170 you aren't going to find a smaller function with such great features. I get by with the 3.2 megapixels but they have a 5.0 megapixel version (the A520) for a bit more.

A Night w/ The Amazing Race

Last night my Mom was nice enough to take me to see....

Traveling 72,000 miles across six continents in only 29 days, "The
Amazing Race" is a two-time Emmy® winner and one of the most
logistically challenging productions ever mounted. The contestants,
producers and crew utilize hundreds of airline flights, buses, trains
and cars, and employ thousands of people worldwide during each race.

Join us for an evening with some of these amazing people and see just
what it takes to run "The Amazing Race."

Panel scheduled to include:
Bertram van Munster, Executive Producer / Co-Creator
Elise Doganieri, Co-Creator & Supervising Producer
Jonathan Littman, Executive Producer
Lynne Spillman, Casting Director
Phil Keoghan, Host

...plus special appearances by some of your favorite past teams from
"The Amazing Race!"

moderated by Dennis Miller
-----------

My mom and I are both big fans so we had a great time. And yes the picture on the right over there (below my links) is of me at a mock "pitstop/cluebox"...I was the last team to arrive. :(

Other highlights:

• Learned a lot about the show from Phil, the Exec. Producers and the casting director...
  (before AR, Phil was up against Jeff Probst for the Survivor job)
  
• Got enterained by Dennis Miller who apparently obsesses over AR
  
• Got to watch the audition tapes for some of the teams that made it on the show (Brian and Greg, season 7 brothers, did a full on edited skit that was pretty funny...one of them in bed with 2 girls, miami vice music, break dancing at the Venice Beach boardwalk -they crack me up)
• Teams that showed up:
  
• Brian and Greg (s7 - Brothers)
• Lynn and Alex (s7 - Gay couple)
• Adam and Rebecca (s6 - On and Off Dating) - she's hot!
• Rob and Brennan (s1 - winners)
• Joe and Bill (s1 - 'Team Guido')

If you like the show I recommend watching the archived webcast of the show.

Oh yeah, and then afterward I went to the Chimneysweep and had a beer all by myself because SOMEbody stood me up.

Nokia's N91 Targets iPod

I think I found my next dream phone...the Nokia N91

• from PCmag.com:
  "Without a doubt, the star of the show was the N91 music phone, which has a 4-GB hard drive, Wi-Fi, and Microsoft Media Player 10, making it the first fruit of the Nokia-Microsoft alliance. You can download songs onto the phone via Wi-Fi, USB 2.0, or EDGE cellular networks; the N91 appears on your desktop as a hard drive and also syncs to your desktop Windows Media Player. "

Finally a nice phone with wi-fi. Plus its a Symbian series 60 phone like my current beloved/ugly 3650. I'm a big fan of Symbian because unlike most phones which have a more static operating system, Symbian allows you to install new (more useful) applications to your phone.

Insert YOU ARE A GEEK comments here...

UPDATE: Even more good news...the phone has a 2 Megapixel camera too. Man, I honestly don't think there is anything else I would need. Now I just need to make a crapload of money in the next 6 months so I can justify buying it for the $6-700 it's probably gonna cost.

More info and pics: Mobileburn.com

What's the name of that damn song?

YES.net

Quit that Smoking - CD 1

No offense but I think people that smoke are stupid, stupid people. Needless to say, its been frustrating and heartbreaking to know that three of my most favorite people like to partake in my least favorite activity...until now. 2 of those 3 people (the third being Kane "I live off of Diet Coke and Cigaretttes" Moon) are currently attempting to kick the habit much to my pleasure. Being the supportive friend that I am, I've decided to reward and encourage such behavior by making them a CD of new, random music for each week that they stay smoke-free. For their benefit and yours, here is the playlist of week 1's CD:

1. Pepper - Give It Up.mp3
2. Gorrilaz - feel good inc.mp3
3. Doves - One_Of_These_Days.mp3
4. Arcade Fire - neighborhood #2 (laika).mp3
5. Eels - Trouble With Dreams.mp3
6. Handsome Boy Modeling School - breakdown ft jack johnson.mp3
7. Autolux - Turnstile blues.mp3
8. Beck - E-Pro.mp3
9. Bloc Party - Banquet.mp3
10. And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - The Porpoise Song.mp3
11. Hot Hot Heat - goodnight goodnight.mp3
12. Jack Johnson - Banana Pancakes.mp3
13. The Decemberists - Engine Driver.mp3
14. Kashmir - Rocket brothers.mp3
15. The Wedding Present - Interstate 5.mp3
16. Grand National - Drink To Moving On.mp3
17. The Album Leaf - Thule.mp3
18. Brazilian Girls - Lazy Lover.mp3

Movie of the Month: Kung Fu Hustle

I was pretty excited when I saw that the Shaolin Soccer people were coming out with a new movie this month. I really thought Shaolin Soccer was great...hilarious characters, great action sequences with Matrix-like special effects and an enjoyable story.

Well I got to see Kung Fu Hustle yesterday and it was fantastic. Like SS, Kung Fu Hustle had even more hilarious characters (such as the 'fairy' tailor/kung fu master above) and exciting and original fight scenes (again with Matrix-like special effects). Even better than SS, Kung Fu Hustle had a very solid plot...above and beyond what you would expect for a kung fu flick. I mean now that I think about it, watching kung fu movies is like watching porn: the viewer expects a laughable plot that is just a vehicle for what the people pay to see...sex or fighting. But in this case (even moreso than SS's better-than-average plot) the audience gets an actual movie plot. You get good guys vs. bad guys, a small love story, some plot twists, some underdogs...and of course ample action and comedy. Good times...good times.

Apartment 9 Rating: 9/10 Thumbs Up

[yeah yeah yeah...I know, sounds like I'm trying to be some sort of Gene Shalit. Just thought I would try to write something a bit more professional. I have to submit a writing sample soon for a publishing internship I'm applying for...perhaps I'll post it for criticism.]

Craigslist Apt Listings and Google Maps

Listings

Kind of cool little resource for apartment hunters...

RollingStone.com: The Long Emergency : Politics

RollingStone.com: The Long Emergency : Politics

A pretty bleak view of the future...but definitely makes you think...

Free_ _ _ _.com

Ah...27 flat inches of The View

At long, long last...today is the day. Today I received my 27" Sony WEGA TV for FREE courtesy of FreeFlatScreens.com and my 8 dear friends. I'm sure I annoyed plenty of people, but in the name of poverty, it was all worth it. Now I have a very large place to rest my free ipod courtesy of FreeIpod.com and 5 other dear friends.

In a normal-sized apartment, the fact that it's quite heavy and quite large would be considered a good thing. In my half-a-dorm room of an apartment...well, the TV is quite a dominating force. Let's just say I now feel like I live in one of the theaters at the Beverly Center...but with less room. If only I had enough room to entertain my 8 generous referrals.

If anyone (especially my 5 and 8 dear friends) are interested in following through on these deals for themselves, let me know...I have much experience and wisdom to impart. The keys? The $10 Blockbuster trial and the free eFax offer. And oh yeah, make sure your referrals have unique IP addresses.

Jackpot!!

Thank you UNC Tarheels!! Thanks to you and my blindfolded picks I shall be collecting a grad student bonus this year. Gambling winnings make a poor student's life worth living. PLUS, I get to pretend that I know more about college basketball than 88 other people despite the fact that I only watch 3 games all year (all UCLA games). Today's Lesson: Don't turn down entering next year's March Madness pool just cuz you don't have cable, live in a foreign country or cuz you would pick teams based on uniform color...cuz those are the people who win.

Bling Bling!!