Upcoming changes at The Den

chris — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 11:23:49 -0700

Hi everyone, just a quick note to give some advance warning: I've been planning to make some cosmetic changes to the site, mostly moving things around in the sidebars and cleaning things up. But I just noticed there was a recent major upgrade to Drupal (the open source software I use to run this site). So, I'll probably take the opportunity to upgrade it, and who knows, while I'm at it, I might make other changes if something looks cool.

Real animals and Fake dining

chris — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 11:32:20 -0700

Finally I'm taking time at the coffee shop this morning to add another day or two to the DisneyWorld saga.

So after two days at the Magic Kingdom, we decided to spend friday at the Animal Kingdom, the newest theme park at Disney World. I think of all the surprisingly cool, and even impressive things I experienced this week, the Animal Kingdom park was high on the list.

Elliptical investment

chris — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 11:55:28 -0800

A few known facts, realizations, admissions, and observations have lately come together and prompted me to make what might to some be an unexpected purchase. Firstly, since moving to the Bay Area, I don't get enough exersize. Over the 5 years I've been here I've put on too many pounds. Well, most of them were put on in the first 2 years - I've been pretty stable since then. But still, I'm heavier now than I've been since I came back from NZ in 1985, and least healthy, and I can feel it, and I don't like it.

Thursday: More Magic and Princess Mania

chris — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:37:44 -0800

A couple things about the Magic Kingdom, one up, one down: On the upside: even though its clear that there's subtle marketing going on everywhere, and things are arranged to help you spend more money, I never found that aspect to be overwhelming and annoying. Yes, I saw it, but it wasn't glaring or obnoxious, and it was easy to ignore it. The shops and the street vendors all blended into the surroundings pretty smoothly. All this was another reason why the whole week was much better than I'd feared.

Wednesday: Intro to the Magic Kingdom

chris — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:33:38 -0800

For those who're familiar with Disneyland in California, the equivalent at Disney World is the Magic Kingdom, which is very similar, but bigger. It has a main street lined with 'in-character' shops, leading to a circle in front of Cinderella's Castle. Around the circle are the various "lands" - Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland. Each land can take half a day or more to explore. We started in Adventureland, where we wandered throught the Swiss Family Robinson's treehouse.

Ok, so I lied

chris — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:28:16 -0800

I know - its been like nearly a month, rather than the week I 'd promised. Fortunately when I make non-blogging promises to individuals, I'm much better at keeping them!

A week in another world (part 1)

chris — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 12:34:59 -0800

A little less than two weeks ago I flew out of Oakland Airport headed for one of the few places on earth I've really never wanted to go in my adult life. Now that I've been back for five days, I'm happy to report that Walt Disney World in Florida was not nearly as unpleasant for me as I'd feared. Its gonna take me a while to get my impressions all written down, so I'll do it in chunks.

On thinking about memes...

chris — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 10:18:49 -0800

Here's some random, train-of-thought bloggishness for y'all :-) Definitely more of my inner philosophical thought processes than I've ever posted publically before.

It's 2008!

chris — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 10:14:26 -0800

Once again, its been way too long since I've written anything in the ol' blog. Its so much easier to think about writing something here than to actually do it. So, here's a bit of an update with some of whats been going on with me since October, and a little bit into the future.

Three shows in a month

chris — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 21:29:57 -0700

I don't go out to shows as often as I might like - maybe I'm not enough of a music fiend or perhaps I'm too much of a homebody and I should break myself of that. But I do enjoy most of the shows I go to, and in the last month I've gone to three shows over in San Francisco.

Still thinkin of the Playa

chris — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 20:47:26 -0700

I finally edited three of my video clips from Burning man down to size so that you can download them in less than 12 hours through a normal network connection. You'll find them at the end of the Burning Man 2007 photo album. I guess now that its been over a month since I've been back, I should let y'all know what I thought about this year's little party in the desert.

Burned & Returned

chris — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:52:10 -0700

Just a quick note to say that I have some photos up from this year's Burning Man . I still have to upload a few movie clips and do a little blogging about my experience, but here's some visuals to get ya going

Playa-bound

chris — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 12:29:18 -0700

After finally confirming my decision to go this year, 3-1/2 weeks ago I finally bought my Burning Man ticket, and I've been prepping furiously ever since. The last time I was there was 2003, so I expect things will be a bit different from what I remember. And even more different - I'm camping on my own in my Westy this year.

Why brew beer?

chris — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 23:01:59 -0700

Why brew my own beer? Especially when there are so many good beers available where I live? As with many hobbies, there are as many reasons for doing it as there are doers. For me, homebrewing provides several pleasures, first and foremost - beer!

Pixar Motorama 2007

chris — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 22:21:09 -0700

Every summer all the car-nerds (I use the term affectionately) at Pixar get together and show off their babies. Usually we have all kinds of guest vehicles too, and there's a big barbecue lunch for everyone. I took some photos of a small sampling of the cars that were there this year. Maybe I'll enter my westy for next year.

