I find it interesting that for “V”, they went with “Voldemort” and not “Vader, Darth”.
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I Need Your Digital Camera Opinions
I like the form factor of my Nikon Coolpix SQ, but its sluggish
response time and the graphical “noise” it adds to images is beginning
to drive me bonkers. Since I have an upcoming wedding and plan to take
lots of photos of what’s supposed to be a major day in my life, I’m
giving some serious thought to purchasing a new camera and giving my
old one to my sister so she can always shoot pictures of the kids.
I’m still looking for a compact 3-or-more megapixel
mostly-point-and-shoot camera in the CDN$300 – $500 range that also shoots
movies with sound. It would be nice if the camera had a decent reaction
time. I might be willing to overlook a little compactness if it takes
standard AA batteries (I’d use rechargables, but it’s nice to be able
to buy fresh ones from the corner store in a pinch. I’d also like it if
it can shoot movies with sound.
I’ll be cruising a number of digital photography review sites as well as the Henry’s catalogue
to see what’s out there. If you have any suggestions that you’d like to
share with me and the rest of the web, please let me know in the
comments!
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By the Way…
You have donated to a relief organization for Hurricane Katrina, haven’t you?
Not the people of New Orleans:
Trick bikes and firearms: the necessities of life.
Certainly not the cops: [5.6MB, Windows Media video]
Helping themselves to shoes in aisle 3. Click the photo to see the video.
Not the municipal government, who could’ve used these now-useless buses in an evacuation:
Could’a hauled out a lot of people with these…
Not Sean Penn:
Read here for the story.
…and definitely not the federal government.
I’m hoping that the soldiers they sent over do a better job.
This is downtime, kids. I’d have posed for this picture in the exact same way.
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VB or C++ Contractor — Looking for a Gig?
My friend “Bones” is looking for a VB or C++ developer to do some work
for a client based in the Toronto area. The basicgist of the application that the client wants developed:
The
client needs a VB or C++ programmer to develop a taskbar
app that accesses DB information over the ‘net and relays it to a Flash
app which acts as the user interface. The Flash app will be
developed separately
but there will obviously be sufficient back-and-forth between you and
the Flash developer so that the development process will happen
smoothly.
I’d take it, but I’m swamped. But maybe you can! Does this sound like your kind of thing? Drop me a line (joey@joeydevilla.com) and I’ll hook you up.
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Patrick Stewart on "Extras"
Ricky Gervais, best know for his BBC television series The Office
(later duplicated by NBC) has a new (and very dry) comedy series called
Extras, in which he plays an actor struggling to land supporting and
background roles. To help, Gervais has lined up a special guest star
for each episode, each of whom plays a caricaturized version of
themselves in a manner reminiscent of The Larry Sanders Show. The
guests for the first season are:
- Ben Stiller
- Ross Kemp (brit TV celeb, I’m unfamiliar with him)
- Kate Winslet
- Les Dennis (brit TV celeb, I’m unfamiliar with him)
- Sameul L. Jackson
- Patrick Stewart
Here’s a samping: a scene in which Ricky’s character approaches
Patrick Stewart in his trailer asking him to use his clout to get
people to look at his script. Stewart deadpans beautifully in this
perfomance, which is pretty similar to the “Sexy Cakes” skit he
did years ago on Saturday Night Live. His closing line made me laugh
out loud.
Go take a look! [9.6MB, Widows Media Video].
Extras will start broadcasting in the U.S. on HBO on September 25th.
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Happy Baek-il, Ryan!
Meanwhile, back in Accordion City…
My nephew and sister’s youngest son, Ryan Joseph deVilla-Choi, turned
100 days old on Thursday. Ryan’s dad, my brother-in-law Richard, is
Korean, so we observed the Korean tradition of celebrating Baek-il, the
100 day anniversary of a baby’s birth.
The man of the hour!
The family gathered at my sister’s house, complete with Auntie Beth,
who’s visiting from the Phillippines, Mom and Dad, whom the boys refer
to as “Dodo” and “Yoya” (their pronunciations of “Lolo” and “Lola”,
Tagalog for “grandpa” and “grandma”) and Richard’s parents, who flew in
from Vancouver for the big event. The boys call them “Haroboji” and
“Halmonyi” (Korean for “grandma” and “grandma”).
From left to right: Nico, Ryan and Aidan.
We had a delicious Korean dinner of kimchi (spicy Korean cabbage),
galbi (barbecued beef), bin dae duk (vegetable pancakes), jap chae
(clear noodles) and Chateauneuf du Pape (okay, that’s not Korean — we deVillas and Chois believe
you can both pay homage to your own tradition and do the vive la difference thing). Richard’s folks certainly know how to cook up a tasty Korean meal.
If you’ve never had Korean food before, you’re missing out on a meat-a-licious treat.
100-day cake.
Dinner was followed by the traditional cake served on Baek-il: baeksolgi,
a very dense cake made of steamed rice. Something along the lines
of “Happy 100 Days!” is spelled out in Korean on top of the cake using
raisins.
I’m not all that keen on the baeksolgi — it’s pretty bland
and almost as dense as depleted uranium — but I gladly finished the large slice that Richard’s mom gave me to be polite. However, I will always show up at an event where Richard’s parents are making Korean barbecue.
Nico, Dad and Aidan watch the 100-day cake.
Baek-il is one of two Korean traditions celebrating the passage of a
baby from one age to another. In addition to celebrating a baby’s 100th
day of life, another very important birthday is the first birthday,
which the Koreans call Dol. Both traditions stem from “the bad old
days” when medicine and hygiene weren’t as advanced and the rate of
infant mortality was much higher. Making it past the first 100 days was
a sign that you’d live to see your first birthday, and making it past
your first birthday was a sign that you’d at least make it out of
infancy.
Frustrated with the lack of milk, Ryan takes matters into his own hands.
Congratulations, Ryan! Happy Baek-il!