Channel Your Sighs Into Jumping Jacks

Friday Fling

2011-08-13T00:16:00.000-08:00

Palmer, Alaska is a cozy little town that I'm proud to call my birthplace. I've never really given any thought to that till recently and I decided that I wanted to do something special to show my love for this place. Here's a short, short video of a little Friday market event we always have in the Summer months: The Friday Fling.

Music is Love Like a Sunset by Phoenix.

My 40 days of NY in Three Minutes (Junebug Season)

2011-08-04T14:43:00.000-08:00

Here's a little bit of footage I took of my adventures in New York. I didn't get arrested (thankfully) but I did see someone else getting arrested at a Yankees game (which was just as exciting). What I couldn't quite capture on video, I managed to get in photos, and those I'll be publishing on my flikr page so check that regularly!

We're Gonna Find Adventure in the Evening Air

2011-05-24T20:40:00.000-08:00

There's so much to love about Gene Kelly's musical romantic comedy, Hello Dolly (1969). The wit is quick, the characters are lovable, the wardrobe and sets are fantastical, and the dance sequences are over-the-top cartoony and jaw-dropping. It's no wonder that why geniuses over at Pixar used it as a strong influence for to their 2008 hit, Wall-E. Set 700 years in the future, it's spunky little robot plays it's favorite song from the movie, over and over again on its now ancient iPod Video.

Wall-e's favorite scene consequently happens to be mine as well. Right before the world of Hello Dolly explodes into a musical frenzy for the song Put On Your Sunday Clothes, Cornelius and Barnaby decide they're going to skip out on work and go to New York in lew of their boss's absenteeism. Cornelius tells his friend,

"We are going to New York and we are gonna LIVE! We're gonna have a good meal, be in danger, and get almost arrested!" I hope I won't almost get arrested but I can almost guarantee I'll be eating well and having an order of danger on the side!

I'm a Little nervous and I'm not sure why. I guess I feel a little like Barnaby.

Cornelius: Adventure, Barnaby! Living Barnaby!
Barnaby: I'm scared.
Cornelius: Will ya come?
Barnaby: Yes Cornelius, Yes!

About to board my flight to JFK from Seattle! Cya in the morning, New York!

Tomorrow, I leave for the city where I've spent half my life. A city that I haven't seen the likes of in three years.

Sugar, Spice and The iPad 2 (with a DIY Case!)

2011-03-12T21:12:00.003-09:00

So yesterday, after much waiting, I went out and bought an iPad 2. The whole ordeal if I should even call it an ordeal was actually quite pleasant. Target and the local Apple reseller, Mac Haus hadnt gotten their shipments but word on the street was that the local Walmart had. I showed up an hour and half before the release and they told me they only had about 16 in stock but there were only three guys waiting in line so I jumped right in there! We only had a few more people trickle in when 5 o'clock rolled around, but it was nice, no hordes of people with pitchforks or anything.

So to the main point! The iPad 2 is much thinner than I expected. I've pretty much gotten used to holding it but whenever I catch a reflection of myself with it I'm startled by how thin it really is. It's so thin that it makes me nervous at times. I'm not entirely sure if I could take this out into the wild world without some sort of case (Walmart didn't have any of those spiffy magnetic squares yet). Without a case I would probably constantly envision it kissing a cold concrete floor somewhere, its face spidering into a million tiny little pieces.

Here's a case I made just for the time being:

I cut a rectangle out of an old accounting workbook and lined the inside with thin cardboard.

I even went as far as and labeling it 'workbook' just in case anyone got wise.

Anyway.

The iPad 2 is comfortably fast. I haven't once had to pause and wait for it to process anything. It keeps up with my stream of consciousness and smoothly carries out tasks just as fast I can think them up. Right now I'm typing with it comfortably in my lap. I find it ironic that I can do this on an iPad just fine but not with a laptop without at least some sort of hard surface for it to sit on so it won't overheat.