Aurelia & Brian

chris — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 10:57:50 -0700

I recently was told through the grapevine that my friends Aurelia and her husband Brian (now living back home in Adelaide) have not only a blog and website of their their artworks, but also now have a lovely baby boy!!! So it looks like my 'babies everywhere' post a while back is still in full force. Is anyone else I know out there actively procreating these days?

Knee on the mend

chris — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 20:59:21 -0700

Two and a half weeks ago, when Sarah and Bethany were visiting, just moments before we left to go camping at the coast in Half Moon Bay, a floorboard on my back porch broke under me as I was reaching to get something. My left leg instantly went through the new slot in the floor to the ground below (only about a foot and a half down) but unfortunately said slot was about 2 inches narrower than my leg just below the knee

Vacation Photos

chris — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 23:20:11 -0700

As usual, its been far too long since I've posted anything. And as more
usual, this will be short. But, I've got several things to write
about, so I'll post again soon - I just wanted to at least get this
entry on line so people can see the photos from my recent week with my sister Sarah and niece Bethany.

Movie List

chris — Sun, 13 May 2007 16:55:34 -0700

Here's a list of good movies. Clicking a title will take you too the IMDB page for that movie.

8 Mile
A Bug's Life
Adaptation
Aladdin
Amelie
American Beauty
Amistad
Angels in America
Awakenings
Babette's Feast
Bad Education
Batman Begins
Beaches
Beautiful Thing
Big Fish
Blazing Saddles
Boogie Nights
Born into Brothels
Brazil
Brokeback Mountain
Brother Bear
Bulworth
Cars
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005 - Tim Burton/Johnny Depp)
Chicago
Children of Dune
Children of Men
Chocolat
Chronos
Cirque du Soleil - Alegria
Cirque du Soleil - Dralion
Citizen Kane
City of God
Clerks
Como Agua para Chocolate
Crash
Dave
Dead Poets Society
Dogma
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Dr. Zhivago
Dream with the Fishes
Duel
Dune (2000 SciFi Channel Miniseries)
Dune (1984 David Lynch)
Eat Drink Man Woman
Edward Scissorhands
Everest - IMAX
Evita
Fargo
Finding Nemo
Flushed Away
Forrest Gump
Gangs of New York
Garden State
Ghost in the Shell
Ghost in the Shell 2
Ghost World
Gummo
Hannibal
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Heathers
Hellboy
Henry V
Highlander
Highlander: Endgame
History of the World: Part 1
Hotel Rwanda
House of Flying Daggers
I Robot
Ice Age
Interview with a Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles
James and the Giant Peach
Kill Bill Vol. 1
Kill Bill Vol. 2
King Kong (2005)
Kontroll
La Cité des Enfants Perdus
La Femme Nikita
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Les Triplettes de Belleville
Life of Brian
Lost in Translation
Madagascar
Magnolia
Manhunter
Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World
Meet the Parents
Millions
Monsters, Inc.
Napoleon Dynamite
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Oceans 11
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Planes, Trains, & Automobiles
Primer
Princess Mononoke
Punch Drunk Love
Rabbit-Proof Fence
Raising Arizona
Red Dragon
Requiem for a Dream
Robots
Seabiscuit
Seven Years in Tibet
Shaun of the Dead
Shortbus
Sideways
Sin City
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Spiderman
Spiderman 2
Spirited Away
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
Tampopo
Team America: World Police (Fuck Yeah!)
Terms of Endearment
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
The Animatrix
The Big Lebowski
The Bourne Identity
The Bourne Supremacy
The Butterfly Effect
The Cell
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Day After Tomorrow
The Green Mile
The Hours
The Incredibles
The Iron Giant
The Ladykillers (2004)
The Last Samurai
The Last Temptation of Christ
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Director's Cut)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Director's Cut)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Directors Cut)
The Matrix
The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Revolutions
The Mission
The Motorcycle Diaries
The Name of the Rose
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Princess Bride
The Producers (1968 - Mel Brooks)
The Red Violin
The Royal Tennenbaums
The Seven Samurai
The Shawshank Redemption
The Silence of the Lambs
The Thomas Crown Affair (1999 - Pierce Brosnan)
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 - Steve McQueen/ Faye Dunaway)
The Wedding Banquet
This is Spinal Tap
Time Bandits
Touching the Void
Toy Story
Toy Story 2
Trainspotting
Troy
Twelve Monkeys
Waking Life
What's Eating Gilbert Grape
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971 - Gene Wilder)
Winged Migration
Young Frankenstein
Zatoichi

I'm REALLY glad I don't commute into San Francisco!

chris — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 17:02:42 -0700

Commuting in and out of the city from the East Bay is going to be even
more heinous than usual for the next few months. At about 3:40 this
morning, a tanker truck full of gasoline crashed on one of the
overpasses in the 'maze' of freeway interchanges in Emeryville, not far
from Pixar.