Foto Friday - 11/20/09

This is my twelfth Foto Friday post. Most pictures for today include a wedding Bethany and I went to two weekends ago and Coulon Park in Renton. Full set with all 60 pictures can be viewed here. And, as always, you can click to enlarge these pictures.

Was invited to Jesse and Liz's wedding on the 6th. I know them both as Jesse and I attended high school youth group together, as well as visited together in Germany. And Liz is Joel's sister. Here is a panoramic shot of the wedding party. Now, I say it's panoramic, but it's really just a cropped picture. And this one is minus Liz and the poor girl standing behind Joel.

Jesse and Liz listening to Pastor Tim intently during the ceremony.

My good friend Andrew with his girlfriend, Chanel.

This is Copeland, Joel and Katie's son. He amazingly slept through the entire noisy reception.

Jesse and Liz's reaction to the best man during his toast to them.

Jesse and Liz during their first dance.

Had to go over to a different part of the Microsoft campus to do some work and saw this Bing sign next to a pretty tree turning red. I don't use Bing too much except for some of its map and shopping features. Still a Google guy.

This is the front of RedWest-C which is one of the building on the north side of the MSft campus.

Went over to Levi's mastering studio again to take an updated picture since he got new speakers. Compare this one to the old one here.

Bethany and I took Julie to Coulon Park in Renton last weekend. It's a nice park, but it was very cold that day, so we didn't spend too much time there. Here is Bethany and Jelly walking down to the water walk. Notice the Ivar's Seafood place in the background. There's also a Kidd Valley there.

This is the ramp down to the boat dock at Coulon Park.

Bethany and Jelly walking down the water walk. All smiles.

I wish I could say this is Julie and me watching the sunrise at Coulon Park, but there are two things in this picture that would prove me a liar. First of all, we are facing West. So, technically, it is closer to sunset. Second, I put a yellow filter on this photo.

Walking away from me on the water walk.

Looking back at where we just walked from.

Snapped a few shots of a brave seagull sitting on a railing. He/she let us get pretty close before flying away. Probably thought we had some Ivar's fish 'n' chips. Here's a more personal picture.

The two most beautiful girls at the park.

One of my favorite photos in the set. One of the lamps on the water walk.

Looking up North at Lake Washington from Coulon Park. I like how the water is rough on the left side, and smooth on the right side of the logs.

Bethany imitating art.

Joyce's birthday was last week and Tawnya made these hors d'oeuvres. They're dates stuff with ricotta cheese or blue cheese, wrapped in bacon.

Keith explaining something while the fire burns on behind him.

Potstickers that my mom brought to Joyce's birthday party.

Joyce the birthday girl, with Monna and my mom. Hope you had a good b-day, Joyce! See more pictures from Joyce's birthday, and other locations in the full set.

The 411 on Other Blogs I Read

I did a blog about all of the links I have posted on the right side, so I think I should do the same for my list of "Other Blogs I Read". Less than half of the blogs I read are written by people I actually know. The others I mainly read for entertainment/educational purposes. Some of them really aren't considered blogs, but I count them as so because they update on a daily or weekly basis, unlike regular websites. Deal with it.

My Life in D/S - This is a blog written by me where I write parody Dialogue Scripts (D/S) for popular movies and TV shows. I also write daily life events in the script format. I enjoy doing it, but it takes up a lot of time and patience. So, I usually end up doing only a few posts per year. I have tried my best to maintain my personal promise to do at least one full movie per year, but I missed 2006. Still, I've written Forrest Gump in 2005, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2006, Back to the Future in 2007, and Twilight in 2008. I love sharing these scripts with people and will hope that if you haven't read any of them, that you do so now and tell your friends and family how much you like/hate them. Oh, and I could always use more comments. I'm hoping to make New Moon my 2009 D/S. We'll see.

FW: FW: FW: This is SO funny! - I'm really debating shutting this blog down; it hasn't been touched in nearly three and a half years. However, I have a lot of meaningful posts in there. It was a blog I ran with two other people. One being my good friend and co-worker in Germany, Steve. The other was a stranger from the Internet who generally blogged about the office. I could remodel the site and turn it into something different. Still work related, but maybe shorter posts. Stay tuned.

