20 days later from my last post. Yeah. To break the silence, this is what I’m reading: Chuck Klosterman’s Downtown Owl. I am enjoying it during lunch breaks and before I sleep. Yes - this post is not entertaining. LOL.
That is all. 
~Spec
Posted in: comics & graphic novels , booksI finally broke down and ordered an Amazon Kindle, now that they’re back in stock. It’s an ebook reader device, and since I read so much (borderline obsession), and there are growning piles of dead tree versions of books all over my house, I figured a Kindle was a good idea.
In this video, we go over the packaging, basic functions of the device, discuss its wireless features, have a look at the fabulous (dare I say revolutionary?) electronic ink screen, and generally check out the new gadget.
Camera help and cameo appearances by my wife Rachel and our son Gabe. You can download the higher quality original Quicktime movie file (about 6 minutes, 72MB), or get a code snippet to embed/share this video on your own site by clicking the little “connect the dots” icon in the player above.
I’ll be posting more thoughts as I use the Kindle more (I’ve had it less than 24 hours), but the verdict so far is: I LOVE this thing! I only wish I hadn’t had to wait so long for Amazon to get them back in stock.
You can find out more about the Kindle, browse the books, newspapers, and magazines available for it, and generally get more information at Amazon’s Kindle page (affiliate link - if you decide to buy one, and use that link, I get a small percentage, which helps to pay for my gadget buying habit).
Post a comment or message me on Twitter if you have any questions, and stay tuned for a lot more Kindle information in the days and weeks to come! 
Update: There’s a LOT of great discussion going on down in the comments for this post. I’ve been typing like mad, answering questions, so make sure you have a look if you’re interested in what book formats the Kindle can support, what you can use the SD card for, what I think of the DRM on the Kindle, how the design feels in my hands how to use the Kindle to read RSS feeds for free, and more!
If you live in Japan, you get to watch American movies three months later than everyone else, and for more money to boot. Well, in the theater, anyway; if you’re renting disks it’s quite affordable but you get to wait six months instead. I’ve never gotten into the whole “download movies from the internets” thing, but I suppose that route is there for people who can’t wait to watch in a bit more comfort than a computer chair offers.
A few coming up that I’m interested in seeing are There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men. I’m a huge fan of Cormac McCarthy (thanks to James for cluing me in to him many years ago). I must admit this is my least favorite of his books—with the possible exception of The Sunset Limited (Amazon page), but I haven’t gotten to that one yet, so no ranking there. But I’m interested to see what happens when this makes it to the screen in the hands of the actors and directors involved with this project.
(I never saw the 2000 adaptation of All the Pretty Horses, but I’ve never seen reviews of it that made me feel like I was missing out. Would be nice to see someone in Hollywood approach the entire Border Trilogy in a serious fashion.)
McCarthy’s page at IMDB says that not only The Road but Blood Meridian and Outer Dark are also in production now. I wonder about the possibility of doing a good transition to the screen with those two—particularly Blood Meridian, which features massive violence and supernaturally intelligent bald giants and such. However, Ridley Scott is listed as the director for it, so maybe there’s a chance we’ll see a compelling Judge Holden on our movie screens. For me, on my TV six months later.
Good information on Cormac McCarthy is available at this site.
Posted in: books , film , japan
Well hello there. Whoa, I just realized that I wrote another post with the same title. Weird. Anyway, I’m currently spending my time at bus stops, lunch breaks and those 15-20 leisurely minutes in bed before I sleep reading a book from Liana’s collection of fiction. The Time Traveler’s Wife deals with time travel (duh), misdemeanors, past (and current) hip Chicago spots and neighborhoods and an unreasonable amount of loyalty and romance. Yeah, I was surprised when it wasn’t in *my* personal library. Here’s a very very small excerpt from its Amazon page:
Henry De Tamble is a Chicago librarian with “Chrono Displacement” disorder; at random times, he suddenly disappears without warning and finds himself in the past or future, usually at a time or place of importance in his life.
It’s all you need to know (and I honestly think that it’s still TOO much). Hee hee. I’m about 1/2 through, so PLEASE no spoilers. So far, I love it. The author, Audrey Niffenegger, uses so many different landmarks - The Field Museum, the Aragon Ballroom, Ann Sathers, and the ‘L‘ to name a few - that I can visualize the environments with clarity. Peeps back in Chicago should read it for the localization of it all! Haha.
