tommEE pickles' blog

Amy? Why Coleen? I don't like you any more.

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:58:00 +0000

What the heck happened? I watched The Biggest Loser last night and Amy, being a woman and a former team member, decided to vote Coleen off the show last night. Amy and Coleen were my favorite contenders on the show and now they ruined everything. Vivki, the bitch, could have been on her way out but Amy screwed up. So now it's Amy (traitor), Ed (got back on after being kicked off and is Vicki's Heba's husband), Heba (first sneaky bitch), and Michelle and Renee (daughter and mother). I don't have a Tivo thumbs up on the show anymore.

I had a blast from the past treat last night. I was on delivery.com, a restaurant delivery service, and they had a place called DI Vita's Italian Restaurant. I used to eat at this restaurant a lot when I was dating Cindy. I was happy to find the place and that it had delivery. I got me some veal. Yay.

What is the fucking deal with these stupid TBS commercials for Southern Comfort now? It used to be Coors' Light but now it's for Southern Comfort. A comedian is on stage 'at a club' doing a stand up act and plugging a Whiskey. It doesn't make me want to have Whiskey, a bad day at work or an ugly date, makes me want to have whiskey.

Today is starts another Woot-Off. So keep hitting F5 and try to score me an awesome birthday present. Birthdaycon 2009 is less than two months away and plans have not been set yet. I will let you know soon.

Wow, it's only Tuesday? I am exhausted.

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:59:00 +0000

I am working a long day today because of a big project. I probably won't stop working until 11pm or so. It's enough time to grab a beer but probably not a good idea. Tomorrow it's time for a beer or two or 12.

I left work early to set myself up at home so I wasn't stuck in the office building trying to find food like a rodent. I went to Radio Shack to buy a corded speaker phone since every time I had to do a long work day like this, I have burned through cell phone and cordless phone batteries.

When I got home and hooked the phone to my VOIP circuit, I was getting a 'Phone number is out of service error' every time I dialed out. It was working on my cell phone but not on this phone. I found that I was dialing 9 before the number. Obviously this wasn't correct and I probably have been spending too much time in the office building.

I played with the pre-release of Fedora 10 and there was a good thing about it so far. One good thing I liked was the wireless worked without downloading madwifi. The bad, it's slow loading, slow functioning and some of the programs crashed. I didn't get to see if it fixed the front microphone issue yet for the EEE PC but it's a pre-release and I couldn't hold my load for next Tuesday. I needed to bitch about something at the Hacker Drink Up. I will probably re-install Fedora 9 during tomorrow morning and hold out another week to try 10 or even try Ubuntu.

I saw that on November 12th, they were releasing to beta testers a pre-alpha version of Boxee for Windows users. They only released 107 users first and then it looked like they release a new round of another 107. Weird numbering but I didn't see it before it was too late. That shows you I need to keep up on my RSS feeds.

Speaking about RSS feeds, I noticed that Google Chrome isn't showing when a site has rss feeds or even a place for them. Weird.

Tomorrow is the Hacker Drink Up at Warszawa around 8pm.

I agree with Bob Geldoff

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:37:00 +0000

I hate Mondays too. To start off, I have been having issues lately playing mp4 (aac) videos on my EEE PC lately. I don't know if it's a Fedora issue or a CPU issue. This is my second EEE PC and I would have to think that they are unstable. I have been trying to compile the latest snapshot of mplayer and I have been seg faulting on the compile. I had to re-run it many times. I have downloaded the preview release of Fedora 10 and I think I am going to try that out next.

Fedora comes out in 8 days but I don't know if I can wait that long for a better operating system. All you guys out there shouting 'use Ubuntu'. shut it.

The other thing getting me down was my cable and Internet went out this morning. It went out while I was using my computer too. I couldn't work from home so I went in. I saw that the soda machine was still out and started to get a temper. I sat in my office most the day thinking. Where is my flip camera, where are the items from Deal Extreme, what is wrong with you EEE PC?

Now since my cable might be up but the IP might have changed, I cannot check it except with my Slingplayer but the firewall might not have traffic working through it. It's a Monday I am telling you.

To continue on with bitching. I bought the DVD Cash Card a while ago, looking for impromptu effects of magic. I ended up watching it today and during the performance, I was mad to see that even in the performance, the magician flashes huge. I caught it right away without looking.

Not good quality if the demo of the trick is exposing the trick.

