The Brothers Bloom

You need to see this film. It's not a Wes Anderson film, but If you like Wes Anderson films, especially The Darjeeling Limited, you really need to see this film. It's well acted, well framed, over the top at times, but very subtle at others. I saw it last night with my brother, but really want to see it again - lots of nuances that I think I missed, especially in the background scenes. It's that kind of film.

Yard guy

My brother came in from Houston this weekend to help me mulch my front yard. A co-worker was kind enough to offer up his pick-up for hauling duties (apparently, my friends have concerns with the utility portion of my sport UTILITY vehicle). Anyway, we hauled a yard and a half of Texas Native - which, as it turns out, was not enough mulch. So I hauled another half a yard in my truck. That's 26 bags total. Looks better, but I could still use another half yard.



Btw, what's the point of Texas Native Black mulch? So they dye regular mulch black and charge 50% more for it? I don't get it. Someone pls explain.

In cat news, it looks like I still have at least one cat. This is what woke me up at 5:00 this morning. No sign of the other one thus far.

Por fin

Finally got the code working. I'm going to bed. One cat is hiding under the guest bed, the other in her cat carrier.

Cats!

Another long-ass day at work. Got home at 9:00, where June was waiting with a couple of cats and my brother. Got the cats situated, re-wrapped Eric's handlebars with new grip for his Tour de Cure ride this weekend, ate a late dinner at Hyde Park Grill (they're in the running for best collard greens in town). And now I'm ready to get back to coding. Going to be a long night - and I'm really not even sure why or for what .

Reigning cats and dog

Found another nice pic of Badger. He really is a great dog and is still looking for a home, so spread the word if you can.


Speaking of a home, mine will soon foster a couple of felines. June is staging her home for sale and needed someone to take care of her cats until the house sells. Should be an interesting experiment (and indefinitely long, given the current housing market).



They're probably not the manliest pets I could have, especially in comparison to Badger. Unfortunately, my house isn't set up for a large stair-averse dog. That said, I'm actually looking forward to the new roommates. I did, however, promise Pete not to start all my conversations with, "You wouldn't believe what the cats did today..."

Of course, I'm sure the kitties will severely limit my future dating prospects. In fact, here's how I'd imagine a first date postmortem would go (presented in the form of a script - to facilitate the short film when the time arises):

Scene: Breakfast at Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse. Joan and Kris sitting at a side table.

Indescernable dialog.

Fade in...

Joan: So, how was your date last night with that hot Asian-looking guy.

Kris: It went really well. He broke his neck recently, so he's just getting active again. But he's smart, charming, witty...

Joan: Yeah? What's the hesitation?

Kris: Well, he...

Joan: Go on.

Kris: He has cats. CATS!

Joan: Oh, big deal. I know lots of people who like that musical. Well, maybe not LOTS. So he has the soundtrack; big woop.

Kris: (interrupting) No, you don't understand. He has real cats. Live cats.

Joan: Gasp! Did you say cats - as in more than one?

Kris: Two!

Joan: My god, you went out with (dramatic pause) The Cat Guy!

Kris: I know, I know. I showered 3 times when I got home. I still feel dirty.

Joan: ...and used. Just who does he think he is? Did he disclose that beforehand?

Kris: NO! I need a drink...

Joan: You need more than that, Sister. You need a restraining order. Let's get outta here and find you a real man.

Fade out...

Not pretty, is it? But as my Mom likes to say when faced with these difficult situations, "C'est la vie et ensuite vous mourez." Albeit with a Texas accent.

PS - apologies to Jeremy

PPS - ran into Al at the Bob Bollocks recently. He looked to be in good spirits and groomed. Not crazy, unkept or unibomber-like. He confirmed that he sold his house and bought an RV, but that's all I got out of him before I had to go.

Logy

Went by Sean and Amy's earlier this afternoon to do a little tune-up work on Amy's bike. Imagine my surprise when I walked into their kitchen and saw Sean juicing key limes. One pie was already cooling on the counter while the other was being prepared. Not only that, Sean grilled halibut, asparagus, zucchini and onions. A really nice meal - Thanks!

Now, I'm experiencing a sugar crash. Need to take a nap before I review some code for work work.


Oh, and the following are a couple of cool toys I need to spend more time on:

Topobo (with kinetic memory):



and a DIY Digital Photo Frame (I really need to get a few of those CF to IDE adapters).

Zippers

Getting closer...

Love and Other Disasters

... is a horrible film. ¡Que horrible!

Luc Besson should feel dirty for producing such drivel. Is this still the same guy that gave us La Femme Nikita and The Transporter?! The only redeeming scene was at the end when they cast Orlando Bloom as a Mexican - that was brilliant.

Busy bees

At the risk of turning this into a gardening blog, I will report that my porch plants are blooming - no thanks to me. I'm not sure what the pink flowered one is - it was dug up from the front yard when I did my hardscaping a while back. The salmon hibiscuses I've had since my shop days on South Congress. I guess that would make them 6 or 7 years old - and all that time in a pot. Just imagine how big they'd be if they were in dirt.

Badger

A day of birthday meals. Had an early birthday lunch with Tracy and a late birthday dinner with John and Linda. Tried a new (for me) place for dinner, Thai Cuisine - yes, that's the name - apparently Thai Food was already taken. Anyway, it wasn't very good and the service sucked. Best to stick with Titaya's.