The banality of time travel has become a bit of a tiring exercise in recent memory, but the book easily shifts ’round and ’round… because you’re instantly drawn into the romance. There is no “Choose your Adventure” type of page flipping here! Audrey has created marvelous cues to show where the characters are in a specific timeline and have beautifully matched their speech and mannerisms to their age… but rubberbands their overall personality in a seamless dance of consistency and congruence.
I’d go on, but I have to finish the book! I’d recommend this to anyone who likes a bit of humanity with their science fiction. A person cannot live on cortical stack uploads, virtual reality, super soldiers and inappropriate escapades alone! LOL.
Read it? Let me know! 
~Spec
Posted in: comics & graphic novels , books , streaming conciousness
Right before I napped on the couch next to the window full of sun, I read a few chapters of Botany of Desire, a book by Michael Pollen.
Working in his garden one day, Michael Pollan hit pay dirt in the form of an idea: do plants, he wondered, use humans as much as we use them? While the question is not entirely original, the way Pollan examines this complex coevolution by looking at the natural world from the perspective of plants is unique. The result is a fascinating and engaging look at the true nature of domestication.
It’s quite the interesting read. Upon Liana’s recommendation, I picked it up from our bookshelf and figured it’d be a refreshing step-back from all of the restaurant-based non-fiction that I’ve been getting from Michael Ruhlman: The Reach of a Chef and his previous book (thanks again Jeff!).
Understandably, I can find inspiration in the short introspections of Thomas Keller, Anthony Bourdain and Michael Symon… they’re arguably at the height of their game (some of their fame transferred over to television, but who’s really keeping track hee hee)… but what would I enjoy in a book about plants?
Passion. What I find myself being drawn into these books is the stories of peoples’ lives and how they focus their existence for the pursuit of the perfect food - be it haute cuisine or an apple picked off of a branch. To save this post from getting too long, it’s simply something to aspire to be.
I just have to set my goals and run with it.
~Spec
Posted in: comics & graphic novels , books , streaming conciousness
While in Redmond yesterday, Liana and I picked up a few books in preparation for some serious cafe couch reading today. We ended up at Cafe on the Ave in the University District, where they serve some tasty breakfast all day and have comfy couches to claim for an afternoon. YAY. The place wasn’t as welcoming as the cafe from Valentine’s weekend, but it was a nice place nonetheless.
While we were there, Liana started on Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, while I cracked open The Reach of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman, the leading authority on what’s going on in the restaurant industry (and an in-depth look into a chef’s mind). Amazon has a quick summary:
For his previous explorations into the restaurant kitchen and the men and women who call it home, Michael Ruhlman has been described by Anthony Bourdain as “the greatest living writer on the subject of chefs—and on the business of preparing food.” In The Reach of a Chef, Ruhlman examines the profound shift in American culture that has raised restaurant cooking to the level of performance art and the status of the chef to celebrity CEO. Bibliophiles and foodies alike will savor this intimate meeting with some of the most famous chefs in the kitchens of the hottest restaurants in the world.
I’ve read a few of Ruhlman’s previous books (thanks Jeff for the present!) and there’s definitely been a lot of overlapping of information through out the series. I’ve been looking forward to this book because it describes the students that joined culinary school after the huge spotlight on the restaurant industry… which is pretty much me. LOL. Regrettably, I’ll probably learn how people like myself have disrupted (read: destroyed) the space-time continuum regular flow of the restaurant industry, but maybe I’ll learn where the future is going!
YAY Reading!
~Spec
Posted in: comics & graphic novels , books , seattleArs Technica has a great article today on Professor Lessig's potential run for Congress that I mentioned yesterday. The article does an excellent job of outlining Lessig's platform in far better detail than the one sentence I gave it. What's particularly interesting about his position is his desire to build a Creative Commons in Congress, where "[i]f politicians begin foreswearing PAC money, the theory runs, voters may come to see the failure to refuse lobbyist dollars as a badge of shame rather than simply the way things are done." This sounds like a very necessary change and requires the proverbial "Washington outsider" to really get going - Lessig is that outsider. Further, the article elaborates on the difference between Lessig and his greatest rival in the race, Jackie Speier. Lessig mentions that there aren't many differences, but that a focus on technology would give him an edge and that even though many prominent California Democrats have thrown their support behind Speier, the rush to consolidate support has frustrated voters who want more options. As I said yesterday, I can't wait to see how this plays out.
