Wall-E Wallpapers

Check out these cool Wall-E postcards designed by our pals at DCP RSM.

Republicans

Coob read my post and wanted to know if I thought he and other Republicans were cannibals, swingers, or child molesters. To clarify, I do not think these things of Republicans (except for possibly the cannibal part), I think that of people I don't know. I'm paranoid, get it. I'm making fun of myself here, people.

Don't get me wrong on Republicans. Several of my best friends and most of my famiily are Republicans. Just because they are wrong on virtually every issue facing this country doesn't make them any less lovely as people. And they earnestly care.

So, in closing, Republicans are super people, just don't vote for them.

People I don't know, on the other hand, be afraid, be very afraid...

Evolution of Apple's design language

Edwin Tofslie has has put together this handy snapshot of how Apple's design language has evolved. What I love about Apple is that while they trying to keep details consistent, they don't design from a style guide. They let the design evolve and design for the product, not for some false sense of continuity.

Cottie's Conclusions

'Stador has made a determination regarding the alleged Republicanism of the birthday party attendees today:

I see that you're not too good for Coors Light.

Those people are almost certainly Republicans, if they vote at all.

Crack open another cold one and start talking about how you just let your kids play in the back yard and how they can go to college if they feel like it. Then you won't have to go back...

I am not too good for Coors Lite. But let's face it, given the choice...

Coors Lite is near beer. In addition to having no taste I could drink it all week and not get drunk, but conversely, I get a hang over off a thimble of it.

Even more evidence

And they had old people. Lots and lots of them. Republicans like old people because a lot of them are old people. Democrats like to talk about old people and all the benefits they need, but they don't really want them sitting on their furniture. They want old people to have benefits so they can stay at a nice comfortable distance.

I'm an independent by the way.

More evidence

They have a security system.

The husband must be a firefighter. They have fire engines all over the place. They have two framed collectable plates of fire dogs hanging in their living room. And a huge print of Mickey Mouse shaking the hand of a fireman.

Oh, they must love Disney. Its a Pooh party. And they have Mickey stuff every where. They even have Ratatouille toys.

Now I love the mouse, but its a statistical fact that Democrats don't have licensed merchandise except Sesame Street, Clifford, and Dora. Dora is the only thing Dems allow other than PBS because it teaches their kids Spanish and they think that makes them more cultural and better people. Democrats prefer to buy their kids learning toys that are made of either wood or hemp and are not fun to play with.

At some kids birthday party

Its a swim party with lots of little pools. Fun for the kids.

I don't know these people. But I think they are Republicans. Here's my evidence:

1. We are in Pomona which is dangerously close to Orange County.

2. They have no foriegn beer. Only Coors Lite and Michelob Lite.

3. They are talking about getting involved in school, and how their kids need to be in lots of activities, and stocks, and property.

4. They don't recycle.

Circumstantial for sure. But I think these facts taken together point clearly to Republicanism. The Coors Lite is particularly damning.

This is the social problem I run into all the time. I don't like people I don't know. Its not that I'm shy. I'm not. Its that I don't like them. I assume they are cannibals or child molestors or swingers.

Craft LA

Part two of my anniversary. Went to Craft LA, the restaurant of Tom Colicchio, the head judge of Top Chef, that just opened in LA.

The Good

- The Chicken egg, lobster, and bacon appetizer was killer!

- The Japanese white fish, very meaty and well seasoned

- The Miso black cod was excellent. Jon, take note.

- The potato gnocchi

- The Byaldi a la Pixar's Ratatouille

- The service which was mostly excellent (see below). Two waiters per table. No waiting. Ever.

- The gelato sampler. Oddly, the olive oil was one of the best. Also, the blueberry was tremendous.

- The donuts. Deadly and delicious.

- Chef Tom was there! And so was Heidi Fleiss!

The Bad

- I placed my reservation of OpenTable.com. I received a confirmation for 6 pm Friday. At 4 pm Friday, I received a cancellation notice. I called and they said I was supposed to confirm by phone. But I checked the OpenTable confirmation and there was no note of that. They got me a reservation a hour later. But people, if I wanted to call you, I would have done. Don't go internet if you won't go all the way. I mean, this is an anniversary and I could have looked like a schmuck.

- The foie gras was gamey and the strawberry sauce was weird and didn't compensate

- The wagyu beef medium rare was more just rare and it was tough. This wasn't helped because we were outside and it was chilly.

- The Hen in the Scratch mushrooms were oversold.

- The waiter screwed up and brought us the wrong fish. But they made up for it. They gave us the wrong one and brought us the new one. She almost screwed up desert too, but someone else double checked.

- The wait sfatt was very attentive but it almost felt like they were fighting to take of you.

So all in all, one of the better meals I've eaten in LA. But a little work still needed. I would still strongly recommend it and despite the screw ups, we had a good time.

