Category: Weblog

At work, I’ve been describing the recent Apple/Disney deal on providing TV content for the iPod as “crossing the Rubicon” because of how I feel that it changes everything to television not just for Disney, but for the entire industry.
Most bloggers about the deal say ‘meh’ about the Apple/Disney combo deriding the fact that it doesn’t address every single concern about downloadable media.
However, Mark Cuban gets it. In a clear way, he describes how this is truly a turning point in the business of entertainment.
My job just got a lot more interesting.

Amen

Today at lunch we had a big crowd, nine of us, so the discussion topics were broad and we ended up talking about spoilers. A spoiler is a key bit of plot information that can ruin a movie or book if it is learned in advance.
The discussion was about how long should someone expect others to avoid mentioning spoilers around them. Several of us had seen Serenity and were being careful not to reveal the spoiler. (BTW, you shoudl go and see Serenity. It’s a great movie and you won’t be disappointed.)
None of us could find the heart to support spoiler queens, but a variety of opinions abound.
Several different viewpoints were mentioned:
No Spoiler Freedom – This silly notion was only supported by one truly strange lunch participant. He believes that spoilers shoudl flow freely and makes no effort to conceal spoilers form others. Obviously a fringe belief.
Once a film is out of theaters – Also mentioned as a ‘three month rule’. The concept that people be given a chance to see the movie without worry of spoilers. Once it’s no longer in theaters, it’s open game for discussion. ” I mean, you had your chance, right?” Two people held this as correct.
One month after DVD release – A variation on the out of theater viewpoint. The idea here is that it s understandable to miss a film in the theater, but once it’s on DVD, you have a month to buy/rent it before the spoilers rain down upon you. Two people thought this true.
No blanket policy – The idea here is that each situation warrants it own spoiler rules. An action film and a who-done-it need different spoiler policies. Three people (including me) felt this to be most reasonable.
That left one person undecided. Our co-worker Jasmin is from Germany and many of our idioms (like spoilers) don’t make sense to her. I tried to explain. Here is the rough transcript.
Jasmin: What is the spoiler?
Michael: Well, it’s like revealing the secret of a movie before it’s time.
Jasmin: Huh?
Michael: It’s like finding out that Darth Vader is Luke’s father before seeing Empire Strikes back…
Jasmin: Darth Vader is Luke’s father?
Michael: You didn’t know that?
Jasmin: No…
Others at the table: *gasp*
Michael: But, umm, err. See I just spoiled that for you.
As you can tell, spoilers are a tough thing to deal with in groups. Jasmin’s lucky I didn’t reveal something important like the fact that soylent green is people…
So loyal Cruft readers, what are the proper spoiler rules in your humble opinon?

iPod covers are tired. It’s all about the Puffapouch! Inhaler streetwear is the new style.
Yes, now me and asthma sufferers everywhere can travel in style with this special cover for my abuterol inhaler.
It’s a tough choice between The Camo and The New Black. I may need to order both.
(via Milliondollarhomepage)

Just another sign that Apple puts some sort of addictive, reason-sapping chemical into their products.
People are actually buying iPod Nanos, which evidently scratch when exposed to a summer breeze, and then dunking them in soapy water to slide a protective case over them.
Why are people accepting Apple’s selling of such an obviously defective product?
Apple’s iPods appear to be so fragile that an entire industry has developed to protect them.
Top it off with the fact that if you lose the files you bought from iTunes, Apple won’t replace them, because… Well, there’s no good reason for them not to replace them since it’s bits not atoms, but people accept Apple’s answer anyways.
If Microsoft pulled half the crap that Apple did, such as suing bloggers and trying to shutdown sites, the blogosphere would be outraged.
By some nefarious means, Apple has convinced their cultists in the Wisdom of Steve in which they obediently type in their credit card number for whatever new item or upgrade that is foisted upon them.

