What is On Jeffs' Mind

I have been on Vacation for the past week, with one more to go. So far it has been good and reasonably productive.

The main thing I wanted to accomplish with my time off was to make some progress on my basement. This week I think I was able to do that, as I made more progress on painting the basement. First I had to remove some ceiling stipple from some areas, that was a dirty job, so I am glad that I am finished with that. I will do some more painting today, and hopefully I can make some good progress on that. I think that I am a few days away from being completed with all the walls. After I was finished with my painting yesterday, I stood there and visualized where things would go. I am getting excited to be getting close on on having the basement done.

Yesterday Morning I went to Costco to pickup a few things for my wife. Well I was there, I picked up a copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements 8, the price looked reasonable. I had been planning on buying this for sometime, as I need it to edit pictures for my collecting podcast, Whats in Jeff’s Basement. Now that the basement is nearly finished, I can get back to that. I really hate the breaks, but I am hoping 3rd time is a charm.

Tags: Adobe Photoshop Elements 8, Basement renovations, Vacation, What's in Jeffs Basement

I have really been enjoying Hockey lately. Last Friday I went to the Edmonton Oilers game with my brother, they lost to the Dallas Star, but the game was entertaining enough. Actually the Oilers have yet to win in 2010 and the worst team in the league. I am not sure what it is but I am enjoying the games quite a bit. Maybe it is the race for last place in the league is thrilling, or watching all the new ways the team can lose, or maybe since the season is done, just doesn’t matter and can just watch the game for what it is, and not be concerned about wins. My wife doesn’t really under stand, and gets upset at me if I turn an Oilers game on, she was giving me strange looks as I was watching the Oilers get run over by the Chicago Black Hawks. On Thursday I was watching the Oilers play the St. Louis Blues, I was enjoying the game, but had to step away to do some work, and alas the Oilers Lost. Saturday will be a big game, the Calgary Flames are in town, lately they have been as woeful as the Oilers have, so it will be interesting to see who comes out with the win. The battle of Alberta takes on a bit of a new meaning.

Formula 1 teams are starting to launch their cars for 2010. So far it looks like there have been Launches for Ferrari and McLaren and a livery reveal for Mercedes. Both Mercedes and McLaren are going with a silver paint scheme, and of course Ferrari has its traditional red. I must say the McLaren looks very stylish, the Shark Fin on the back of the car gives it a different look then the Ferrari which does not. I always think it is interesting the production the teams put into these launches. Way different then in Indycar, where the only news lately is that Tony George is finally gone after all the irreparable damage he has caused, and who is not going to be showing up this season instead of who will. Check out the launch pictures here

Also, here is a cool Video from Redbull

Tags: Edmonton Oilers, Formula 1, IndyCar

Back in October, I decided to make the jump and get a Smart Phone. Plenty of people had them, and from what I saw, I was impressed with the capability. I decided to get the Palm Pre, mostly based off of some web videos I had seen of it, and I like slide type phones.

The phone for the most part I am satisfied with. The response on it is good, I am able to navigate around the interface fairly well. I find it pretty intuitive, and was able to get it figured out rather quickly without needing to reference a manual. The keyboard seems pretty good to me, and I am able to type out my messages without to many typos. I guess with the keyboard though, is that it is not useful if you are in landscape mode on the phone, but that is the design of the phone, and really no way around that without changing the design of the phone. Also I guess a complaint I have is that there is no way presently to record Video, which I think is a limitation for a phone in this generation. There are some hacks to get it to record video, but nothing official.

I have updated my Phone to OS 1.3.5.1, though I had a complaint about the previous release of the OS as it was unable to keep time accurately. I was pretty bugged about that, but when I updated to the latest it fixed that bug with the previous release. Out of the Box the phone kept time, but that one update did not. It was a very good thing it was fixed, as I think if it was not, would have been a huge disatisfier for me, as I don’t wear a watch, but use my phone to check the time.

The standard apps on the phone seem decent enough, the browser seems adequate, and the Bell 3g network seems ok when I am in a good location. It has a GPS in the phone so it can track your location, and you can use google maps on the phone. I am not sure if I would ever use it in replacement for a proper GPS, but I can see where in a pinch it could be used. It took a little bit to get the mail setup, but that really was not the phone, but me making sure I used the proper mail servers to send and receive email. The wireless was also easy to setup. Navigating between the open applications are nice as well.

A few complaints I have. The charger I don’t really care for, it is hard to access on the side, and the cover looks very fragile. I am sure this is by design so that they can sell the Touchstone charger. That charger looks innovative, just bugs me that it is additional cost, and pricey to boot. I guess these days, what should a person expect. I was intrigued by the charger, but I really doubt if I will ever buy it.