I have been practicing Daniel Garcia's Ego trick a bunch lately. I think that will be the next trick to bring into my arsenal. That as well as Rubber Made. I am enjoying linking rubber bands.

Tonight I will be doing nothing but laundry. watching Chuck and installing operating systems.

Speaking of Chuck, last week upset me that the technical consultant let something slip by. Chuck said "...All right, the Network should now be setup with 10 Base T Ethernet connecting all the servers...". At a 2008 Bio science conference they are running with pre-millennium speed networks to servers? Ok, not the biggest error but details people.

Here is another complaint. Criss Angel is on the cover of Magic Magazine this upcoming month. Didn't I just gather all the public reviews of his show out in Vegas. Even Magic Magazine had unfavoritable reviews as well. I am curious to see what they say but it's real magic for him to get on the cover.

Now you see it, now it's gone.

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 22:47:00 +0000

The weekend is on it's way out and a new week has begun. Last night's entertainment was fun. I dropped by Magicopolis early to catch up with Erik since I didn't get to talk to him on Friday. When I got there it was just the two of us at the bar. I wanted to show him Ghost Ink, an effect I just started working with. I had him select a card and when it came time to reveal the selection, I showed him my pale arm. I then took the card he selected and ran it against my arm and then revealed the ink markings on my arm, he was amazed. Andrew Mayne, you created a great effect.

While I was sitting at the bar, Scott and Nicole came in. They didn't stay because they were off to see a movie but they said they would be back. They came back sooner than they thought because the movie was sold out. It was good that they came back for the show because Arthur Trace, a world awarded magician was going to appear.

The show was good. The crowd was smaller than usual but the comedy was good. Matt Champagne had a great set. Arthur Trace did some powerful magic. He usually does a cabaret act but since he was at the bar, he did a bunch of card card tricks. He did two really powerful card tricks at the end of his set. One was an oil and water effect which fooled me. The other was a peeked card at one end of the bar where the participant then pretended to have a deck of cards in his hand and he held his finder where the card was imagined to be. At the other end of the bar, a fan of cards was shown and Arthur asked the person to stop his finger over the card that he thought it to be. It was the selection. It was awesome

After the show; Scott, Nicole and I decided to hit up another bar. Scott and Nicole wanted to see some of my new tricks and I don't do magic inside Magicopolis since I am not the performer there. We walked past Britannia but it was super loud. We ended up walking down to Ye Olde Kings Head for drinks. When we got our drinks, I showed them three tricks. I did a little crazy mans hand-cuffs which is just an easy short series of effects. Then I decided to pull out some more shocking stuff. I went to show them Ghost Ink and when I showed the mark on my arm and then it disappeared later when they wanted to inspect it, they were amazed. I then did Cornered by Joshua Jay and it worked very well also. Both of the last tricks were very strong.

Last call happened and then we had to leave. It was a very fun night.

Beer, Magic and Comedy

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 14:16:00 +0000

Tonight I am planning on going to Magicopolis. I saw my friend Erik posted a bulletin about his even tonight. I don't remember the name of the magician, Arthur Trace, from my past. So I decided to google him. I came upon a video of him and even though he probably won't do something as large as this, I was in wonder.

I also saw the comincs listed for tonight are:

Cornell Reid
Shawn C
Matt Champagne

There is no cover charge and there is no drink minimum
Magicopolis 10 PM
1418 4th St.

Santa Monica, CA.
90401

As another FYI, I saw that Erik Tait is listed on the Magic Castle website for the week of December 1 - December 7.

Its Friday and it couldn't come at a better time

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:39:00 +0000

Wednesday night wiped all the energy right out of me. I felt like crap all day. I had my can of Drank at my desk but couldn't think of drinking it because I would have slipped into a coma. The day dragged and its just I have little task after little task so it makes the time drag.

At one time during day, some sound engineer was rigging up a sound system for a show and the butthead ended up plugging the mic in with the volume all the way up. The system blasted a very high pitched and loud feedback. It damaged my ear drum and it felt like I had a pencil shoved in my ear. Not adding to the wonderful day I was having. I filed a claim for on the job injury and hope to see a doctor.

Last night was great, I went to see a show at UCB. It was a double header of sketch with Dannah & Danielle: Let's Get Awkward! and Feeling Sad/Mad With Ellie Kemper. Dannah and Danielle were hilarious with scenes from the Ann Frank house, scenes from Resident Evil and scenes from 1914. The pair was so funny and very spot-on with their characters. It was a great first half.

