What is On Jeffs' Mind

The past week was nothing short of a nightmare in regards to work.

Earlier in the month, at work we attempted to migrate our clients Microsoft Sharepoint servers from 2003 to 2007. Our first attempt at it had to be backed out after we discovered some problems with performance and issues with adding users. The adding users was resolved quickly, but the performance problem dogged us for a week and a half. Many calls to Microsoft support, lots of logging and investigation was spent. That troubleshooting led to having to work on the 20th and 21st in attempts to solving the issues. So on the Saturday, I start work, only to find that one of the servers was not operating, after a full day of troubleshooting, it was decided that it was best to reinstall Sharepoint. Boy, was that a mistake, we installed it, but the resource that we had, got busy on other things, and we were left with an unconfigured Sharepoint. Throughout the week we worked on the performance problems, only to find in the end, that it was a netbios issue in that it resolved the SQL servers name slow. So essentially, adding the SQL servers into the local hosts file for the Sharepoint servers fixed the issue with the performance. After that we continued on with the configuration, but ran into a problem well trying to configure the SSP for the farm. Another call to Microsoft, and working late at night with a deadline date looming. After a few stressful hours, the fix was found, and involved running a command on our second Sharepoint server. A few other issues were resolved, and we were ready for our Migration.

Armed with my steps on migrating, I set out on Saturday to start the configuration. Well it could not have gone any worse. Our first attempt failed, when we could not load the front page. We decided to try again, as we felt some other config we had done earlier in the week was causing an issue. The second attempt was a failure as well. People were getting pretty worried, as these servers needed to be done by March 31′st and this would be our last attempt. Another call to Microsoft, and we worked through the night and into Sunday troubleshooting the site. Finally after hours and hours of troubleshooting, we copied over the part of the Sharepoint site that was working from a different server. That fixed the issue, and the servers were done.

The past week was probably the most stressful and most hours I had ever worked. I had worked basically double my hours for the week, and all very stressful. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I did not get a chance to eat my supper until 12:00 am each night. The only bright spot in the work week was the Star Trek comic I received from my friend Rick in the mail, it is cool, and I am looking forward to reading it. I would start work around 7:30 and would not be finishing until 12:00 am, so basically lived the job. The second weekend, I worked from around 7:00 am Saturday morning until 2:00 pm Sunday, only taking a few hours off to go setup for the toy show on Sunday.

Probably the hardest part of the weekend, was that I ended up missing a good part of the toy show. once work had finished on Sunday, I headed to the toy show, but only got to spend a few hours there. I had a table again this year, and was so looking forward to selling and talking to all the different people. Jason shared the Table with me, and covered for me. He actually did a great job selling my stuff, he sold a lot of the stuff I could never the previous few toy shows. By the time I arrived at the show, most of what I brought was sold, so that was a pleasant surprise. But it was a real disappointment to miss so much. I was there to setup and there to tear down, but missed the real heart of the show. I was happy to get there for the final few hours, talk to a few people, wander around, and man the table.

I was so tired after working straight so many hours, but I am really glad I went. My friend Dale had a great setup of all his Kubricks, it was incredible to see all the Star Wars Kubricks in one spot. Dale is the only known person in North America with a complete collection of Star Wars Kubricks, and his display was impressive. Dale also sold me a set of Boba Fett Kubricks that were on the card. They are the first set of carded Kubricks I have ever bought. It is beautiful, as there are six different variations of Boba Fett. I am really impressed, and so happy Dale sold it to me. He told me about it on Saturday well setting up, and then told me again about it. I am just so happy to buy these, they are just so awesome, and since I have been a Fett fan, really something I should have in my collection. I am going to check with my Wife to see if there is some way I can get this mounted so I can hand it on a wall. The car backs for these are cool as well, as they mimic the Vintage Star Wars Kenner figures from back when I was a kid. All I can say, are these are awesome, I am so glad I went to the show, and it helps make up for a hell of a week.