I'm really glad the keyboard is so comfortable. It makes editing documents on apps like Roambi, Pages, and Keynote (which cover your basic necessities from Microsoft Office) incredibly easy.

So far, the only thing I'm not all that impressed with is the camera. Here's a still of my phone:

It actually doesn't look all that bad when it's that small but when you're setting up the shot on that big iPad screen you can tell the difference. The video is fairly good and I imagine if you're on facetime with someone it'll be fine so long as you're in a well lit room.

The iPad really is a remarkable machine. I only whine a little about the camera because I can't find any real issues with it overall. A few years ago, it was difficult to produce visual displays this thin let alone a fully functioning computer. Eugh, what an exciting time to be alive!

Grandma Reminisces: The Gun

2011-03-08T23:27:00.001-09:00

In the late 80s my Grandma was working at a family-run dry cleaners in Los Angeles. Every day, her daily commute consisted of a short walk down the street and around the back of a little market. It was normally a quiet walk and seldom would she run into another person let alone witness something unusual. One day as she was nearing the market she was startled to see a figure, either an elderly man or woman pointing what appeared to be a gun right at her! My grandmother recalls herself thinking "oh my, today's the day I get struck down by a bullet" but without a second glance she just scuttled along forward just as she had intended, all the while thinking that her legs couldn't move fast enough.

When she arrived at work, her co-workers asked her what was wrong and when she told them the story they knew exactly what she was talking about. Apparently that was a local grumpy person (possibly suffering from dementia) that walked around pointing a toy gun at people. She thought of this story because we were watching a show about the DEA (drug enforcement agency?) for a little while before lunch. I think I want to be like my grandma when I grow up. By this I mean I want awesome stories to tell while watching a show before meals... and also the bravery part.

Titanic II: An Appropriate Title

2011-03-08T23:03:00.000-09:00

Back cover blurb: On the 100th anniversary of the original voyage, a modern luxury liner christened "TITANIC II", follows the path of its namesake. But when a tsunami hurls an iceberg into the new ship's path, the passengers and crew must fight to avoid a similar fate.

Oh man, I was at Blockbuster the other night just skimming some titles when this straight-to-dvd beauty caught my eye. I started laughing out loud when I read the back cover. Ok OK! Let me just walk you through the logic of my back-of-the-video-store-hysterics. I don't know much about the sea-faring business, but I do know that they're a rowdy and superstitious bunch. For example sailors think having a woman on board is a bad luck good luck if she's naked, that's why so many Victorian era ships have a figure of a naked woman on the bow. Bananas are supposed to be a sign of disaster because in the early 1700s almost every documented ship carrying bananas as cargo sank (which is ironic since bananas float). There are a bunch of dates you're not supposed to sail at all since they were days of biblical disaster, and there are a bunch of other ones that include stolen pieces of wood, silver coins, dolphins, cutting your hair and nails, and avoiding flat-footed people and red-heads.

With all of this in mind, I would imagine that the people in the fictional world of this movie would think to avoid naming their ship after the largest maritime disaster of them all! But then of course you don't get to use a sweet tagline like "100 years later, lightning strikes twice". Which is odd since it seems like the majority of their dilemma seems to be that darn tsunami that happened to smash an iceberg right up into them and nothing at all to do with a lighting. And if you were going to put an idiom in your title why wouldn't you pick something like "come hell or high water" or "a bunch of people get together and make bad decisions". Not only do I love the fact the the fictional people of this movie decided it would be a good idea to name their new ship the "Titanic II", I love that the actual people of this world, responsible for this movie, decided it would be a good idea to name their move, "Titanic II".

I realize that I've written too much about this and now I need to watch it before I say anything else, which is where my dilemma lies, I have no trouble judging a movie by its front and back cover because I've seen enough movies to know that this practice actually works wonders. My dilemma is that I really don't want to award any more film-makers for bad film-making by renting their work yet I want to watch them to witness the disaster. It can't be a luke-warm disaster though, I have little patience for that, it needs to be full on cringe-worthy embarrassment like the opening night of the local middle-school thespian performance.