The Lady Doth Protest Too Much - This is Bethany's blog. I think she's a great writer, but she doesn't blog often enough. Maybe this will motivate her to pick up the pen keyboard again.

The Mayward Blog - I know Joel from going to the same church in Federal Way. At Our Savior's Baptist Church, we became good friends in youth group and went on many retreats, rallies, and missions together. He has gone on to graduate bible college and is now a junior high youth pastor at Red Mountain Community Church in Mesa, Arizona. I predict that he will be a huge leader in the youth group community in the future. We also both have a huge interest in movies and general pop culture.

Danny Choo - Danny is a British-born Chinese blogger who lives in Tokyo, Japan. He mostly blogs about life in Japan with a strong focus on the otaku culture. He posts lots of pictures wherever he goes and is one of the inspirations for my Foto Fridays (and buying the LX3). Danny has also lived and worked in Seattle, WA at one point in his life, so I feel like we have a bit in common. I have a huge interest in Japanese culture and the city of Tokyo, so I enjoy going to his website often.

Searching for Bright Light - My favorite talk show host in the whole wide world is Michael Medved. Not only do I think he has a great way with words and debate, but I truly believe he is one of the most intelligent people in the world. Well, he is married to clinical psychologist, Diane Medved and this is her blog. She mostly writes about politics and pop culture and she does it well.

The LaFavorites - I became really good friends with Jason while working at the movie theatre with him back in high school and college. He introduced me to a lot of great films, video games, and music. We have very similar tastes when it comes to these subjects. He is married to Molly and they have a son named James. This is their blog.

The Carlos Word - Carlos and I first met in tech school at Keesler AFB, Mississippi. We got there at the same time and had a class together. It was there that we became friends since we had the same interest in movies and TV. I remember the day we were eating lunch together in the dining facility and there was some news about the John Kerry and George W. Bush 2004 Presidential race playing on TV. I learned that Carlos was a liberal that day, and since then, we've been mortal enemies. Just kidding! But, Carlos IS the most far-left person I've ever met. (If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm on the opposite side of the political spectrum as he is.) That hasn't stopped us from being friends and it is on this blog that Carlos posts everything from movies, politics, sports, and life.

Merritts + 3 - This blog is written by the wife of an old Lieutenant I had when stationed in Germany in the Air Force. He and I stayed connected when we PCS'd to other locations, and even after I separated. He's still in the Air Force as a Captain now, and he and his wife have triplet boys. This blog is about life with them.

Come and See The Seitz - Sarah is a co-worker of mine at Microsoft Studios who I help out a lot with computer support issues. You may or may not remember my Ask Cam the IT Guy - Sarah Edition. Come and See The Seitz is her blog. It mostly focuses on her hobby of sewing.

My Stupid Thoughts - This blog is written by one of my old Air Force supervisors, Technical Sergeant Basta. Had he not been my supervisor, I'm sure we would have hung out more since we have a lot of the same interests. Sadly, the military sort of frowns upon those kinds of relationships. However, after I got out of the AF about two years ago, I could finally call him a friend. He just finished up a tour in Iraq and to return home to his family in Colorado Springs.

Sheltered Sanity - This blog is written by TSgt Basta's wife; the same guy that writes the above blog. It mostly focuses on life with a husband in the military and dealing with two kids.

Abnormull - This blog is written by my sister-in-law, Beth. I think she writes well, but not often enough. I love reading about her experiences in public that you normally wouldn't think twice about.

Mr. Squarehead - My friends John and Heather run this blog. I became friends with John while working together in Germany. We have a similar sense of humor on things. When he got married to Heather, Bethany and I had a chance to hang out with them a few times while living in Texas. Now, they are back in Germany traveling around Europe and blogging about it.

Kristy Humphreys - Stuff and Things - Kristy is one of my best friends' wife who has this blog that mostly focuses on the stuff she designs for work and church.

I Can Has Cheezburger? - Who hasn't laughed at a lolcat picture? I believe this site provides the best and funniest. Great site to visit when you need some cheering up.