Technorati Tags: Larry Lessig, Lessig, Congress, Tom Lantos, Jackie Speier, Creative Commons, Free Culture, Change Congress, Draft Lessig
I wrote about Professor Larry Lessig's shift in focus from Free Culture to corruption in Washington when he gave his last Free Culture talk. Since then, a seat has opened up in Congress as a result of the death of California Congressman Tom Lantos. Lessig posted on his weblog earlier today that a Facebook group and the draftlessig08.org website have caused him to actually consider running.
I think Lessig has a great chance of winning thanks to support from the tech community. Having him in Congress would not only be excellent for his next project, but would also help along causes that current Congress members are either too tech illiterate or too influenced by money to really address the right way (one such cause being Net Neutrality).
There's no word on when he'll make a decision, but along with the rest of the tech community, I wait with bated breath.
Technorati Tags: Larry Lessig, Lessig, Congress, Tom Lantos, Free Culture, Change Congress, Draft Lessig
Larry Lessig will be giving his last talk on the topic of "Free Culture" in about an hour. I had the pleasure of seeing Professor Lessig give this talk in September of 2006 as part of the Penn Reading Project and I think the ideas he presents are fascinating and have had a great impact on me. We've come a long way in some areas, such as in the slow death of over-restrictive DRM, but we're still a ways to go in other areas, such as the predatory litigation undertaken by the music and movie industries. As the blog post announcing the talk mentions, Professor Lessig will begin focusing on corruption in Washington, a topic I'm admittedly less interested in.
Technorati Tags: Larry Lessig, copyright, creative commons, DRM, intellectual property, Free Culture
While in DC and visiting so many museums, my imagination and curiosity was piqued on a number of occasions. Living in my programmer / consultant / marketer’s brain for such long stretches of time really starts to divorce you from interesting reading material. Last year I made a special point to read a number of seminal science fiction books (Ender’s Game series, Snowcrash, Neuromancer, et cetera) and I hope to read a bunch more this year.
From DC I picked up a few, and you can probably guess where I got each. Here they are, click the photos of the covers for more information on each.
Those last two are more coffee table books, but interesting none-the-less!
Does anyone have any book recommendations for 2008?
Today should be day 5 of my media fast experiment, but as I predicted/promised in my previous post, I would sneak a peek on Sunday. And so I did. In about an hour and half yesterday, I made it through 182 posts in Google Reader, less than half of the ~400 a day I was averaging prior to the experiment. Still, despite only lasting three days into the experiment, I've come away with some valuable insight.
First, and perhaps most importantly, bumming around the internet is no longer my go-to action when I've found myself with nothing to do. Even yesterday, when I spent time in Google Reader, I also found time to catch up on some posts for my other blog and even process and upload some photos to Flickr from my trip to Puerto Rico last March.
Google Reader's expanded view, which shows full posts in a river of news format, is a great way to sift through a bunch of garbage while finding the few gems you really enjoy. In an effort to be more selective, I've switched to list view, which shows me headlines for about 25 posts in a way similar to Gmail. Picking and choosing is much easier when you've expanded the number of headlines visible on screen 15-25 times.
The only thing I wish I could do was mark items as read without giving them credit for being read. There's a bunch of stuff in there that I will probably never read, and it looks like it'll build up unless I do choose to mark it as read. A minor complaint, but on the bright side it should make unsubscribing from low signal-to-noise ratio feeds much, much easier (Engadget and the rest of the Weblogs, Inc sites, I'm looking at you).
In response to William's comment, I do think he's right to a degree. If your job is news-driven (you work on Wall Street, in PR, in journalism, etc), then you do have to keep up with the news. Even still, not every news item you come across is 100% relevant and the experiment helps to make that clear. And for those of us whose jobs aren't exactly news driven, much of it isn't relevant - we simply consume it for enjoyment. For most, consumption is way out of balance with production. As with any habit-altering experience, we must often go too far in one direction in order to ultimately end up in the middle.
Technorati Tags: 4 Hour Work Week, Timothy Ferriss, media fast, experiment, productivity
I recently began listening to Timothy Ferriss' 4-Hour Work Week. The book proposes many interesting ideas, but by far the most immediately applicable are his productivity tips. The one I want to highlight in this post is the media fast experiment, which forces participants to avoid all news for a week. Instead of being the one to relay news to others, be the one asking others what's in the news.
