Seen any good movies?

I'm looking for movie recommendations :) Post in comments or e-mail me :)

Thanks in advance!

Reading something new

The combination of darkness and a stubborn windshield wiper made it very hard to see. I pulled into the Albertsons’ parking lot and was amazed by the number of cars. I guess 6pm the Saturday before Christmas is a popular time for others to be preparing for holiday events as well. After finding a parking space, I ran through the rain and across the parking lot to the crowded store. I had a relatively short shopping list but the lines where backed up into the aisles. I could only be thankful I was not at Costco or the mall.

What should have been a five minute stop on a normal day ended up being more like 20 minutes. I pushed my cart to the car and unloaded into the trunk, trying to be as quick as I could to avoid being completely soaked. Finally, I was sitting down in the dry car after a few moments of arguing with the door lock. Leaning back, I sighed and wondered why life seemed so busy. I turned my head and noticed that Tony’s comic shop was open and looked empty of customers. Remembering that I was going to pick up Krista a copy of the latest comic based on one of the games she enjoys playing, I decided to drive across the parking lot and take care of that now.

I walked in and immediately felt like I was 12 years old. The thoughts of cleaning, working, guests, planning, shopping, etc. all were just wiped off my mind. I wandered around looking at the Batman and Superman comics, the Spider-Man and X-Men comics, and was amazed at the ridiculous prices of the “collector figurines”, or toys as I call them. When I was a kid, a Green Lantern toy was $2 and you played with it. Now, they don’t move, cost $150, and are meant to be displayed behind glass. I found the comic I was looking for and picked up a copy. I also grabbed a Spider-Man, Action Comics, Batman, and Green Lantern.

I was never an avid comic collector growing up, but I enjoyed them and somewhere in my parents’ garage or my attic, I have a good sized box full of comics from when I was 10-12. A lot has changed in the last 15 years in comics. First of all, you need to call them “graphic novels” now. There are also a lot more options to read than just stories of men in colorful tights. “Superheroes” have become much more human. Comics deal with political and social issues. Marvel is doing an adaptation of The Iliad and Moby Dick. An independent comic publisher has done several adaptations of Shakespeare plays. Of course, there is still Action Comics, Batman, Superman, and the whole slew of heroes we all know and love.

Anyway, since that night I have been enjoying reading several graphic novels. Alan Moore’s Watchmen is by far the best I have read so far. I just started reading Frank Miller’s Batman. I always liked Batman and Green Lantern growing up.

If anyone reading has any suggestions of graphic novels I shouldn’t miss, a comment or e-mail would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Sony BMG plans to drop DRM!

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2008/tc2008013_398775.htm

One more step towards a DRM free music world.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! I've put some snapshots up on my Flickr gallery from this morning:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/englishw

16 Days 'til Christmas

We got our tree Friday night and put it up yesterday. The girls had a lot of fun helping decorate. Lily (and Sweetie too) was fascinated by the red decorative beads. She ran all over the dragging them behind her with Sweetie just a few steps behind batting at the beads. For some reason Lily thought that all the ornaments should be candy, but I think she's figured out that they don't taste good now.

I posted a few more shots of the girls decorating on my Flickr page.

In Memory of a Poker Great

"When it comes to respect, Chip was number one" - Barry Greenstein

“The True King of Poker” - Daniel Negreanu

Chip Reese was one of my favorite poker players. He died in his sleep this week after having symptoms of pneumonia. Chip won the 2006 WSOP HORSE event, a $50,000 buy-in tournament of 5 different poker games. He was considered by many to be the greatest cash game player of all time. He also had a very pleasant persona. He was always calm, composed, and very professional. He never raised his voice at the table or got mad at a turn of a card.

The poker world had a great loss this week. We'll miss you, Chip.

Fox News Story

CardPlayer.com Story (much better than the AP one linked above)

Black Friday

Well, for me, Black Friday is over now. It was over at 6:11 AM. It was a very short shopping-spree for me this year. Usually, I head over to Fry's Electronics at 3-something in the morning to stand in line for killer deals. This year, for the second year in a row, the Fry's deals have been rather lame. Target was the spot to be for us this year. We got to Target at about 5:45 and took our place in line. There were about 150 people or so in front of us, but we still got everything on our list. Almost exclusively gifts for Mikayla and Lily. I did pick up The Goonies for me since it was $3.99. Who could pass that up?

Anyway, rather uneventful this year. I didn't get to push anyone (very hard) or even break a sweat running. I only made one phone call during shopping this year too...

Krista and her parents are doing more shopping today, but her parents weren't even awake when Krista and I left the house. They have much to learn about Black Friday shopping :)

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Gobble gobble!

Folk Comedy

I'm a big fan of the folk-comedy genre. Just last week I discovered a musician that I have greatly enjoyed. Jonathan Coulton used to be a software developer, but is now a poor musician and sexy Second Life avatar. A few of my favorite songs are Code Monkey, RE: Your Brains, Skullcrusher Mountain, Ikea, and I Feel Fantastic.

He gives a lot of his music away free and what he does sell he releases under a creative commons license, so people can do things like this with it.

Enjoy.

'Small' Dell perk

I've spent a lot of money on Dell equipment here at work and I got my first ever 'small' perk from them. A little mini optical usb travel mouse. I'm using it right now and my hand is cramping up, so I'll probably not use it much :) Kinda funny-odd...

BOO!