This is Why You're Fat - This site posts pictures of ridiculously unhealthy food items. Stuff like a giant Oreo cookie cake, Twinkie casserole, and deep fried everything. It's off-the-wall funny and does occasionally make me hungry.

Fancy Fast Food - Taco Bell burritos turned into tortellini, Burger King breakfast turned into a quiche, Domino's Pizza turned into chow mein. These are just a few of the transformations you'll find on FFF. Erik Trinidad is the man behind this blog who got the idea from having competitions with his brother on who could restyle dishes better at Chinese buffets. It's an incredibly creative and intriguing site.

Lamebook - This site is where people post funny things they read and see on Facebook.

People of Wal-mart - Full of pictures of weird people who shop at Wal-mart.

There, I Fixed It - Features pictures that people took of things that were fixed, but in totally unconventional ways. You have to see it to completely understand. As an engineer, I can relate to a lot of this.

Where the Hell is Matt? - Matt Harding is that guy you've probably seen doing his silly dance all around the globe. And I've danced with him! He blogs from his locations and tells some really interesting stories. He's in between shooting a new video, so there's not much news going on at the moment. Be sure to sign up with his site so that he'll e-mail you when he's in your area to dance.

I Rub Your Brog - This blog is run by a guy who lives in Tokyo, Japan who has a camera. He takes pictures of things you probably wouldn't normally think of taking pictures of.

LX3 Diary - This blog is all about the camera I own, the Panasonic Lumix LX3. It's my most favoritest toy ever. I tell everyone who asks that they should buy this camera. It's effortless. One of my photos has been featured on LX3 Diary before, and you can see many more of mine in the site's photostream.

Hello Kitty Hell - This site is run by a guy who has to live with his wife's obsession with Hello Kitty. On it, he features a piece of Hello Kitty merch almost every day. After being a long time visitor of this blog, I'm thoroughly convinced that there is Hello Kitty for everything.

Mini-Microsoft - This blog is written by an anonymous employee of Microsoft. The reason he stays anonymous is very important. He seems to know a lot of inside information on Microsoft and is always criticizing it. Don't get him wrong, he loves working for the company, but let's just say there's a lot he would improve on if he were in charge. There's a lot of stuff I'd change, too. This blog really became relevant because it was practically the first one to mention the layoffs. It remains relevant because people anonymously comment on it; people who may have even more inside info on the company.

The Disney Blog - I've always been a big fan of Disney, and The Disney Blog keeps me up-to-date on anything and everything revolving around the company.

F-Secure Weblog - Network security has always been something I've been interested in since I was a network defender in the Air Force. F-Secure's blog keeps you in-the-know on a lot of the popular malware and attacks going on lately.

Bruce Schneier - Also related to network security, Bruce Schneier is the security guru. And not just with computer security, but security in general. He blog about everything from encryption to Homeland Security.

Ricky Gervais - Big fan of Ricky Gervais of The Office fame, so I follow his doings a lot. He's currently working on a new movie called Cemetery Junction with Stephen Merchant.

Edgar Wright Here - Edgar Wright is another genius Brit, who has directed Shawn of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. I follow his blog a lot because he's directing Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. A movie you've seen me blog about a couple of times on here.

Radiomaru - This blog is written by Brian Lee O'Malley who is the writer of the Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series.

Baking Bites - This is my favorite recipe site, which is all about baking. Lots of scrumptious recipes on here. The author, Nicole, recently released her first book, too.

Lost Spoilers - This blog is about one of my favorite TV shows of all-time, Lost. They post all the latest spoilers on the show like set reports, castings, and even summaries written by people who work on the show. If you are a Lost fan, you should be visiting this site daily. And don't worry about ruining any big spoilers for yourself. Most of the big stuff is hidden and you have to click in order to reveal.

m15m - Written by a girl named Cleolinda, Movies in Fifteen Minutes is where I got my inspiration for My Life in D/S. She might have been the first to come up with the whole dialogue script concept and I immediately fell in love with the format. She's done some good ones as well, my favorite being Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

The Comics Curmudgeon - I haven't really had a chance to visit The CC for a while, but I do miss it. Basically, this guy posts comic strips from the newspaper and makes fun of them. I love the times when he makes fun of something that was drawn poorly.