I'm on my third day of the experiment. I've avoided visiting Digg and reading feeds on Google Reader. In an effort to be completely honest, I will admit that I did hit Techmeme yesterday and CNN today for about 5 minutes. I felt guilty both times and that feeling a good sign.
The effects have been moderate, but promising and encouraging. I've been getting more done at work and completing more personal to-do items out of work. Wasting time online is a slave to Parkinson's law (which Ferriss mentions in his book), which basically states that a task will grow to fill the time allotted to it. This is especially true for my RSS subscriptions, which are literally never-ending. Since I wouldn't allot a set time limit to my time-wasting (by definition), my time-wasting would grow to fill time until I got bored or tired.
Depending on how comfortable I feel with being able to control myself, I might allocate (by alarm) an hour or so sometime this weekend to go through Google Reader. Even though the experiment calls for a complete fast, an hour a week is a huge improvement over the multiple hours a day and I should be happy that I haven't gone mad yet with all this newly-recovered spare time.
And I just came across this blog post with a great summary of the book. Check out the productivity tips under Step II: E is for Elimination.
Technorati Tags: Timothy Ferriss, 4 Hour Work Week, news, experiment, media fast, wasting time
Surely your wife was nervous about you sleeping only 4 hours every 2 days?The whole book is pretty fascinating. Sometimes you forget that there are people behind the fancy consumer technology that we encounter on a daily basis. There's no archetypal story that informs the lives of each interviewee. Some of them had a vision and made a calculated plan to achieve it. Others thought it would be cool to have their own company and worried about the details as they went. Nevertheless, they share similar passions and drives to create. Really, not that different from composers in many respects.
She was. She got me one of those fold-out futons that would fold under my desk. She didn't like me sleeping on the floor.
Barry Eisler’s Hard Rain. Second book in the John Rain series. It, I am reading.
~Spec
Posted in: comics & graphic novels , books
I’ve been really under the weather these past couple of days… which obviously means that I’m sick (boo). It also means that I have some free time to read (yay)! I just finished Haruki Murakami’s - Kafka on the Shore. Hailed as a modern Greek tragedy, the book bounces back and forth between two interrelated plots and ends with a… well… honestly… I can’t explain it. I don’t think I could if I tried (and I think I just did). I just don’t have the vocabulary for it. All I can say is that after reading the ending, I needed a few hours to decompress.
In the book, you’ll find heightened and unusual abilities, intelligent musical references, time-shifted romances, projected extensions of self, and pure and utter randomness. It may sound ridiculous (only because Murakami came way before him), but would liken this book to a Neil Gaiman novel**. Same amount of wonder and unexpectedness that I’ve come to love from Neil, but with the cultural backdrop and perspective of a solid Japanese writer. By far my favorite Murakami book. If you’re a fan of Murakami, don’t hesitate to read it! Break out the mint tea (hot or iced), find some shade, throw on some Jazztronic and prepare yourself for an interesting read!
Kafka on the ShooOoOooooOoOore.
~Spec
**A related note: A few weeks ago, I read Stardust before it came out in theaters and I loved it. I have not yet gone to see the movie, only because I would hate for it to spoil the book. Albeit a lil’ short, it’s great for a weekend read.
Posted in: comics & graphic novels , booksGood thing we had nothing planned for today, aside from one last VBS-related stint at the church this morning. Why? Harry Potter #7, of course. I picked it up this morning and finished it just a little while ago. I’ll save my thoughts on it for now, but I’ll at least say that it was a satisfying read. Minor annoyance at one predictable plot point, and I should have re-read book 6 more recently. Definitely worth the wait… :)
Posted in: books
Hallo. I’ll just start off by saying that the Street Fighter series is better than Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, Soul Calibur, Virtua Fighter, your mom’s chicken salad and Transformers The Movie. I SWEAR. There’s nothing like throwing a HA-DO-KEN while your silly opponent tries to cancel it out with their own fireball (whatever flavor it may be). That’s why I want this damn artbook so badly… it’s nice seeing them all hanging out… it’s like that fuzzy feeling that you get when you watch those Tom and Jerry cartoons where they’re friends. KNOW WHATTA MEAN!?!?! Details follow:
Cover Art: Arnold Tsang
Graphic Design: Erik KoNow we can finally unveil our big summer surprise!