Tracy tells me her friend's Great Dane needs a new home. His owner is getting married and moving to Seattle and can't take Badger with him. I've spent some time with the guy. He's big, but very sweet - the dog, that is. Badger's 10 years old and currently weighs 114, which is light for him. He really needs to be an only dog. So if anyone out there has a loving, dog-free home in need of some canine company, let me know.

Tight

More x-rays today, this time extension and flexion views of my neck. PT followed. My back was really worked over. Maybe a little too much - my shoulders were twitching spastically as I drove off. But you gotta like a PT clinic that plays the Ramones (see below). And I was cleared to work out - but only on a stationary bike or elliptical trainer. No arm movement and no biking or running for now. Still, it's progress.

Lame

Twice in one week I've heard the following misquoted, the latest while I was at the gym this morning.

All I've got is a red guitar
Three chords and the truth
All I've got is a red guitar
The rest is up to you

It's a verse Bono added to Dylan's All Along the Watchtower. I'm not sure what's more lame, quoting a sanctimonious Bono verse or quoting it wrong. But then again, calling someone out for being lame is lame. So I guess it's circular.

Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba

One of the architects at work has been really nice to me lately, even to the point of asking me how my recovery's coming along. I guess in uncertain times everyone's hedging their bets.

20-20-24 hours

Haven't really exercised since I got hit by the truck. Been feeling pretty antsy about it lately, so I signed up for a trial membership to 24 Hour fitness this weekend. Gaby, Chris and Megan from my street all work out there and give it favorable reviews. Starting out on the funky elliptical machines (where your arms and legs move independently) that are suppose to give you a better core workout. It's only been a couple of days, but so far so good.

Was listening to Vienna Teng on my iPod at the gym. She's a Taiwanese folk/soul/cabaret singer that reminds me of an Asian-looking and sounding Tori Amos (she does sing in English). I like her. You have to respect someone who gives up a sure gig as a software engineer at Cisco Systems to follow her dreams and try her luck at being a troubadour... (skip the first minute if you just want to hear the song - fyi, in case you're a hater, it's a song about the mayor of San Francisco performing gay marriages, not that it should matter)



While searching the web for some of her songs I was reminded of a couple of sites that I haven't visited in a while, the Internet Archive's Live Music Archive and Tapers.org. Both sites archive live recordings from artists that permit recording of their shows. There's a wealth of music here, with over 6000 recordings of Grateful Dead shows alone. All for your downloading pleasure.

Also spent the morning updating my Dad's web site with some changes he requested. The site is 7 years old and looks dated. It was OK when I first coded it, but it really does need a redesign. And besides, I know so much more about web development now after spending the last 2 years writing javascript and html. Photoshop and Illustrator, on the other hand, I haven't used in a while, so I need to bone up on those.

And lastly, got in an Independent Fabrication 953 SSR last week. Can't decide whether to keep it or sell it. It's pretty sexy, being made out of shiny stainless steel and all. I have a thing for bare metal frames - they're so naked, without any paint to hide their flaws or to mask their beautiful welds. Mine has the optional carbon fiber Reynolds rear end. I mated the frame to a Chris king headset and an Easton EC90 SLX fork. It's pretty light - it's suppose to be lighter than my ti Crown Jewel. We'll see after it's all built up. I have a spare Campy Chorus 10 group that I'm thinking about setting this one up with. As a rule, if I keep a new frame, I have to sell 2 old ones to make up for it - so I sold my Serotta Ottrot and Steve Bauer's Motorola team bike recently in anticipation.

¡feliz cumpleaños!

Happy birthday, John. I was going to get you a box of ammo, but there's none to be found in town.

Since you're a Fixx fan, I guess the next best thing would be some grainy concert footage with super-saturated audio. Enjoy!

We'll have to do Indian food whenever you and Linda are free.

Vox

Lots of blog posts lately about the impending sale of Borland. Here are two that I thought were interesting. One predicted our current situation. Another by someone who use to work in Ireland for Borland.

I started physical therapy yesterday. Ouch. Still need to get an x-ray to make sure my neck is healed before they start messing with that area, but lower parts were fair game. My therapist did try to manipulate my back a few times. After the 3rd attempt to pop my back, she noted that my muscles were pretty tight and that maybe we should try that another time. Yeah, good idea.

Meet the new boss - Part 2

Borland announced this morning that it was being acquired by UK based Micro Focus. I guess it's not too surprising given our financials. No real news from this morning's all-hands. Hopefully, more to come next week when the new CEO stops by for his meet the troops chat. Kinda ironic that a company known for it's developer tools (Turbo Pascal, JBuilder), became a company that decided there was no future in developer tools, is now being purchased by a company known for it's COBOL developer tool. And you thought COBOL was a dead language. Ha!

Herbie Rides Again

Was at la Madeleine recently with the Cat Lady (from here forward abbreviated as TCCL). Lo and behold, look what was in the parking lot. Yes, the Love Bug.


The Lohan, however, was nowhere to be found.


Those of you with deeper memories were probably looking for The Jones. He also was nowhere to be found.


And speaking of lost, the 45 tollway intersects Highway 71 just past the airport as you head out of town. Just how do you get on 45?