Potterpuffs - There once was a girl who drew Harry Potter characters in Powerpuff Girls style, but she has since gone on permanent hiatus to focus on other things. I still visit back every once in a while to remember her cute and awesome work.

I hope I may have inspired you to visit some of these blogs. Don't be afraid to comment. Networking online can be a wonderful benefit to your future. What are some of your favorite blogs?

YouTubesday - 11/17/09

I haven't been doing any personal blogging recently because I've been really busy. Training more at work, doing a bunch of side jobs, and attending a lot of family events.

Dog is really happy to see his master return home from Afghanistan.

Cartwheeling goalie is a clown.

Really, truly interesting story from a photographer of National Geographic who had an experience with the deadly leopard seal.

Girls doing Risky Business is risky business.

Trailer for Reservoir Turtles.

Really awesome and lucky winning kill knife throw in Modern Warfare 2.

My eyes can't keep up with this guy's juggling.

Little girl playing keeper tries to kick the ball.

Would you eat a deep fried fish while it was still breathing?

Aw... this bird and cat are friends.

Fox is doing a little viral marketing for Fringe by placing The Observer in random football games. People need to watch this show more!

I don't think I've ever posted D-Pants on here before.

I've been eating chicken wings wrong my whole life.

Charlie bit me, auto-tuned.

Yeah, that's why you don't hit a horse. She deserved it.

AMD breaks the 7GHz barrier with their Phenom II. In 10 years, we'll laugh at videos like this.

Ask Cam the IT Guy - 11/16/09

I work in IT support and enjoy surfing the 'Computer & Internet' section of Yahoo! Answers every once in awhile and fielding some questions. I've seen my fair share of stupid questions from users and they've seen their fair share of smart-ass answers when they...

Ask Cam the IT Guy.

Question: How much is 100MB disc space? -Krys φ

Answer: 100 MB.


Question: Which gaming laptop would you suggest? -Sean

Answer: One that will play games on it well.


Question: pivot or flash cs4? -AJ

Answer: It depends on what you're asking about. Best dance move? Pivot. Best multimedia platform? Flash.


Question: The deck on my mac laptop is really small. How do I make them big again? -CuPcAk3

Answer: No, I will not cyber with you.


Question: How do I zoom out of the albums in my itunes library? -PPLAD

Answer: Sit further away from the screen.


Question: bluetooth makes high pitch squeal? -MJ

Answer: Yeah. Haven't you ever sang "Old McDonald"? Old McDonald has a farm, E-I-E-I-O. And on that farm he had a Bluetooth, E-I-E-I-O.


Question: Vista 32-bit to Windows 7 64-bit? -Yankees R

Answer: Whoa, whoa, whoa. That's like comparing apples and oranges, except the apples are retarded.


Question: It's complicated on Facebook, what does this mean? -Jochem

Answer: This usually means that they are involved in a love triangle with their lover and usually some African plains animal. On one hand, they could stay wherever they are at and have a normal healthy relationship, while taking trips to Africa to be with their other lover. Or, they could move to Africa with their lover so that they can enjoy the plains together and in the warmth of the African sun. So, you understand how it can be complicated.

It can also mean they're gay.


Question: How do I get past a school filtering system? -Madmicky

Answer: Drink water straight from a garden hose.


Question: I don't get ur freaky 2 letterthings for everything? -Stranger

Answer: I don't get ur freaky made up words like "letterthings".


Question: want to go wireless on my laptop? -madmoo

Answer: No, thanks. I've got my own.


Question: playing games in laptop will spoil my keyboard soon? -harish

Answer: How can you play games "in" your laptop? You'll spoil more than just your keyboard.


Question: Can you do that in Facebook? -Vampire

Answer: No, you cannot suck blood through Facebook, but you can on MySpace.

A Christmas Carol Review

There are no spoilers in this review.

PLOT: An animated retelling of Charles Dickens classic novel about a Victorian-era miser taken on a journey of self-redemption, courtesy of several mysterious Christmas apparitions.


