Blog Master G

Since my last entry on the topic, I’ve shifted my contenders in my search for a new MiniDV camcorder to focus solely on the Sony models. From everything I’ve read, the consistent message — especially in
the message boards on Camcorderinfo.com, where there are quite a few strings comparing the TRV19 and the TRV22 — seems to be that the Sony is the way to go. In fact, many people who’ve purchased one of Canon’s ZR models, which I had nearly made up my mind to purchase, end up returning it and getting a Sony TRV instead.

So where I am now is trying to decide between the TRV19 and the TRV22. I’m heavily leaning toward the TRV22, especially for its analog-to-digital conversion feature (and the color viewfinder), but am struggling with the $100+ price tag difference ($579 for the TRV19 on Amazon vs. $699 for the
TRV22). Of course, there are better deals out there for the TRV22, but Jen is willing to kick down her $300 gift certificate, which is good at Amazon, thus bringing down the out-of-pocket price to about $400.

I have a feeling that if I don’t go for the TRV22, I may regret it later. And I need to decide soon, since I’d love to bring the new camcorder to Las Vegas this weekend!

Update (7.14.2003): See this post for my decision and links to great prices on the TRV19 and TRV22 from onecall!

Don’t let Bushenstein assemble his perfect, right-wing Supreme Court justices! Take action now.

Friday night Jen, Jess, Ben, and I headed to the Embarcadero to see the excellent documentary Spellbound, which follows eight junior high kids from all across the country on their journey to the 72nd Annual (1999) Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. The film was much like one of Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries (This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind) with one important difference: It was real. Real kids, real ambition, and really tough words (many of which I’d never heard) comprise the emotional, hilarious, and compelling formula behind this film.

From the opening scene to the last, Spellbound is up close and personal. It gets inside the lives and minds of eight brilliant kids — black, white, Hispanic, Indian, rich, poor, hyper, confident, nervous — and hooks you in. I was rooting for Angela, from a small farm in Texas where her father’s reason for not speaking English is that the cows don’t, so why should he? When Angela misses a word at the nationals and is interviewed backstage, she’s not unhappy. Her attitude is exemplar as she explains that she already feels like a champion for having made it this far. Adults could learn quite a bit from these amazing kids.

Bush led this country to war because, he claimed, Iraq was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction and the country posed an imminent threat to the United States. So where are all those weapons? And why did Bush lie to us?

Bush and his administration need to be held accountable for their serious actions that have led to the death of many innocent (and, albeit, not-so-innocent) people. Yes, the Iraqi people are now free, but that’s not the point. If a legitimate President can be grilled and nearly thrown out of office for lying about a private sexual act (whoop-dee-doo, what public official hasn’t cheated on his wife?), how can the American people not care when an illegitimate President lies to the people to advance his own agenda? This cannot and should not be tolerated. It is a dangerous precedent to set.

Speak out now by filling out a quick petition on MoveOn.org. Demand the following:

“Congress must establish an independent,
bipartisan commission to investigate and
hold the President and his officials accountable
if they manipulated or fabricated intelligence
to justify taking the country to war.”

I’m happy to report that I’ve just purchased one of the best movies I’ve seen in the past year: Shaolin Soccer. Directed by Stephen Chow with kung-fu action choreographed by Ching Siu-Tung, this film simply rules. It’s action-packed, hilarious (yes, it’s a kung-fu comedy), and has an awesome story with great characters. It’s won best film and best director, among other awards, in Hong Kong, and deserves all the recognition.

I still haven’t seen it all the way through, since the DVD I watched with Ben and Jess a few weeks ago was scratched, so I can’t wait for my new purchase to arrive.

Shaolin Soccer is a must-see movie for anyone who likes good action and has any sense of humor. If you can find it at your local video store (don’t bother looking at Blockbuster), you must check it out. You won’t be sorry.

The RSVPs for the wedding continue to roll in. In today’s mailbox there were 9 RSVPs, which bring the current total attendance (yes replies) to 70. Add Jen and me into the equation, and we’re currently looking at 72 individuals attending the wedding. Woohoo! (Our projected number is 150 guests.)

Of 160 mailed-out invitations (based on addresses, not individuals), we’ve received 70 RSVP cards, which is 43.75% response to date. Of these, 40 RSVP cards represent 70 guests; 30 cards represent “regrets” responses. 57.14% of received reply cards represent “accepts” responses.