Lyle

Was great!

Penn of Penn & Teller was there. He's tall.

I just held hands with a man...

Who looks like Scott Steiner. KD Lang told me to.

Okay look. I came here to see Lyle Lovett, but this is just getting out of control.

Man, this lady can sing.

Watching KD Lang sing

She's wearing white linen pajamas and no shoes.

Oded is a funny bastard

This is from my friend Oded. Its funny. Check it out!



I told him the same thing happened to me.

Back

Despite a typhoon, an earthquake, and a nuclear leak, it was one of my most productive and positive trips to Japan. Now I am back home safe and sound.

It seems like all we did was shop. Three of the four days we were there, we went to retail. Japanese retail is the best and you always find cool and odd things.

One night we went to dinner with the local VP of Toys at Nobu Tokyo. Its in a wierd place near the US Embassy in the middle of nowhere. Dinner was good, but the dining room was empty. It was a holiday, but I get the sense that Japanese don't want to pay 3x the price for sushi and popcorn shrimp. After that, we tried to go to a place called Drunkard's Alley with all these little bars the size of a closet that only hold 3 or 4 people. The bar we were going to was closed. So we went to a bar that turned out to be a hip hop/reggae bar frequented by African gansta wannabesa and GIs. These guys were really hostile because there was a fight on and their guy lost. We pretty gaijin were dead meat. But then we befriended a GI from Texas and no one screwed with us.

Don't mess with Texas!

High School Musical

We gave Gizmodo a chance to announce our High School Musical LCD TV and iPod speaker dock today. Both are really cool. I think every tween to college student is going to want one. The locker is an absolute classic, IMHO. These things are ever cooler, and cuter in real life. And Starlite has done an excellent job on the manufacturing. You can get them at Wal-Mart and Toys 'R Us this Fall. Other retailers will probably come on as well. Shout outs to Randal Ouye who designed this and Bobby Saygan who gave us the idea.

There's more great stuff from Disney Electronics to come this fall!

Tokyo

Made it to Tokyo safe and sound. The typhoon is moving away from Tokyo apparently. But the benefit is that the roads are empty. We got through immigration and customs in record time. We got to the hotel in only 50 minutes. It normally takes up to 2 hours. So if you plan to come to Tokyo, try to come the day of the typhoon.

Typhoon

The typhoon is headed to Tokyo. They are telling us they may have to divert to Osaka and "arrange transportation from there". This sucks. Japan, though it has many positives, is a pain in the ass. This just makes it worse. This trip was screwed up already. Tomorrow is a holiday in Japan, so we have nothing to do. Might as well be at home. Now I will likely be stuck in a hotel. Some of the people I want to meet are not there now because their plans changed.

The universe does not want me to go to Tokyo. Wish me luck!

Missing home

I'm at the end of the first week of a two week trip to Asia...and I really miss my wife and kids. I have so much fun with them when I am at home. Charlie is learning to write his name and Jack is learning shapes. I'm missing that.

I did the math and I travel 2 to 3 months a year! (1 week per month x 12 months = 12 weeks / 4 weeks a month = 3 months!) That's a lot! I like the international part of my job, but not that much!

I gotta slow down!

Shangri-la

Its one of the nicest hotels in HK with some of the worst architecture, interiors, and resturants. But the rooms and Cafe Too/Kool make up for it.

Yesterday, we went to the pool at the Island Shangri-la. Its one of the best pools I've seen. Its nestled in the mountain and very scenic. The water is cool but not cold like American pools. It was awesome. Very relaxing.

Now I'm sunburned.

Becks

CNN is still covering the arrival of David Beckham in the US. Its been like 3 days of non-stop coverage. You would think he brought the cure to cancer with him. I wonder if this story is getting as much play in the US?

Will it help American soccer? I guess its worth a try. But Americans love American sports. Its hard to find much love in their hearts for soccer and hockey. Which is a shame because both are much more fun to watch than, say, American football. Football is slow and boring with people standing on the field most of the time. But nothing is more American. Can Americans love both our football and what the rest of the world calls football? I doubt it, but let's see. Those soccer moms you hear so much about raised a whole generation of soccer kids. But let's see if they watch.

Goodbye HK, Hello Tokyo

Leaving HK today. Going to have one last b-fast at Cafe Kool. Then off to the airport and into Tokyo. I hear there is a typhoon. I'm a little worried about that.

Sitting in Beruit

Restaurant that is. In Lan Kwai Fong in HK. Going to have some shawarma. (But no shisha.)

LKF has almost every type of restaurant you can imagine. All themed to their style of food. Its like World Showcase in Epcot.

Just saw Harry Potter

Really good. Left me wanting more.