My Other complaint is my biggest complaint, the Apps available for this phone suck. They are located in the app catalog, but so far, all that is available to me is free applications, with the majority not being very appealing. Since I am in Canada, I am on Bell for this phone, so I can only guess there is no way yet for people in Canada to purchase the paid apps. I think what makes these phones really special, are the applications, and so far, I feel that Palm is way behind Apple iPhone and the Android based phones. I got an email the other day for some new games on the Palm Pre, I went and checked the App Catalog, and still the same free apps and none of the ones advertised. There are a few that are nice, like an AccuRadio which allows you to pick certain genre channels of Music. The AccuWeather app seems to have good forecasts and details also. I also have some more interesting but simple ones like a Bubble Level or a Flashlight, but beyond that, nothing that really prompts me to download and try. The games on the Palm Pre are pitiful. So far only have had access to the free ones, and they might be ok for a few plays, but none have any long lasting appeal. They do have something called Homebrew application on some websites, but requires a person to install software onto your phone to access these Apps. I am sure it is something I could do, but at this point, I really not wanting to do that. Maybe in a few months time I might try, and see if I can get more out of this phone. All I can say is I really hope that Bell and Palm can get to a point where some of these paid apps are available on the phone.

Right now, though the phone does as advertised, I am thinking once I get to a year, I might try a different phone and drop the Palm Pre. I just get the feeling it might never be main player in terms of Smart Phones. At this point in time, when October roles around, I might decide to go with an Android based phone if I don’t really see any changes with the Palm Pre in terms of apps.

Tags: Palm Pre

The contractors came today to finish up on some work in the Basement. The laid the carpet, and finished a few other things as well, such as attaching a light in my display area, and putting down some shelving. I had a redder color wood for the shelving area, but decided to go with a black colour, as it will match the Shelves I have more closely. Now back to me to do some more painting, and to purchase some baseboards, and paint them up. I also have to scrape some ceiling stucco off some of the walls and get those primed and painted also. It was so messy down there, so it was nice to get all the garbage out of there, and clean the basement up a bit. Will make it easier to move some things around, and I will not be trailing dust and dirt around the house after making a trip to the basement.

Carpet looks very close, probably as close as I was going to get, and over time it might fade a bit and match closer to what is already in the basement. I will continue painting the walls, I am painting them a cloud gray and quite happy with the colour so far. I think with White baseboards, should look very sharp.

So I am hoping over the next month I can get my painting finished, and then once the Baseboards are done, I can start moving things down there, and getting things setup. Really looking forward to the day, when I can have my collection setup, and can show to people who come over.

Tags: Basement renovations

Happy New Year

Hard to believe that the first decade of the 2000’s are done, it sure went by fast. It just seems like yesterday that I was working New Years eve 2000 due to the Y2K bug/scare. I guess time can really fly.

Reflecting back on last year, not really sure what to make of it. Work as always was a real challenge, and probably accounted for the low points of the year for me, as it was hectic and high stress the whole year through. In the summer Tao Tao and I moved into house, so that was the biggest thing to happen to us. I am happy to be in the house, and very grateful for the experience to be behind us. For the most part it went alright, but moving really is never fun, so we are planning to stay here for a long time. Tao Tao’s mom also came to visit in the summer, so it was nice for her mom to see where she lives. At the end of summer was big for the family as well, and fortunately it all worked out very well.

Looking at my resolutions for last year, I did not have many, some I kept, others I did not. Like most say, making resolutions seem to be futile, as more often then not, they are never kept and dropped rather early. My friend Rick has a great Podcast on the subject, and some great ideas about making small corrections over big changes.

In looking forward to next year, I have a lot I would like to get done, primarily in that I would like to get to a point in my life where I am happy and content. Presently, I don’t feel that way, and it all has to do with how I deal with life. Like many have said, you really can’t change things around you, but you can change yourself, so I am going to set upon that journey and see where it takes me. I guess some could say that is a resolution, but with the ending of the year, it has given me a chance to reflect on my life.

I guess another goal I have is to finish my basement. I started painting the walls, and so far very happy with the colour. I have some carpet on order, but have not heard from the Carpet store since the order was placed. Hoping that the carpet arrived and they had forgot to call me. I am really excited for the basement to get done, as I want to be able to setup my collectibles, and display them the way I had always wanted. Once that is done, hopefully I will be able to get working on my collecting podcast again and model building. With the home renovations, I have sort of learned to just do it, I had been planning on painting for awhile now, but things always came up. I went, bought the paint, and started, and finished about half the basement. As part of my personal journey, need to learn to do, and not stand on the sideline thinking about doing things. This basement will be a great exercise in doing that.

All the best in 2010 to everyone

Tags: Basement renovations, Happy New Year, Moving, Rick Moyer, Take Him With You

Just thought I would do a top list for the year in Movies and Television for me. Inspired by Rico’s recent Treks in Sci-Fi podcast in which he listed his top movies and and TV shows for the year.

