David's Blog

I heard today that Joel Hodgson (creator of Mystery Science Theater 3000) will be coming to ILM to do the first live performance of his latest movie-riffing show, Cinematic Titanic. From his website...

I’ve just been interviewed by Lucasfilm online, in anticipation of Cinematic Titanic’s first live show and world premiere in San Francisco in December. We will link to that story as soon as it is released. Sorry, but this special live show is a closed event for I.L.M/Lucasfilm employees and guests only. As of this writing we are still negotiating some of the fine points, however I am pleased to mention that they’ve granted us the rights to offer this event to you, the friends of Cinematic Titanic, remotely and slightly after the fact - stay tuned.

I actually haven't ever watched an episode of MST3K all the way through...but I was a big fan of Joel's when he did prop-based standup routines on Late Night with David Letterman back in the early 80's.

Look forward to checking this out!

Technorati Tags: Joel Hodgson, Mystery Science Theater 3000, MST3K, Cinematic Titanic

Posted on October 31, 2007 7:37 PM | Permalink| Comments (1)

During the final fight between Optimus Prime and Megatron, the two fall to the Earth after using buildings to help brace their fall. When Megatron starts to get up, he flicks a human into a car and says "Disgusting." The human flies across the screen, hits a car and yells in pain.

According to the director's commentary on the HD-DVD version of Transformers, that "disgusting" human is the director Michael Bay (time 2:07:30).

Technorati Tags: Transformers, Megatron, Michael Bay, Director's Commentary

Posted on October 30, 2007 5:50 AM | Permalink| Comments (0)

My new phone was waiting for me when I got back from India. It is called the AT&T Tilt (a.k.a. HTC Kaiser).

What makes this phone special?

• Slide-out keyboard that "tilts" up like a mini-laptop
• Works with Exchange Server (I use this one)
• Internet Explorer
• GPS (maps will automatically track your location)
• 3G
• WiFi
• Touch screen
• Windows Mobile 6 Professional
• Instant Messaging with AIM, Yahoo, or Windows Live
• Microsoft Word (edit/view), Excel (edit/view), PowerPoint (viewing only)
• 3MP Camera
• Can be used as a high speed modem for a laptop
• Push to Talk

I hooked it up to Exchange Server tonight and now it is loaded with all my contacts, calendar, email and to-do lists that I keep in Outlook.

Technorati Tags: AT&T, Tilt, HTC, Kaiser, Exchange Server

Posted on October 30, 2007 12:24 AM | Permalink| Comments (0)

I was in India for the past week. My trip took me around the world. I started in San Francisco and changed planes in London Heathrow before continuing to Bangalore, India. On the way back, I went via Singapore and Hong Kong before returning to San Francisco.

I left SF on Sunday @ 4:50 pm PDT (Pacific Daylight Time) and arrived in Bangalore on Tuesday @ 6:00 am IST (Indian Standard Time)...more than a 24 hour trip.

To prepare for the time zone change, I stayed awake for the trip to London (10 hours 10 minutes). I slept for the 2nd leg from London to Bangalore (9 hours 25 minutes). When I arrived it was 6 in the morning, so the timing worked out well because I was ready to wake up.

I traveled on British Airways business class. The flight from SF to London had a really nice seating setup. You could raise a window between you and the person next to you and then it felt like you were in your own private area.

Here are some pics from the London flight on a 747-400...

Technorati Tags: Bangalore, India, London, England, Heathrow, British Airways

Posted on October 29, 2007 8:14 PM | Permalink| Comments (4)

My Dad and his wife Rosie came to visit me in San Francisco this weekend.

They aren't leaving until Tuesday. I have to leave today (Sunday) for India for a business trip. I decided to take Friday off so I could spend more time with them before I ditch them in San Francisco.

I've already given them the Presidio tour (home of ILM and LucasArts). So this time I took them to Skywalker Ranch (home of Skywalker Sound). We had lunch out there and then explored the area. It is a really beautiful and amazing place.

When we got back to town, we grabbed some grub at Asqew and watched Transformers.

Saturday, I took them wine tasting. We started at Gloria Ferrer (in Sonoma Valley) and tasted Champagne.

Next, we went to Napa Valley. I like Napa better than Sonoma...it is more picturesque. The grape vines are turning fall colors now.

We stopped at Robert Mondavi's winery. You get 2 tastes for $10 and you get to keep the Robert Mondavi labeled wine glass. Additional tastes are $3. This place is beautiful. Definitely worth checking out.

For dinner, we ate at a garlic restaurant in San Francisco called "The Stinking Rose." The food was great, with interesting atmosphere (garlic hanging everywhere).

Sunday we met for breakfast at Noah's Bagels. I forced them to watch "Death Proof" and then I dropped them off at Monaghan's for Bloody Mary's and NFL football while I got ready to head to the airport.

Great visit...thank you guys for coming out to see me!

Technorati Tags: Skywalker Ranch, Napa Valley, Gloria Ferrer, Robert Mondavi, The Stinking Rose, San Francisco

Posted on October 21, 2007 1:58 PM | Permalink| Comments (3)

I love studying well done/efficient UI's. Here are some great articles on UI I recently read:

• Visualizing Fitts's Law
• Bruce Tognazzini's quiz on Fitts's Law
• Bruce Tognazzini's "First Principles of Interaction Design"

Technorati Tags: Fitts's Law, Bruce Tognazzini, Tog, UI, User Interface

Posted on October 19, 2007 1:29 AM | Permalink| Comments (1)

Best movie series of all time...Star Wars or Lord of the Rings?

STAR WARS!!! ...until I hear Lord of the Rings Trumpet.

Star Wars

Star Wars Trumpet

Posted on October 11, 2007 9:46 PM | Permalink| Comments (0)

Turkish Star Wars is just the beginning! Other Turkish classics include...

Turkish Rambo

Turkish E.T.

Turkish Star Trek

Turkish Superman

Technorati Tags: Turkish Star Wars, Turkish Star Trek, Turkish E.T., Turkish Superman, Turkish Rambo

Posted on October 11, 2007 9:33 PM | Permalink| Comments (1)

For your viewing pleasure, I present the final scene from "Turkish Star Wars."

Star Wars

Turkish Star Wars

Posted on October 9, 2007 10:09 PM | Permalink| Comments (1)

Technorati Tags: Star Wars, Monty Python

Posted on October 9, 2007 9:50 PM | Permalink| Comments (1)

I started my next Xbox 360 adventure this week: Halo 3.

This is a *big* game for the 360...it made $170 million on opening day in the US. That makes Halo 3 the highest grossing entertainment product in history...and that includes movies! Amazing.

I've never played any of the previous Halo games, so I'm curious to see what all the hype is about.

I understand that multi-player is a big part of Halo's draw...so if you have an account on the 360, add me as a friend (and send my your real name so I know who I'm dealing with). My Xbox gamertag is "rgba."

Technorati Tags: Halo 3, Xbox 360, Video Games

Posted on October 9, 2007 9:41 PM | Permalink| Comments (0)

I'm getting packed now for a 4 day trip out to Las Vegas....leaving tomorrow morning. I'm meeting my old high school buddy Chris Franka out there to celebrate our birthdays (this Saturday). We have the same birthday...but I'm exactly one year older.

Any suggestions on what to see or do? Post away in the comments. I haven't made any plans yet.

Technorati Tags: Las Vegas

Posted on October 3, 2007 9:14 PM | Permalink| Comments (9)