Following Dannah and Danielle was Ellie Kemper. She did a sketch act with six characters based around an LAX terminal. From the 14 year old French Girl to Maureen Doud. The show was filled with awesome moments of gut busting laughter. The show definitely had showcase material and was very good. Her show was fun to watch and I wish she did more shows out of the Los Angeles UCB Theater.

After the show I was hoping to catch a beer with Ellie Kemper but she was surrounded by other friends, it felt a little awkward butting in. I waited to say hello to her, when she saw me she waved but she looked very busy. Then she went back inside and I was headed to get my car and out of the side exit, Ellie came out. She was dragging a suitcase of her costumes and she saw me and we got to say hello to each other. She asked if I would like to join her and her friends and I said sure.

We headed to La Poubelle and we were a group of seven. Ellie went to track down her sister and I figured I would grab a beer while I wait. Unfortunately I finished the beer before Ellie came back and I didn't know anyone in our group, I chose to leave. As I headed out the door, Ellie was walking in. I told her I had to go but I would call her sometime before she headed back to NYC. I found out she is staying near my place so we might be able to catch up soon.

Tonight I should rest but I think I will pop into Magicopolis. I plan on going home after a couple beers. I don't know if that will be all.

M830 18K Gold Plated Quadband 1.5" Touch LCD GSM Cell Phone Watch with Bluetooth Headset

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 02:11:00 +0000

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15037

Are you kidding me? This is fucking cool but also too geeky. I am so tempted to buy it for $163.00.

- 18K gold plated watch decorative frame
- Free bluetooth headset earphone included (for making and receiving calls)
- 1.5-inch vibrant color touch screen LCD display
- Quad-band GSM network support: 850/900/1800/1900 Mhz
- 1GB TF flash memory card included
- MicroSD/TF memory card slot allows up to 1GB memory expansion
- 1.3 mega pixel digital camera (manufacturer claimed)
- Supports GPRS/WAP/MP3/MP4
- Plays MP3/MP4
- Bluetooth V2.0 with A2DP stereo music support
- Comes with a 700mAh rechargeable lithium battery
- 100~240V AC charger included
- Languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Vietnam, Russian, Arabic, Thai, and Italian
- Comes with USB data charging cable and headset earphone

Earthquake drill takes out shakeout.org

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:27:00 +0000

The website that was promoting the largest earthquake drill took a dive when users tried to find more information about the drill. This shows you that in a crisis, do not go to your computer for information to help you. Maybe this should serve as a lesson for all the sites that expect to stay up during a crisis. So FOX 11, is Jillian going to be able to blog on myfoxla.com during the quake? Regardless, I listened to KROQ for more information and there was none to be had.

I am going to the Upright Citizens Brigade tonight to catch Ellie. I have two reservations available. Who is going to join me.

Tonight

8:00 pm $5 Dannah & Danielle: Let's Get Awkward! Have you ever met a PILF (Parasitic Twin I'd Like to F**k)? Do you find the apocalypse inconvenient? Do serial killers make better lovers? These age-old questions are finally answered in this new sketch show.

Feeling Sad/Mad With Ellie Kemper Several gentle portraits of excruciating despair and anger. ADVANCE RESERVATIONS ARE SOLD OUT
There will be a stand-by line for this show.

Just like school, Drop, Cover, Hold On.

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:22:00 +0000

Today will be the largest Earthquake drill. The ShakeOut Drill is scheduled for 10 AM on November 13, 2008. This means that wherever you are at that moment - at home, at work, at school, anywhere - you should Drop, Cover, and Hold On as if there were a major earthquake occurring at that very moment. There will not be any freeway closures, power outages, or other simulated effects of the hypothetical earthquake, unless your local government or utility company specifically notifies you about something of this nature. The ShakeOut is not something you need to leave work to participate in - in fact, participating at work is one of the best ways you can spread the word about the ShakeOut and earthquake preparedness in general.

More information can be found at http://shakeout.org/

I wish I had my Flip camera to film the drill. It should prove to be funny.

Flip Mino Camcorder

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 02:10:00 +0000

I just bought the new Mino HD Camera

You can see it here. I slapped a binary design on it. It's 4GB of internal memory and shoots 1280x720 for 60 minutes. For $229, that is pretty cool.