Movies – 2009

I was looking over the list of movies for the year, and I think this year may have been the year I had seen the least amount of movies in recent memory. Looking over the list, there just was not a lot of big blockbuster movies that are usually my favorites. I suspect a big reason for that might be the fallout from the writers strike a year or two ago, and also the bad economy. Looking through the list, saw about 14 movies for the year (two on DVD), so not much to choose from for my top 5 list, but still a bit tough to choose. There were some great movies this year, but overall disappointed with 2009 for movies. So here is my List of my favorites for 2009

1. Star Trek

I only saw this movie once, and will admit I left the movie theatre feeling a little uncertain about my feelings, but with more reflection and reading what others had said, this was a great movie, and most likely my favorite for the year. I was so excited for this movie to come out, and for the most part it delivered for me. The casting was very well done, with only a role or two that for me did not work. The story was fast paced, and the way they fit this into the Star Trek time line was very novel, though left a bit of a tear in my eye. This movie I was anticipating a lot for it’s release to DVD and actually was a catalyst for me to get Blu-Ray. For as big of a Star Trek fan I am, I am surprised I have only watched this the one time, but that will be remedied very soon.

2. Terminator Salvation

For the longest time, my idea of the Terminator was really just limited to Arnold Schwarzenegger, but after watching the TV series, I was really opened up to the potential of this series. I was really anticipating this movie, and a lot, almost as much as Star Trek. This movie really delivered for me, I went into this movie really pumped and I left the theatre very excited as well. I really liked the idea of going to a time when Judgment Day had happened, and when the Terminators ruled the world. Christian Bale was fantastic as John Connor, he brought so much intensity to the role. I was also very impressed with Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese as well. His role of Chekov in the Star Trek movie was limited, but he really had a large part in this one, and he delivered. I know some have panned this movie, but I really cannot find any weaknesses in it to me, just a real solid movie to me.

3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

I felt that this was a very solid followup to the first Transformers movie. Plenty of action, great story, and brought back all the characters from the first movie. I found the action sequences between the Autobots and Decepticons much easier to follow in this movie from the previous. The humour elements were still there as well, and not over board, and the story moved along pretty well.

4. Trailer Park Boys countdown to Liquor Day

The Trailer Park Boys is a real guilty pleasure for me. I really enjoyed this movies, and carried on the Story really well. I had missed the last TV movie they had, but I was able to catch up pretty fast with this movie. The way the filmed this one felt different from how the series had been filmed, and even the first movie, but it gave the movie a feeling of a more  theatrical release. I always enjoy comedies such as this, and always like to laugh a bit at this form of humour. Certainly this is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I had plenty of laughs the whole way through, and ranked as a memorable movie for me this year.

5. Avatar

I just saw this movie, so it was fresh in my mind. This was the most expensive movie ever made, and it certainly shows it. I saw the Digital 3D release of it, and it was stunning. It was the first 3D movie I had ever seen, and must say I was impressed with the technology. I must admit, I was not blown away by this movie as some were, and took a bit of back and forth for it to get on my top 5 list. After some debating in my head, I had to include it, as for the most part I enjoyed this movie, and probably my only real complaint on it was that I felt it was a bit long. The story was simple, but the message was powerful, in how we treat earth. I had seen some previews, and was worried that the Na’Vi might look to animated, but they really fit in the movie. I suspect that this movie will be around for a long time, and will be a bench mark for other movies, and probably a staple in a lot of peoples video collections.

Honorable Mention: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

A lot of people really disliked this movie, but for me, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. I really only know about Wolverine and the X-Men from the movies, so I don’t know all the back story in the comics, so a lot of the hangups others had, I did not. I might get in trouble for saying this, but I felt it was better then some of the X-Men movies. It met my expectations and had a good time watching it.

Regrets

My regret for 2009 in terms of movies, was that I missed the latest Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I am not really a Potter fan, but had seen all the movies up to this last one. I was in the middle of moving at the time, so my schedule just never allowed for me to get to the theatre for this one. Hopefully I can see this one before the next one comes out.

Television 2009

For my complaints on the lack of big 2009 Movies, I found the 2009 TV season to be really great, and much more difficult to come up with my top 5 for the year.

1. LOST

All I can say is wow. Season 5 was incredible. They took the series in a direction that I really enjoyed, and every episode was solid. I can’t recall how many times I was left with my mouth hanging open after an episode. The writers and producers of this program are very creative, and did things I could never imagine. Season 6 will be the final season, and it will be so bittersweet. When this series comes to an end, I will miss it a lot, as everything about it is top notch. What they did with season 5 and how they handled the Losties who are on the island and the ones who were not was fantastic. This show is great, one of my all time favorites.

