Seeds To Trees

Pengbird. The loveable child of a pigeon and a penguin also has an uncanny resemblence to a bowling pin.

Stayed tuned for more Pengbird Post-Its.

The new wave of netbooks has been one of the more intriguing technology trends within the last few years. We have netbooks primarily because there is now a legitimate business sector to manufacture small, cheap processors that handle basic functionality (web browsing, word processing, etc.). Before the era of cell phones, there was no market for this type of thing which is why you can see how the tiny-sized laptops of old had a huge price premium with little performance to back it up (Dell Latitude and IBM Thinkpad X series anyone?). Now, there is a great incentive to research and manufacture processors that are both small and high performing while retaining a tiny footprint and operating size.

Intel had really done something like this on a grand scale by producing their Atom based processors specifically for the ultra mobile computing platform and the smartphone sector. Because of this, we have things like the Asus Eee PC. For the first time, you could get a legitimate laptop for cheap and not sacrifice a whole lot really.

Well Thursday, September 4, 2008 we witness computer hardware giant Dell releasing their own version of a UMPC dubbed the Inspiron Mini 9.

This very attractive looking laptop has very similar lines and stylings as most Dell laptops. It sports either a modified Ubuntu OS or your standard Windows XP Home OS. The keyboard is a departure from the Eee’s because it doesn’t try to fit a full-sized keyboard into a non-full-sized base but modifies the layout to utilize full-size keys (for all you with fat or clumsy fingers). The laptop is completely fanless so that it operates on a truly silent scale. It has a backlit LED 8.9″ screen, 3 USB ports, a 3-in-1 media card reader, and a nice touchpad.

Some early reviews of the Mini 9 have indicated that the laptop doesn’t feel cheap. That’s a good thing, but what does it cost? We’re looking at a $349 to $449 for the machine which is quite a bargain for what you’re getting in my opinion. No, it’s not going to replace your desktop or main laptop anytime soon but if you’re like me and looking for a supplementary machine for casual web browsing, chatting, and blogging on the go, this new Dell could just might be the thing you’re looking for.

To find out if it is indeed practical and useful to have a netbook like this or the Asus might be ambiguous at the moment. For some it is the perfect minimalistic machine. For others, it may lack in a few critical areas. However, I think it’s safe to say that by purchasing a Mini 9, you’re really admitting that it won’t be used for any more than simple web browsing, reading, and writing. With that in mind, I think this new Dell looks sweet, especially at this price point.

I’m putting a white one on order. It’s a bit more expensive but man does it look sweet. I’ll let you know how it goes.

For about a week, Chris and I planned an epic dinner on Labor Day that would exceed all imagination. An 8 course (count ‘em, EIGHT) tasting menu served between 8 friends. We’re not talking about tastings of ordinary food either. Each course was going to be extravagant and to do that we had to unleash the good stuff. It was a team effort and everyone helped with the preparation. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, eight people in one kitchen is way too nuts for words to describe.

But wait, there’s more. Three more to be exact. Even after assigning groups to cook (Chris and I were going to do three dishes each and assigned two more dishes to others), we had some more dishes brought to the party that were all magnificent. So let’s summarize that up: an 11 course (count ‘em ELEVEN!) tasting menu served between 8 friends. Now that is mind bottling.

And now, the starting lineup:

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I’m talking to all, what… two of you maybe?

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One day inside a book-and-things store
I walked on through the “Little One’s” door
Not surprisingly though I saw the book quick
A collection of stories. A Seussian six

And there it was! Bright yellows and blues
No other book had those colorful hues
I picked it up, and flipped around
Then realized why I had missed the sound

Of rhyming words in perfect meter
My eyes enticed by imaginary theatre
No other books remind me of when
To finish a book yet be excited again

The Lorax - a quick sketch with Staedtler Triplus Fine Liners and a fine point Sharpie

Went to Barnes and Noble to look around and left with this book here. It brought back some great childhood memories and in as always, I was thrilled with the quality and thought that Dr. Seuss puts into each and every illustration. The style of his drawings is something that is near impossible to imitate. I’m not going to brag but I just about finished the book in one night. Hahaha… uh.