Toyota: Housewife Commercial Ft. Deb Oh

2011-03-02T13:40:00.001-09:00

Deb Oh sings for the new Toyota Housewife commercial, the second TV spot for Sponsafier Round 3 campaign, which invites racing fans to design their own NASCAR car.

I love the part when that young girl screams, "you're not my dad!". It brings a little taste of how confusing a time it can be for young children when an iconic race car driver shows up at your doorstep and attempts to woo your mother.

Listen to more of Deb and her new EP at http://deboh.bandcamp.com/album/cold-glory

'Sponsafy' your own car on Toyota's Racing Site at http://www.sponsafier.com/#/home

Northern Lights

2011-03-02T12:09:00.000-09:00

My friend Tyler was able to capture some of yesterday morning's northern lights when I could not. I won't exasperate you with any more words. Enjoy the pretty colors!

Closeup of Massive Solar Flare

2011-03-01T11:44:00.003-09:00

Click here to watch the video:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/5483193591/

We've been getting some huge solar flares lately which explains the spectacular northern lights display we had in the valley this morning! I had to get off the highway and and onto an on ramp to watch for a few minutes on my way into Anchorage. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures but I'll keep the memory of those vibrant colors for years to come!

Lawrence Welk Goodness

2011-02-27T16:38:00.000-09:00

I caught a few minutes of this yesterday and decided to shoot a couple snippets. This show brings me a homey type of joy. They did a lot of a silly campy things way back then but they did it with plenty of talent. The Lawrence Welk Show airs every Saturday evening just like it did when I was a kid growing up in Alaska and just like so many other kids (apparently elderly folks too?) for the past 40 years.

Grandma Reminisces

2011-02-27T02:24:00.001-09:00

My grandma is coming to a wedding with me next week and while we were started on the subject, she asked me how to pronounce the word, "congratulations". It took her a few tries to get over pronouncing it as, "con-graduation" but she laughed with glee when I told her that she had finally gotten it right. She proceeded to tell me about how good an English student she was as a young mother in Korea. One particularly fond memory of her's was when her instructor one day called her up in front of the class, patted her on the back and said something along the lines of, "This young woman sets a table for her children every day and still managed to be the only one to get a hundred on this test. What have the rest of you done with your time?" She told me that she had found time to study while she ate and did other chores and when it came time to take the test, she realized she knew all the answers. At the time she was so poor that she wore an old pair of nylon shoes that had soles that would fall apart at the front, constantly threatening to make her trip or stumble but only just. She'd sew them back together to remedy the problem so as to walk another day. Eventually she had to stop going to school because she had to take care of her sick mother-in-law who loved her like she was her own daughter. Grandmother ends this story with, "but, oh, how good I could have been!".

A Face Fit to Advertise

2011-02-23T17:02:00.003-09:00

I was at Fred Meyer today looking for a Bug's Life when I spotted this DVD with this dashing gentleman on it:

I haven't seen The Tailor of Panama, though I remember hearing about it when it first came out. So why then, did it look so very familiar? Yes, I have seen every James Bond flick except A License to Kill ( which I WILL find someday, watch and then be able to tell everyone I've seen them all!) but that wasn't it. There was something else... something even closer... and then it came to me!

The Thomas Crown Affair! Oh man, I was so proud of myself when I walked over to the T section and found this little number. It's almost the exact same image, with the exact same expression and formatted in the exact same manner with similar colors and tones as the other. Keep in mind that these two movies are in no way related or sequels/prequels of each other. Here's one more cover, although it's not quite a spitting image of the others it still has ol' Brosnan with the right half his face darkened.

So good!

Now, for your viewing pleasure, here they are all lined up:

The Great Gatsby

2011-01-10T15:18:00.000-09:00

I decided I'd spend my last leisurely day of break with a good book. I've been wanting to read The Great Gatsby for a while now and thought there'd be no better time than now. I'm about half-way through and I picked out a few memorable lines that I just had to share.