THE GOOD: 3-D. Bethany and I had the wonderful opportunity to watch A Christmas Carol in Disney Digital 3-D. The technology behind all this is fascinating. I've stated it many times before and I'll say it again, the 3-D is not a gimmick. It looks like the images you see in those 3-D View-Masters, except it moves. The snow looked fantastic and the scenes whenever Scrooge travels with a spirit are quite fun to watch. This could be the only reason to see this film.


Jim Carrey. Jim Carrey deserves a lot of praise for his performances as all of the Scrooges, the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. I imagine that acting using only performance capture is a tough gig. Carrey makes it seemingly effortless and it's a performance he can be proud of. Most of the other actors were also good, but since they had limited screen time, they are not worth mentioning.

Animation. This whole motion capture animation thing is getting better, but I still don't think it's quite there. Hollywood has already come a long way from Jar Jar Binks and Gollum. It's obviously a technology worth investing in since more and more directors of film, video games, and other media are turning to it. Just looking ahead in the near future we have two huge films, James Cameron's Avatar and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, using motion capture. Despite my complaints, I look at the animation in this film as a positive step forward to perfecting the art.


THE BAD: Robert Zemeckis. Here is a director who has made some of my favorite films. The Back to the Future trilogy, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Polar Express, Cast Away (yes, I liked Cast Away), and Forrest Gump which will most likely be in my top ten movies of all-time forever. But, the director certainly is not immune to making some poor films. Is A Christmas Carol a poor film? Not at all. Instead, Zemeckis' name appears in this section because I want him to do something else. For lack of better words, I want him to do a real movie; a movie that's going to win him another award. It doesn't look like this is going to happen anytime soon as his next two projects seem to be a re-make of Yellow Submarine and the sequel to Roger Rabbit.


Pointless scenes. There are a bunch of scenes added to the movie just to show off the animation. They don't really move the story along, and when they do, they're too long. With a running time of 96 minutes, it worries me that a lot of it was just added to make the movie longer as well.


THE END: Zemeckis' A Christmas Carol does not achieve that "instant classic" status for me. The Polar Express on the other hand will be a holiday movie of his that my family will watch every year. This version is also not my favorite adaptation of the Charles Dickens' story, but it is one of the better ones. It does bring you into the Christmas spirit, albeit a little early, because now I want to watch all my favorite Christmas movies. What makes the movie worth checking out is the 3D and the motion capture animation, which is getting better. So, I say check this one out in 3D if you can. Otherwise, wait until it comes out on video.


DISCUSS: What do you think of performance motion capture in movies? What is your favorite movie version of A Christmas Carol? What is your favorite Robert Zemeckis movie?

YouTubesday - 11/10/09

There's a new Star Wars Gangsta Rap after 10 years of waiting. It's not on YouTube yet, but I'll try to get it up next week. Check it out here if you really want to see it.

Drunk woman falls onto the subway tracks in Boston and almost gets hit.

Moon walking in the air.

Here is how to open a wine bottle when you don't have a corkscrew.

University of New Mexico junior defender Elizabeth Lambert beats up some Mormons.

Bringing down the wall. Couldn't they have just slid it open?

Inmates save a prison guard's life.

I think if we made everything more fun like these piano stairs, we'd do it more often.

Ever seen Kurt Russell's Star Wars audition tape?

Trailer for the sequel to This Is It called This Is More Of It.

Foto Friday - 11/6/09

This is my eleventh Foto Friday post. I can't believe it's already been two weeks since the last one. Sometimes time just flies by. Some of the pictures for today come from a visit to the arboretum at South Seattle Community College. We went there with Brian and Kristy after the Seattle Japanese garden that I posted pictures from last week. Also, pictures from Halloween events. Full set with all 87 pictures can be viewed here. And, as always, you can click to enlarge these pictures.

Bethany made an awesome dinner the other night of beef medallions, au gratin potatoes, and garlic & olive oil vermicelli.

Bethany carved a lot of pumpkins for Halloween this year. Most of them are Nightmare Before Christmas-themed. Upper left big pumpkin is Oogie Boogie and the rest of the smaller ghost pumpkins are different faces of Jack Skellington. My wife is so talented.