In the mail, I recieved I small package that contained a CD. When I opened it I was surprised to see the a EP from Battlestar America. I wrote about their album last year. For whatever reason, they sent me a free CD with six new songs on it.
Battlestar America is a mix of honky-tonk and rap, mixing turntables with fiddles. When you read about it, it sounds weird. When you hear it, it sounds great. They seem to be calling themselves B Star now. Their old site is still up at Battlestar America, so I’m a little confused as to what exactly is going on.
Give it a listen. I’d recommend Bootleg Dreams, Someone Like Me, and Yellowbelly. You can listen to the whole album on their site.
Trust me, once your hear a few songs, you’ll be hooked.

I found myself in 7-Eleven waiting for Michele to finish making her coffee when I spied a package of Hostess Glo Balls. Around various holidays, the usual Sno Balls are replaced with seasonal versions. A while ago I got some Lucky Puffs and examined them.
I brought the Glo Balls home and began to investigate them.

The main thing I wanted to see was the Glo Balls actually glowing. The girls and I gathered the necessary test gear and headed into the Cruft Manor Auxilary Laboratory (the bathroom), pulled the shades and began. First we examined the packaging of the Glo Balls. They had that green luminescent look so we aimed the black light at the package.

No glow at all. We were quite disappointed. I removed the wrapper and looked to see if the Glo Balls themselves would glow.

Again, not a bit of glow at all. Our disappointment grew. Zoe accidentally touched the black light to the Glo Ball. We heard a sizzle and then a pop as the black light bulb blew up. Not a huge explosion, but enough to make everyone jump.

Here you can see the glass part of the filament sticking out the side. Who says science does not involve danger?

Of course, I had extra black light bulbs on hand, the testing continued. What? You don’t have spare black lights in the closet? In a final hope for glo-osity, we cut the Glo Balls open and looked to see if the cake or internal “s’cream” filling would glow. As you can see, Hostess let us down yet again.

We turned the lights on in the Laboratory. Here’s the insides of the Glo Balls.
I tried the Glo Balls next and was not suprised to find that they taste exactly like Sno Balls. There is no differentiating factor other than the color. This is upsetting to me, since variety is the spice of life.
I gave the Hostess hotline a call and asked a few questions. You can listen to the recording of my call about Glo Balls (1 MB mp3 file). I still don’t have phone recording down as a direct science, so I had to mess a bit with the volume levels of the call and use an equalizer to remove line noise. Enjoy.

I drew a straight flush in last night’s game at Brad’s house in a game of Anaconda.
This is my second straight flush at Brad’s game. My first was fun and being there for Rich’s straight flush was good too. For those non-poker players, a striaght flush is an exceedingly hard hand to make and can only be beaten by a Royal Flush. It even beats Four of a Kind.
It was a lucky night for me and I ended up coming home with a little extra cash in my pocket.
Thanks to Mister P. for doing the driving so I could gape at the Burbank Hills fire and doze off on the ride home.

In about a month is my 20th high school reunion. Narbonne High 1985, Go Gauchos!
Hard to wrap my head around that.
Part of the reunion is writing a short bio of what you have been doing since high school. You are only given 860 character for your bio.
Here’s what I wrote:

I studied Electrical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York for my Bachelor’s degree. After college I took a job with National TeleConsultants, designing TV facilities in 1989.
In May 1994, Michele Keller and I were married. After the wedding we moved to San Francisco. Fellow Narbonne Alumni Kirill Sheynkman was one of my groomsmen.
I joined Sony and built TV facilities for them overseas. In Singapore, I met some Disney people and ended up taking a job with them in 1995.
We moved back to LA and had our first daughter Zoe in January of ’96. Our second daughter, Mira, was born in July of ’98.
At work, I manage TV & IT technology for Disney Channels and other Disney TV networks globally.
Currently we live in South Pasadena where in my spare time I referee soccer games, play video games, and lose at poker.

It’s not easy to sum up 20 years in 147 words.

In my work email inbox there are 479 messages, with 41 of them unread. Would it really be so bad if I deleted them all and started fresh?