"I bought a dozen volumes on banking and credit and investment securities and they stood on my shelf in red and gold like new money from the mint, promising to unfold the shining secrets that only Midas and Morgan and Maecenas knew."

"It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again... there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget: a singing compulsion, a whispered "Listen," a promise that she had done gay, exciting things just a while since and that there were gay, exciting things hovering in the next hour." (Nick describing his cousin, Daisy)

"Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it." - Daisy

"For a moment the last sunshine fell with romantic affection upon her glowing face; her voice compelled me forward breathlessly as I listened - then the glow faded, each light deserting her with lingering regret like children leaving a pleasant street at dusk." (Nick and Daisy on the veranda)

"Mr. Mckee was asleep on a chair with his fists clenched in his lap, like a photograph of a man of action. Taking out my handkerchief I wiped from his cheek the remains of the spot of dried lather that had worried me all the afternoon."(This reminds me of Adrian Monk. I laughed out loud.)

"People disappeared, reappeared, made plans to go somewhere, and then lost each other, searched for each other, found each other a few feet away." (Nick explaining the early hour rituals after an evening party)

"He smiled understandingly - much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced or seemed to face - the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey." (Nick describing Gatsby after finally being introduced)

"It started because she passed so close to some workmen that our fender flicked a button on one man's coat.
   'You're a rotten driver,' I protested 'Either you ought to be more careful or you oughtn't to drive at all.'
   'I am careful.'
   'No, you're not.'
   'Well, other people are,' she said lightly.
   'What's that got to do with it?'
   'They'll keep out of my way,' she insisted. 'It takes two to make an accident.'
   'Suppose you met somebody just as careless as yourself.'
   'I hope I never will,' she answered. 'I hate careless people. That's why I like you.'"
(Jordan Baker defending her driving)

I Saved 75% On My Christmas Candy By Being Studious

2011-01-03T19:13:00.000-09:00

CONGRATULATIONS TO ME! Why you ask? Because, BY GEORGE, I'VE GOT IT! I've mastered the art of predicting holiday candy clearance sales at Target!

After observing several holiday sales at Target I realized that there was almost no set rhythm, pattern or method to the madness that is the discount rates on holiday candy and the increments of time for which they remain on the shelves. There are of course various influencing factors such as the success of holiday season sales which directly correlate to the surplus of inventory after the season has ended.... ok, so I have no way of figuring any of this out but I have been collecting data the best way I can which is by visiting at varying intervals of days and seeing what the typical amount of time it takes for candy to reach 75% without selling out or being cleared off the shelves to make room for something else. OK, so I'm already starting to feel a little sorry for myself and my lack of better things to do so I'll go right ahead to the point:

- Each holiday is a little bit different (yet)
- 7-9 days after the holiday in question is the average amount of time it takes for the discounts to reach 75%
- Holidays like Halloween and Valentines Day and Easter will reach their maturity date or peak faster than Christmas candy yet it will stay on the shelves longer without being cleared or sold out because people don't realize that candies get special Christmas/winter editions that are required to be cleared off shelves within a certain time. So in very rare occasions discounts will linger at 90% before disappearing.

People laughed when I told them about my theories (even the dude at the cash register!) but I saved $25 today! Who's laughin' now?

Oh, also circled in red are my fish sticks and custard-filled eclairs. I've been a little sick lately and haven't had much of an appetite but I was watching Dr. Who last night and he was only able to satisfy his hunger with some fish sticks and custard and it sounded kinda good so I thought I'd try some.

New Years Day

2011-01-02T00:31:00.000-09:00

The weather was so warm I thought I'd try and seize me up some day with my skates! You can watch a clip of my slippery adventure here.

New & Old Year's Lessons

2011-01-01T02:34:00.000-09:00

The week after Christmas is characteristically somber. It's ironic that weeks worth of turkey-fueled shopping sprees and airwaves thick with cheery music just lead to a flickering end. I really didn't intend for this to be a depressing post but that sort of seems to be where this is headed, eh...