At conventions throughout the summer and in stores this fall will be a 300+ page artbook jammed with UDON artwork we’ve done for Capcom: comic books, video games, cards, toys, statues and much more. In addition, the book has a brand new tribute section filled with new pin-ups of Capcom properties and a Tutorial section with step-by-step examples of some of our digital painting techniques.
The first place you’ll be able to purchase this hard cover beauty is at Anime Expo this coming weekend.
So uhhh… I won’t be @ the Anime Expo (only because my Rock Lee jumpsuit didn’t arrive on time rofl). Sad. But as I read on Udon’s (the publisher) Deviant Art Page, it will go on sale online later this summer. I’m excited! Now all I need is a coffee table for this coffee table book!
YAY Street Fighter!
~Spec
Posted in: comics & graphic novels , books
2007 San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival
June 9-10, 16-17, and 23-24In our 29th year, the Festival will feature 29 dance companies representing dance traditions from 20 cultures and featuring over 500 dancers.
Liana (no silly, that’s not her in the picture above) is performing today with the Lily Cai Dance Company @ the Palace of Fine Arts. We’re gonna try and check out Mamacita on Union Street afterwards and then chill for the rest of the day. w00p w00p!
I haven’t posted about it yet, but I’m 50 pages close to finishing The Harsh Cry of the Heron by Lian Hearn - book 4 of the Otori series (ZOMG SAMURAI)! I’ll either follow up with Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bordain or Liana’s borrowed copy of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. I’m really into the John Rain Series by Barry Eisler (the first iteration - Hard Rain was decent), but I feel it’s too mainstream for my tastes. All of that, and I’m trying to read Ender’s Game all over again! Hee hee. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD. The goal is down. THE GOAL IS DOWN!!one!!!1won!!!1!1!one!1!!! LOL.
YAY BOOKS!
~Spec
Posted in: comics & graphic novels , books , san francisco
I read a REALLY good book lately and I wanted to share. It's called The Road. It's written by a man named Cormac McCarthy. This book is a little hard to describe, but I will say it's probably one of the best books I've read, maybe ever. I've decided against talking about the substance at this point, other than to say it's a very easy read and very worth while. I found myself literally unable to stop reading it. Started reading it on the train into the office one day, read it through lunch and then found myself reading periodically that afternoon - compelled to know what was next. I highly recommend the book, it's just amazing.
Yes, it's on the "Oprah Book Club" list and it's received a lot of notoriety from that - but don't let that dissuade you from picking this up. It's simply fantastic. I found myself very moved and somewhat affected by the story, and while I may be an over-sensitive ass, that really hasn't happened from a book in a long, long time.
Please go read it!
Posted in: books
…I’ll be watching The Namesake, starring Kal Penn. I *just* blogged about the book, and now I find out that it’s a freaking movie… that came out YESTERDAY. I BLOGGED ABOUT A BOOK ON THE SAME DAY THAT THE MOVIE ADAPTATION CAME OUT. OMGGGGG. I AM SO ESP.
So anyway, I’ve also heard UBERTASTICALLY GREAT THINGS about 300. Apparently, the storyline gives both men and women alike an undeniable necessity to scream for blood. More hype than Snakes on a Plane… and it looks like it’s worth it to boot!
But, since The Namesake is only screening in select cities (YAY. I heart SF), I figure that I can always catch 300 on a “throwaway” relax-time night. I hope the movie does the book justice. I’m a big fan of Jhumpa Lahiri’s work. What I’m *really* curious about is whether or not Kal can pull of a serious non-stoner role. Mmmmm… sliders.
I MISS WHITECASTLE!!!
~Spec
UPDATE: Going to the 5:30PM showing @ the Embarcadero! YAY.
Posted in: comics & graphic novels , books , flicks
A second use of [form] that is, again often encountered in musical discussions is illustrated by such terms of "sonata-form," "ABA-form," "rondo-form," etc., which refer to specific formal types, generally associated with particular styles or historical periods. And although each of these formal types may be characterized by certain intrinsic formal features, common to all examples of the type, and constituting the original basis for classification, they tend to represent, in each case, not so much a form, but a formula, and are not, therefore relevant to the problems I am concerned with here.James Tenney, Meta (+) Hodos