Based on these numbers, if we apply the same math to the 90 outstanding cards, we can predict the following: We will receive 51.43 RSVP cards with “accepts,” representing an additional 90 guests, bringing the total just past our projection to 159.

Factor in conventional wisdom, which says that the majority of guests who will attend will reply early, and that brings the number down a bit. I’ll guess that our total will end up being 140; Jen is predicting 130.

Guess who the numbers freak in this marriage is?

My friend Larry Weinstein is the featured author in the latest issue of The Edge (#16), a horror publication. His last piece, Hot Coffee, was his first published piece that appeared late last fall. How cool is it to go from first published piece to the featured author on the cover in just two issues? Rock on, Larry! I look forward to reading this latest installment. Order your copy of The Edge today!

This weekend I’m planning to scope out the design of Larry’s new Web site, which should be fun.

Jen and I have known for quite some time that the Vassar Chapel was going to be under construction on our Big Day — though we were led to believe that the construction would be over by this coming summer. We found out well after we had booked the Chapel and begun other planning (it was around January this year, I believe, even though the Buildings & Grounds department had mailed the letter in November to our old Treasure Island address; it got stuck in the forwarding process for a couple months) that they were extending the renovation project for another year.

Today Shay sent me this photo (thanks, Shay!), which shows just how ugly the facade of the Chapel currently looks (and why we’ll be going elsewhere for our wedding photos). It’s pretty sad. I’m hoping the scaffolding won’t be quite so bad come July. But, as Jen so eloquently put it, it’s what’s inside that counts. I agree. I’m a bit bummed, but am not worrying too much about this. So it goes.

Things really heated up at work on the e-Learning front (in a good way) on Friday, so even though I’ve only been at work two full days since then, so much has happened that it seems like it’s been a week. Yesterday I was in meetings all day long, then headed straight home to pick up Jen, then off to Juan’s Place in Berkeley for dinner with Shannon and Jeff, swinging by Dad’s place on the way home.

It was last Thursday that I wrote my last entry and I thought it was about time I fixed that dry spell. I have this need inside me to write here often or I somehow don’t feel satisfied. I’m writing this in a hurry, though, Tuesday morning since I still need to get showered and dressed before my carpool ride arrives at 8am (I drove yesterday).

Saturday was the all-day going-away BBQ for Shannon, who’s moving to Syracuse. The day was lots of fun, but tiring. Sunday was laundry day and chill day around the house. Jen and I went to an open house on 10th Ave. I got my latest Web hosting client, my friend Dan (danrosan.org), all set up and configured with MT. Welcome, Dan!

Also over the weekend Jen and I took her scan of the old 100 Faces of Marin cover and tweaked it a bit for the latest book project. It now appears on the 100faces.org site and will be used in the promotional material, too.

Other things happening in my life these days: trying to find wedding song for our first dance; researching real estate investing (hoping to go to Bay Area Wealth Builders meeting tomorrow night); looking into dance lessons for me and Jen for the wedding; talking with Larry about creating a Web site for him; trying to finalize details for trip to Vegas in a couple weeks (woohoo!); needing to contact SF Police Dept. to file report of identity theft (already did so with Concord police); and other things I’m probably just not thinking of right now.

Wow. This has got to be one of the funniest and most awesome things I’ve seen in ages: An actual ghost in a jar for sale on eBay. The bidding ended today and gary_the_gimp_horn (with 2 negative feedback ratings) is the winning bidder for a whopping $50,922. That guy is one lucky bastard. He now gets his very own ghost (assuming he pays for it). Below is a screenshot of the page as it stands today.

Original eBay URL:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll…

Downloaded ghost in a jar page on my server for when eBay page expires:
http://www.blogmasterg.com/life/extras/ghost_in_jar.html

Better still is the fact that based on this original ghost in a jar, there is now a huge market on eBay for related ghost in a jar items. Some of my favorites are the following:

• GHOST IN A PICKLE JAR
• Ghost in a Jar in a Ghost Jar!
• GHOST POOP IN A JAR
• Ghost in a Jar – movie rights
• HOMELESS GHOST LOOKING FOR JAR
• Ghost in a Jar “Snack-Pack” Very real!
• Ghost in a Jar T-Shirt! Cheap, Safe & REAL!
• Jar In A Ghost! *Not Ghost In A Jar*
• Ghost In a Jar – Collar & Leash for Training

I love it.

[via Fark]