Tags: Boba Fett, Dale, Jason, Microsoft Sharepoint, Rick Moyer, Star Wars Kubricks, work

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

A few weeks back, I got all my books sorted out and picked up on my reading again. I had been reading very consistently earlier in the year, but when the move came, I stopped, and was never able to get it back on track again. Reading at time for me is like exercising, in that I can get into a rythme and do it, but once I fall off, takes some effort to get back on. I really do like reading, and it was not that I wanted to stop, but for whatever reason, it took awhile to pick it back up.

I really like reading Star Wars and Star Trek books, to the point that those are really the only ones I read. I guess for me, I just like the thought of continuing in a universe that I am very familar with. The stories I really enjoy, and at times I find them much more deeper then what we have seen on Movie or TV screens. Another reason for me, is that I find it much easier to get into these books, as I know all the characters and situations so well. Some times with other books, not based off any particular series, I struggle to really understand the environment and the characters, since I don’t have a frame of reference to start with.

Not to say that I would not like to stray from Star Wars and Star Trek books, and try something different. I hope if I can keep up with my reading, that my skills will get better, and maybe at some point I can give something else a try. I really like series based books more so with Stand Alone books. I have read a few Star Wars and Star Trek stand alone books, but just prefer the series based books. I like the idea that the stories continue to grow and there is a flow from one book to the next.

So far I have been doing well, since picking up books again on late October, I have read 2 Star Trek books, the last 2 in the Destiny 3 part series, a great series I really enjoyed. Right now I am read the second book in the Coruscant Nights series, and will probably read the 3rd when I am finished to complete that series. After that I got another Star Trek Titan book to read, Star Wars the Force Unleashed novelization and a Star Wars 501st troopers book. I have been trying to put in at least a hour a day with reading, and there are so many great stories I want to read, hopefully I can pickup my pace.

Tags: Reading, Star Trek, Star Trek Destiny, Star Trek Titan, Star Wars, Star Wars Coruscant Nights

Yay

Today we got an extra hour do to Day Light Savings Time. So I spent it not being overly productive. There is a few more things I can do in the backyard, but I will save that for some other day. Well, unless it snows, then Cest la vie. I need to start priming the basement walls for painting, but I think that will be a project for next weekend. There are a few boxes of books and CD’s that I should unpack, so I might work on that. It might be alright as well as I can flip through them a bit and look at them, since they are mostly Star Wars and Star Trek books. I also like Organizing my CD’s, call me OCD, but I like to put them in Order of release and Artist.

I still have a bit of TV recorded to catch up on, this morning I watched the final Formula 1 race from Abu Dhabi. Real cool looking track, some interesting racing near the end for second, but for the most part it was the locale that was interesting to me. Some of these F1 tracks look like something out of a Video game. The one things I really love about Formula 1 is the in car cameras, with my TV and HD, you really do get to see the excitement of being in one of those cars. I love it every time they cut to one of those cameras. I wish every car was mounted with one, and someday maybe have a channel or feed devoted strictly to those. Just really great stuff. After that I watched the last half of the Nascar race from Talledega, Typical plate racing, with a few big wrecks at the end. Looks like Jimmy Johnson pretty much has the championship wrapped up again. I don’t watch a lot of Nascar races, but things like Talledega get me watching. Maybe partly as waiting for the big wreck, but also reminds me of my online racing sim days, and all the laps I put in at Talledega in the Sierra/Papyrus Nascar Racing game. Those were some fun times, and not sure how many online races I did at Talledega, but it was by far the one I raced the most. I just got Forza 3 the other day for my X-Box 360, so over the winter months, looking forward to putting in some time with that. 3 Nascar races left, Texas is up next, but will skip that as don’t care for that track. Will watch Phoenix, as I like that track, and reminds me of my Online Sim days as I had a big Victory at Phoenix.

Days is moving away, so I should get to something else. I picked up reading again, and maing some good progress on the Star Trek book I am reading. I will have to go to the book store and get a few more books, and hopefully I can get back on pace to at least 1 book a month.

A quote from Calvin and Hobbes on Weekends, I pretty much believe this.

“Weekends don’t count unless you spend them doing something completely pointless.”

Tags: Calvin and Hobbes, Formula 1, Forza 3, Nascar, Star Trek, Star Wars, X-Box 360