Okay, so the title is a bit cheesy but nonetheless true. We watched Michael Phelps get another gold and world record and Nastia Luikin and Shawn Johnson go 1-2 in the Women’s All-Around in a nervous but spectacular finish. All this was topped off by a perfect batch of Shrimpy (garlic, a metric ton of butter, shrimp, garlic, and more butter, broiled to the max), toasted cheese bread, foie gras in a can, and some decadent creme brulee.

I love cooking, eating, watching sports, and hanging out with friends so tonight was great.

I’m going to go to bed with an upset stomach now because according to my calculations I had about 3000% of my daily fat intake within a span of one hour. Going to the glamorous gym for my glutton for sure tomorrow.

So just in case you have been living under a rock or was during the most epic relay race (or race) in Olympic history, you have the opportunity to rewatch the whole thing in great quality on NBC’s website.

You have to download and install Microsoft Silverlight. It is painless and quite quick. Just run the executable after downloading it and you’re good to go.

Here’s the link.

Talk smack again people… see what happens.

Those of you that don’t know, Sam is a local San Diegan with a very entertaining cooking show on Discovery Health and the Padre Channel 4. He has a book too so go check that out!

For those of you who didn’t see the first video Sam the Cooking Guy waltzed right into an awkward situation on the Today Show. And he thought he was just going for a cooking demonstration…

First Time Around

Kathie Lee and Hoda Kotb was in for one heck of a surprise as their usual subjugation over the guest’s segment took a 180 as Sam the Cooking guy stopped them in mid-sentence and asked for one minute of silence so he could do his thing (and subsequently called them out for doing so on others!).

As if the above episode wasn’t awkward and rude enough,  they invited him BACK to the Today show this morning and they seeked vindication for Sam’s ‘transgressions’ on the previous episode. They even brought in an etiquette expert! Check it out:

Second Time Around, August 8, 2008

In my opinion Kathy and Hoda, you guys just seemed more rude than ever and I don’t mean in an entertaining way. I’m glad Sam took the initiative and defended himself on national TV while you guys snickered at him and played stupidly coy afterwards. Your loyal audience is not a dumb crowd, they know some genuinely rude people when they see it and it does not make for good TV. I hope the next time he gets invited back to NY for NBC it’s for his own show that runs right over your time segment.

I use this combination of shortcuts so often, it’s not even funny. Okay maybe it is funny because 1) I have a very limited vocabularly and 2) I spell things wrong all the time. If wasn’t for the built in spell checker Firefox comes with, I’d seriously sound like (more of) an idiot.

Sometimes when you’re chatting or writing an important email you want to sound intelligent right? You want to use big words like ’subjugate’, ‘vitiate’, ‘avoirdupois’, and ‘frission’ but yet lack the knowledge of where to get those words besides a thesaurus or your friend Alex the English major. Not only that, you don’t want to wait to scour through a slow online thesaurus (sometimes packed with ads or popups) or take the time to call up Alex (even though he’d probably love that you call him for every grammatical faux pas you are contemplating) - you want it quick… right now in fact.

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Chris at K-Line custom guitars is one of the coolest proprietors around. Ever since our first phone call about a year ago, Chris has exuded great passion for his work that is evident in the two guitars he’s created for me and the rest of the reviews I’ve read on the web. To work on his website was a neat experience because not only did I believe in his product but also because his guitars are tools that help shape me creatively on a day to day basis. I highly encourage you to check out k-lineguitars.com and see the quality of work he does in the gallery and just all the awesome things people are saying about his creations.

Chris initially contacted me about a site that he could edit and alter himself. Naturally I said that I could provide him with something that would be intuitive and well within budget. The solution was to create a Wordpress site with a customized theme. I initially sent him a layout that would closely resemble the finished site.

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