WELL, what I'm trying to say is that, this shouldn't be the way things are. I know it can be hard to say goodbye to the visiting loved ones and to take down the lights and the tree but none of that was what we should have been focusing on this season. With turkeys, roasts, candy canes, and visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads, so many of us have forgotten that Christmas is the day we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The eggnog and fruitcake may only be here for a short while (and for good reason (that junk is atrocious)), but the love shown and the blessing of sins being forgiven for us is everlasting.

I remember as a child, after opening all those presents under the tree I'd ask my older and infinitely wiser sister how many days were left until the next Christmas. She always seemed to figure out that number awfully quickly and spout it out, after which upon realizing that it was a fairly large number I'd be instantly dejected and resort to fantasizing that everyday were Christmas. It sounds like a childish dream and not much else but that's actually the way we really should live. As a kid I probably meant I wanted to get loads of new toys everyday but the reason why I (now just a fairly older kid) believe that "having Christmas" everyday is an incredible idea is because we need to always be mindful and thankful of the birth of Jesus. We are saved because of Him and remembering His gift to us of salvation should always be with us.

So, this and not the sugary apple cider of the season or the fatty-fat prime-rib roast I cooked for Christmas dinner is the reason why I was still cheery days after Christmas. Let's hope I can keep this going year-round. I certainly have a lot to be thankful for. I have a luxuriously long vacation during which I can sleep in and watch gratuitously violent movies like Knight & Day (violence is bad, I didn't enjoy it, don't judge me), get a chance to go out with charming friends and share a slice o' pie (with pleasantly unpleasant waitresses and all) and fire off some home-made bottle rockets (see above) and nearly singe my face off.

Side note: as I was gingerly gluing those several year old firecrackers on, I was being extra tender because I remembered that episode from one of the earlier seasons of LOST when they find an old pirate ship with ancient sticks of dynamite in it and a bunch get blown up because those dum-dums were being all "oh, don't worry this won't ever kill us". Anyway my rocket malfunctioned and it came within a couple feet of hitting me. Lesson learned.

The top picture is of a crazy dance number on some Korean award show for the new year. Trust me, even if the picture were in context it would still seem ridiculous.

Summary: use firecrackers sparingly in home-made rockets, don't let Korean award shows catch you off guard, and celebrate Christmas everyday by remembering God's love for you!

Toast... and Maybe Some Cereal

2010-12-30T16:34:00.000-09:00

One of my favorite places is my neighborhood supermarket, Carrs. Apart from varying period specific wall decorations that largely keeps everything in an eighties-esk atmosphere, the place has remained unchanged for twenty-plus years or as long as I can remember. Today I was feeling particularly under the weather yet huge deals which offered "buy one get one free" on Nathan's Hotdogs and courteous bakers who accepted a special order of mine to make fruit tarts (which my family loves) for tomorrow morning at no extra charge really made me feel at home.

Pleased with both my purchases and savings I walked out with a reusable grocery bag in one hand and a gallon of reduced-fat milk in the other. Traffic is usually horrible right outside of Carrs and today was no different, so I prepared myself for a brief wait in the cold as all those brutes in their massive winterized vehicles would probably not care nor even be capable of spotting me there on the side of the road. Before I even came to a complete stop however, a man in said ginormous pick-up truck had slowed down and begun waving me on with a smile. As I crossed I raised my right hand in which I held the gallon of low-fat milk to show my gratitude (something I usually do, omitting the milk part).

At that moment, that gesture felt just as if I were toasting that kind soul, a toast which was fit only for a huge gallon of low-fat milk, but in retrospect not only did I want to give a toast to that man but to every individual this year that's shown me generosity (and those who didn't), to every moment of joy and laughter, to every moment of trial and error, to every lesson thoroughly learned and absorbed (and the lessons I still may need a review on in the future), that gallon of milk was my toast in appreciation for every blessing that I've been given this year and with the future in mind, any that I may receive in the year to come.

Have a wonderful New Year!