Check it out at http://shop.cafepress.com/item/329166470

Montreal prisoner, too fat for cell, released early

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:20:00 +0000

source
MONTREAL (Reuters) - Canadian prison authorities were forced to
release a 450-pound (205 kg) drug gang member this week because he was too large
for his cell, the Journal de Montreal newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Michel Lapointe - known as Big Mike - was arrested in September 2006 and received a five-year sentence in May this year. The paper said he could not fit on the chair in his Montreal prison cell and when he went to bed, his body protruded six inches (15 cm) on either side.

A letter from the authorities to Lapointe said: "You have been detained for more than 25 months and your prison conditions are difficult because of your health".

The authorities also cited the refusal of two other facilities to accept the 37-year-old. He was freed late on Tuesday.

"I'm going to have a proper bed and finally have a chair I can sit in," he told the paper outside the prison.

"I want a normal life. I've done some stupid things and I've paid for them," he said.

What a good candidate for The Biggest Loser. He gets on the show, loses pounds in week one, drama starts and then he kills someone.

Ug, and the You Mail train slows the free ride

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:06:00 +0000

From YouMail:

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Brady gets Booted, Screw you Vicky

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 22:32:00 +0000

Brady gets booted from biggest loser. Vicky was pissed. You thought with 5 Blue Team members and 3 Black Team members it would have been Michelle to leave but Amy voted against Brady. Next week should be good because Vicki has it out for Amy now.

I went Zanzibar, after The Biggest Loser, for a No On Prop 8 Fundraiser. The music was bounce bounce glowstick. It wasn't bad it just was super loud that we couldn't talk to each other. I had about four drinks and then retired.

Fedora 10 comes out in 13 days. I guess that doesn't mean a lot to people. I currently use Fedora 9 on my EeePC and it has shown to be 98% stable with the exception I have to load Mad-Wifi drivers for the wireless card and I cannot get the front microphone on the EeePC to work. I have seen many people fool with the modules and kernel. I end up losing the ability to recompile my mad-wifi drivers when I upgrade my kernel, quandary.

I saw that yesterday Google released video for gmail chat. I tried using this from my EeePC and got a big "Not Supported On This Operating System". Is Google having lack of technical development? I saw that they have in Google Labs Lively, a chat room with Avatars (Windows XP/Vista), they released Chrome (Windows XP/Vista),and Google Video Chat (Windows XP/Vista). Where is the development they were doing when I worked there. They used to fight how they were going to scale the linux solutions we used for email and calendaring. Its sad that Google has stayed with buying products like Picassa, Google Earth, Chrome. Its getting to look like a Microsoft with these purchases.

Speaking of the behemoth, Google Health is online. Who in the world wants to openly put their medical records online, not only that but with a search engine who released an unsecured browser just weeks ago.

Tonight is the Santa Monica drink up at Warszawa. it should be fun being able to talk to the people I was with last night without shouting over $8 drinks.

Happy Vet's Day, I want a cupcake

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:19:00 +0000

It's Veteran's Day and yes I am a vet. I was in the service from 1991 - 1995 which makes me a wartime vet. Too bad I have been in the clink because it would have been nice to have presidency on my resume.

Last night I went home late after work, not appreciating the time I could have used to constructing something or cleaning something. I watched Chuck and Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed. The so-called Masked Magician Val Valentino has said, in the past, his motive behind the shows was to force magicians to invent new tricks and illusions rather than constantly relying on the old ones. When he finally revealed himself at the end of the fourth show, he emphasized that he felt revealing the secrets would encourage kids into trying magic instead of discouraging them, and that the entertainment of magic shows was more in the magician's showmanship instead of the wonder of how the trick was pulled off.

I was upset to see last night that they showed a trick resembling Sinful - Signed Coin in Soda Can. The handling was bad but it still gave you a look into a trick that isn't an old trick that Val Valentino refers to. Whatever, he's an asshole anyway. He has to rely on a channel such as MyNetworkTV, a network that plays shows as "Street Patrol" and "WWE Smackdown", to pay his bills. He's just sad. Well I guess he won't be invited to Birthdaycon.

Speaking about magic, I was cruising past the Magic Castle's website and I happened to see that my pal Erik Tait is performing late night in the Close-Up Gallery from December 1 - December 7. What an awesome time for me and my pals to go.