Jet lag

I'm definitely going to be a little lagged today. I've been waking up since 1 am on and off even with Ambien. Finally awake at 4 am. Not bad and I've made through this way before. But I have a long day of meetings planned.

Spork

They have fancy sporks at this Tapas Bar. Weird.

Home sick already

Miss my wife and kids. Has a good 4th July weekend. My mom came out. Went to the beach on Laguna. It was cold and overcast, but still fun. This trip is 2 weeks almost. Hate these long stays.

Tapas

Sitting at Tapas Bar in Kowloon Shangri-la waiting for Jon and Rich. Bar is pretty crowed. A group of noisy Midwestern women in the corner in cheasy cut off jeans skirts and big '80's hair. Terrible.

Twittering

I'm going to try something new on the blog. Instead of waiting for a long time to post some long article-ish rant, I'm going to do smaller Twitter style posts. But I'm not going to use Twitter because I don't know anyone who wants to get SMS from me all day.

Transformers

Saw Transformers with Charlie this week. I was HUGE for Transformers when I was a kid. Thought the movie was pretty good. I would have liked it better except for one thing I can't forgive - they gave Optimus Prime lips. Everyone knows Prime has that cybermuffle thing, not a mouth. Prime with a mouth just ain't Prime. Shame on Hasbro for letting Bay do this.

Some other complaints - Bay used that "you are there" documentary style camera work a lot in the action sequences. You couldn't tell what the fuck was going on. I wanted to sit there and bask in the glory of these CG Transformers, but all I really got (other than what was in the trailer) was a blur. Story was a little weak, but what did you really expect? And I hate the Deceptions (and not in a good way). You can't tell them apart and they don't transform into anything. What is Megatron supposed to be? Also, I felt the movie was lacking some moments of Prime as the big leader we all love him to be. We got half Prime.

Things I liked - They used Peter Cullen from the TV show as the voice of Prime. Cullen is Prime. Wise choice on Bay's part. Oddly, I liked Bumblebee as a Mustang. I don't think he would have worked as well as a bug. I did, however, feel they missed out on the key aspect of Bumblebee's character, that he is an overeager rookie who screws up. Megan Fox is hot. 'Nuff said on that. And I'm really liking this Shia LeBouf kid. Just saw him on the plane in Disturbia and I really like his acting. He's going places. Lastly and most importantly, the Transformers (when you could see them) looked awesome!

So I'm pysched that Transformers is back. Definitely more good than bad. My son is huge into them now. I let him watch the first season of the Transformers TV show from the '80s on Joost, which is a whole other post I should do.

This is a good turn from one of my beloved childhood properties. Hasbro really fucked Transformers up. First with the '86 movie that killed Optimus Prime (and Megatron, sort of.) And then with stupid shit like Maximal Prime that transforming ape. The TV shows went to shit. Bad CG with no articulation on the characters. It was paractically animated with a Lite Bright. Now Transformers has the zeitgeist that Pirates did last summer (sorry, Disney, I'm just keeping it real.) Don't fuck it up Hasbro.

Stuck in traffic in Hong Kong

Miserable.

Cottie won't take Fox's crap

'Stador has some harsh words for Fox's attack on Fred Rogers:

"Jesus Christ.

The only real thing those bastards have against Mr. Rogers is that he was and is the best argument ever for PBS, which they despise. That and the fact that they'd assrape Mother Theresa if they thought it'd give them a bump in the ratings. They're vicious, diseased whores. And cowards, since I guarantee you they'd never have had the balls to say that while he was alive. He'd have invoked equal time, and used his Jesus-aikido to reveal them as the shiteaters they are.

In the end, they're just pissed because they're little revolution is going to die with the embittered Baby Boomers, and then those of us raised on Mr. Rogers can get back to having a normal Western democracy.

Pigfuckers."

Amen, brother. Amen.

Fox News Attacks Mr. Rogers

Fox News recently ran an extensive piece on why they think Fred Rogers destroyed an entire generation of children. His crime to tell them "you're special". One of their commentators goes so far as to call him "evil".

Fox's many crimes against truth are well known, but attacking Fred Rogers is an all new low. I mean, come on, Fred Rogers. Are you serious? You can lie to the American people about all manner of things, but do not, and I mean this, fuck with Mr. Rogers.

Fox News, I hope you rot in hell.

Do No Evil

Many might remember Google sanctimonious IPO prospectus in which the founders said the company's motto was "Do No Evil". Their high and mighty, if well intentioned, tone was obnoxious then, but its hypocritical now. Google's blog for those interested in advertising for the health sector posted a blog called "Does negative press make you Sicko?" in which Google promises to uses its "ever-expanding content network" to "place text ads, video ads, and rich media ads in paid search results or in relevant websites. Whatever the problem, Google can act as a platform for educating the public and promoting your message." All for a fee of course. Where's the moralizing now?