Lots of leaves changing at the South Seattle Community College Arboretum. Here is a good example of the greens, yellows, oranges, and reds blending together. Also put together this photo to show a closer example of the beautiful colors.

Pretty purple flowers in the arboretum.

The arboretum has a decent view of the buildings in downtown Seattle.

Messed with this picture of a flower a lot and it turned out looking pretty cool. Kind of like a painting. I could post about a half dozen pictures of flowers, but I'll spare you. Check out the full set if you want to see all of them.

I really like how it looks like the branches of the tree are reaching out to the moon in this photo.

Sunset was really pink the other night and I tried my best to get a good shot before the clouds rolled in.

Something I'd like to do one evening is go down to Seattle and take a ton of long exposure shots at night. Did a small one here from the Kent Station parking garage.

The Friday before Halloween, my work had a small table out with all sorts of good stuff on there for the little ones. There were cupcakes, cookies, rice krispie treats, candy, iced cider, and hot cider.

After checking out my building, we went over to The Commons and attended the MSft employee Halloween party. It was packed! You had to squeeze by everyone there. Each of the stores and restaurants were giving out candy to the kids. Plus, they had awesome costumes, decorations, my old co-worker Mike DJ'ing, professional photos, pumpkin painting, and a haunted house.

Here is Bethany and Juliana posing next to some decorations in the mini-Pike Place Market at The Commons.

Giant spider building a web next to the Chandy's sign.

A casket with a bunch of kids' painted pumpkins around it. Julie wasn't quite old enough to do this yet. Maybe next year.

This is the reception desk outside of the Microsoft Visitor Center. The Visitor Center on the Microsoft campus is completely open to the public and is a fun stop if you are a tourist in the area, or if you've always lived here and have just never been. The Company Store is also open to the public, except for the software/hardware area.

This is the giant globe inside the Visitor Center. It uses four projectors that together create the round image. It displays news headlines and all sorts of other stuff.

Two guys playing chess on the Microsoft Surface in the Visitor Center. It's kind of like a coffee table touchscreen computer. Pretty neat.

The Xbox area of the Visitor Center. They usually demo the latest and greatest on the big screen.

Here's the entrance to the Company Store. Buy a t-shirt or something.

As you can tell, Julie dressed up as a little pumpkin. When we first bought it for her, she tried it on and didn't want to take it off.

On Halloween night, we went to Sumner for their trick-or-treating event on Main Street. It was a lot more crowded than last year. All of the stores there give out candy to the kids.

Our families came to watch Jelly trick-or-treat. She's got the idea down pretty good. She'll walk up to someone, take a piece of candy, and drop it in her bucket.

At one point, these people who looked dead on the street got up when Michael Jackson's Thriller started playing and they did the Thriller dance. Not very many of them had the dance down, but it was a fun idea.

After checking out Sumner, we went to the new Sonic Drive-In in Bonney Lake. They had a special on corn dogs Halloween night for only 50 cents. I love Sonic. Anyway, then we went to Tawnya's friends' house for a Halloween party and trick-or-treating in their neighborhood. Julie got a little scared at times, but overall, she enjoyed it.

This is Norma and Russ' older daughter, Emma. You may remember her from Julie's birthday party.

A couple of the treats at the Halloween party. My dad made the ladyfingers using an almond as the fingernail.

Had Frito pie for dinner another night. Best thing to come out of the south since fried chicken! For more pictures of food, Halloween, and the arboretum, see the full set.

YouTubesday - 11/3/09

I wish my math teacher had been this cool.

Costume tips for parents with girly sons. From The Onion.

One of the best medleys I've seen put together from movie and TV clips.

Drunk Ewoks on The Today Show.

Elderly couple fights two girls in the streets. Better action than Transformers 2.

Ellen scares Taylor Swift on her show. Poor girl is having a rough year.

Baby elephant sneezes and startles itself.

Just about the funniest football play I've seen. Maybe he'll get drafted by the Lions.

Pretty cool song made from sounds and music of Pulp Fiction.

Extreme shepherding.

This kid hits a basketball with a baseball bat and makes the basket. Not sure if this is fake, but if so, it's well done.

Shark bites another shark almost clean in half. Crazy.