Tonight I think I am going to hit up Zanzibar for some drinks with Chris N. and Pinguino. Maybe I will bring some magic, maybe just myself. Who knows?

A clean room results in a clean mind

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:47:00 +0000

Since I have cleaned up my office in my apartment I have had more of a follow-through on my projects. One thing I did was put up some videos of people I am friends with, that I recently have seen on TV.

Casey Wilson and Bobby Moynahan were spotted a TMZ clip about Will Forte. It was pretty stupid and unentertaining.

I uploaded a video clip of Billy Merrit on Reality Bites Back. He played a coach to all the contestants trying to gain weight.

Lastly I uploaded a MasterCard commercial that Brian Berrebbi was in last year but this was a new version.

Speaking of video, You Tube is going to start streaming movies from MGM. There will be commercials like Hulu but Hulu already does a good job. Another bad decision from those Google folks. Christ, Google create something instead of buying something.

Lastly, I need more toys. I have been checking out the Eee Box but I have some bills first. I am really in need of a new RAID and I think I am leaning toward a Drobo. With 1TB drives at $109 at Tiger Direct, it seems its going to be my next purchase. I will let you know.

Falling Angel

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:53:00 +0000

I love magic. I love good magic. Some magicians have lots of skill and don't get the following like others. Others who have popularity because of TV have a bigger responsibility to keep the art interesting.

Criss Angel after a lot of hype and numerous delays, finally opened his show "Criss Angel: Believe" for preview at the end of October. "Believe," which unites "Mindfreak"Criss Angel with the Canadian theatrical producers who are behind such Vegas shows as "O," "The Beatles Love" "Ka" and "Mystere," reportedly cost $100 million and has $5.5 million in advance sales. Backers hope the show will run through 2028.

Unfortunately the reviews have been unfavorable.

Reed Johnson of the Los Angeles Times says: " 'Believe' suggests less an artistic marriage made in accounting heaven than a shotgun wedding of clashing sensibilities in which the shotgun messily discharges en route to the altar."

Joe Brown of the Las Vegas Sun says: "The single most amazing thing about 'Believe' is that it’s still so boring."

Richard Abowitz of the LA Times' The Movable Buffet blog reports: "Sadly, no magic or miracle saved the muddy mix of Cirque and Criss Angel from turning into quicksand."

Magic Magazine even had a write up about it that reported that people were bored to sleep.

I saw a comment on the LA Times article that stated:

I love Criss Angel & his Mindfreak Show. That's what I expected to see when I spent $237.00 for 2 tickets to his Believe Show at the Luxor on September 28th. Unfortunately it was awful. Not Criss Angel, as you expect, at all. Hardly Criss Angel at all. A waste of $237.00. Everyone was walking out & demanding their money back at the box office. I am from Montreal & called the Luxor several times & left messages wanting a refund. No one responded. Unfortunately a total rip -off. What a disappointment because he is so talented. But the show did not reflect this. I have seen all the Cirque du Soleil shows in Vegas...& this was the worst!..I did not want to see a bunch of clowns...I paid to see Criss Angel perform his illusions...& he didn't. I was robbed!
Posted by: Candice November 07, 2008 at 07:32 PM

"I'm on Cloud 9" said an ecstatic Criss moments after the premiere preview ended and his 15-year-dream had come true. That might have been the drugs kicking in.

Got my geek on

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:48:00 +0000

The night was short lived but gave me the resources I needed for today.

Last night I went to Magicopolis to catch Erik Tait's Bar Show around 9:00pm. I sat with Erik and showed him some effects I was working on. One thing he liked was my linking rubber bands. It needs some work because I am not happy with it yet but it made Doug a little surprised. I also did Joshua Jay's cornered and it could use a bunch of work. Especially the vanish and tear.

Elliot, Scott and Nicole all made it over to the bar as well. It was a very packed show. The magician of the evening brought 25+ of his Asian friends. It was standing room only and all the comics were great. When the magician came out, I realized, I knew the magician, Chi. I was introduced to him through Pinguino months ago.

It was a fun show and Paul Danke had me busting a gut. I told him I would like to invite him to perform at Birthdaycon. I don't know if switching from a lounge singer to a line of comics will be a right move or well received but its a thought. I still will host it in Vegas nevertheless.