2. Terminator:  The Sarah Connor Chronicles

The second season of this series in one word was awesome. So how are we rewarded, it is canceled. I must admit I was really disappointed when it came to an end, as another great show, ended well before it’s time. It took me a bit to really warm up to the characters in the first season, but I really came to accept them in their roles. The Addition of Bryan Austin Green to the series in season 1 was great, and I found he had a strong character in season 2, which led to the most shocking scene of season 2. The second season was non stop, and left me waiting with much anticipation for the next episode. The Arc about the mysterious Terminator working for the corporation left me fascinated, as really never knew what to think of her. Sarah s search into Skynet was awesome as well, with her uncovering clues here and their. The really chilling John Henry Terminator was fantastic as well, and the clash for Johns attention between Cameron and Riley was great as well. This was a great series, sorry to see it go, but at least I have both seasons on DVD.

3. Fringe

This show started up last year in the fall, and I really enjoyed it. It has some great elements to it, with a heavy nod to the X-Files. Just like LOST, it is a JJ Abrams show, so there is plenty to watch in each episode, and plenty to think about after. The ongoing story arc is that the FBI agent Olivia Dunham is investigating weird Fringe Science cases that are linked by something called the pattern. She is getting help from Peter and Walter Bishop, a father and son team so to say. Walter is sort of a mad scientist, who had come up with a lot of the science they see in some of the cases they are investigating. All the major Characters have interesting pasts, which makes the show all the more deep. Walter was in a psyche ward for a number of years, and not all there, Peter has a checkered past with some real mystery to him, and Olivia seems to have a very close link to the pattern from her childhood. Great series, hoping it will be around for a long time.

4. Flash Forward

Started in the fall, this quickly became a real favorite of mine. Sort of similar to LOST in that we are introduced to a large cast of characters, and a big series wide mystery that drives the show. Basically at the start of the show, everyone has blacked out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds, and had a flash forward to May of 2010 where they saw a glimpse of what their life would be like at that time. An FBI task force was setup to investigate this and was dubbed Mosaic, and so far have been investigation leads and people in hopes to solving the mystery. The cast is fantastic, they story line is great and keeps me wanting to come back for more. Hoping the ratings stay strong for this one, as need a replacement for LOST when it signs off later in the season.

5. The Office

I really like The Office, and this past year has been great. Last season they went through a whole storyline of Michael Scott leaving Dunder Mifflin to start up his own paper company the Michael Scott Paper Company, the episodes were so great. This season we pickup with Dunder Mifflin going through some tough times due to the economy, and the series really does mimic what happens in the corporate world. The cast is always great, with Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute being my favorites, but I am really liking Andy Bernard as well. They have the show well cast, as you can see these characters in the places we work, they really do have a good read on the business and working world.

Honorable Mentions: The Mentalist/Castle

Two crime dramas with cool twists on them. With the Mentalist, the lead character Patrick Jane is a lot of fun to watch. He has a great skill of observation, and how he goes about helping the team solves the cases each week is great. The Mentalist also has a really awesome supporting cast that plays off well against Patrick Jane, great series. Castle is another new favorite of mine, and another crime Drama. Richard Castle is a Crime Novelist and his unique perspective he brings makes each episode a lot of fun to watch. Both shows are similar but different

Regrets

Cancellations, I really hate them, especially shows that I enjoyed. Two NBC shows jump out at me as being very disappointed at being canceled. The first one was a show called Life, another quirky police drama, that had a two season run. Fortunately they were able to bring the show to a conclusion and answer the questions. The other show was called Crusoe and was about Robinson Crusoe. It was a really fun action adventure show, with great sets and lite stories that most anyone could enjoy. Those with Sarah Connor Chronicles and the a lesser extent Knight Rider made me feel a little down about the 2009 TV season when it came to canceling shows I watched.

My other regret was the ending of Battlestar Galactica. Not so much that it ended, but that I felt it sort of limped out and don’t really miss it. I know some of the final episodes were very dramatic, but I found the answers to the over all arc and theme of the show to be a bit of a let down.  The second part of the series seemed to get wrapped up in its myth, and sort of tossed all the action oriented and stand alone episodes to the side.  I missed those elements as the series seemed aimed more at the non sci-fi viewers in this last season. The final season episodes at times came across very dramatic to the point of elitist, in the sense that they were determined not to tell a story with some action elements or even in a sci-fi manner. I will probably not be popular for saying this, but the final episode had some great moments, but other parts the story wrapped up very predictably and pedestrian. Caprica is to come, but what I have seen of it so far from the DVD sneak peek, it is heavy on the elements I did not enjoy much in BSG.

Tags: Avatar, BSG, Castle, Crusoe, Flash Forward, Fringe, Harry Potter, Knight Rider, Life, LOST, Star Trek, Terminator 4, Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Mentalist, The Office, The Trailer Park Boys, Transformers, Treks in Sci-Fi, X-Men: Wolverine