After the show, Scott and Nicole went one way and Eliot went the other. I was on my own. I decided to grab a drink at Ye Olde Kings Head. I didn't know what the crowd was like since the shades were drawn but I later found out it was due to the Roy Jones Pay Per View. The influenced the crowd to be a loud and somewhat aggressive. After two drinks, I left.

I awoke a little early that I would suspect to be up on a Sunday. I decided to go through all of crap on the floor of my bedroom. This included dozens of CDs as well as the raid server that has been disabled since I have left Las Vegas in 2005 I think.

I enjoyed when I found source files to route 66, a project I worked on in 2000-2001. I also found some movies on my raid I have totally forgotten about. I thing I will invest in a drobo or the dlink storage I saw Noid talking about on the LA2600 list months ago. I don't really need to power the drives in a huge Antec case. It might be interesting to re-do the server and try Hadoop. I need the drobo or dlink storage for reliable storage and since 1TB drives are around $100, it would be more economical to purchase new drives.

I also spent the day on Deal Extreme. I purchased a bunch of stuff like iPod in ear earbuds, VGA to S-video cable, silicone keyboard protector for EeePC, car charger for EeePC and other items. A nerdy day indeed.

I am going to grab dinner with Sqweak and Mags over at Houston's tonight. Later I think a laundry session is called for.

Speaking of eating, I didn't make Thanksgiving plans yet. Last year I spent it with Bink and Jamiegrrrl in Vegas. I haven't talked to them in a while but Vegas might be an idea, I should look into it. If you have other ideas, drop a suggestion.

It must be the altitude

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 21:22:00 +0000

I can't believe how drunk I must have been. I went out last night and only had two beers at Magicopolis then went to Ye Olde Kings Head to finish the evening. I don't know how many drinks I had but I remember the night didn't have any surprises.

I put in an order for a power supply for my RAID server today. It has so many disks in it that a normal desktop power supply dies pretty fast. I went to Best Buy after work and looked at power supplies but apparently they don't carry power supplies for ATX power supplies with IDE power connectors.

I am missing geek shit today so I am watching podcasts like its going out style. I am also playing online poker but doing ok, currently 22nd in a sniper tourney. I was No. 1 for a while but greed is a nasty sin.

Time for a nap after the poker stuff and then Magicopolis tonight, will I see you? Hear about stories or help me nurse this head pain.

And the next actor to sit in coach is...

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:08:00 +0000

Last night I caught a late night flight from JFK to Los Angeles. I was coming back from my long work and home hunting expedition. I went to the bar inside the international terminal and kicked back a bunch of drinks to settle my nerves for the flight. I looked at my watch and decided it was time to sit in the terminal. As I arrived to the terminal I saw Michael Rappaport (star of many films including Special that opens November 21st in NYC). I walked up to Michael Rappaport and saw him reading a script. I asked him "You shooting something?". He responded "No". I asked "Just reading for a part?". He nodded. He seemed like he didn't care so I said, "you should come see me perform at UCB". He annoyingly nodded and then I left him alone.

When I was boarding the plane and heading toward my seat in coach 13A and right after the first class I saw Michael Rappaport sitting in coach. He was sitting in seat 3D. How an actor like him could not get a seat in first class. He had to order his seat early to get a seat up front. Maybe it was a money issue? I saw him later by the bathroom and noticed he didn't keep his shoes on when he headed to the coach bathrooms when I saw him chatting up with the flight attendants. I didn't see him again until I ended up picking up luggage at the carousel. He looked like he was waiting for a TMZ moment but none was to be found.

On the way home I had the cab stop off at Del Taco to pick up a number six macho. I got home and cable was out but the DVR picked up the last Office and 30 Rock. I passed out very quickly since jet lag was up my ass.

Today I am lagging like a sleepy dragon but I feel it's my American duty to go out and play.

Leaving Las Nuevas Yorko

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:21:00 +0000

See ya kids, I am heading back West. I wish I could spend more time here in NYC but unfortunately all good things must come to an end. I wish I was going to move back sooner but I have a bunch of work to complete in Los Angeles before my boss would like me to transfer. I might consider buying a place out in Brooklyn in the meantime.

I opted to take the E train out to the airport because I figured the traffic would be bad on the roads with the drizzle and rush hour approaching us. I would have appreciated a car seat instead of a subway ride, I don't think I needed it.

I am kind of nervous flying, I do it to many times to worry but I still do. This might be my fourth trip in just under six weeks. The train is more fun to me too, I get to use EVDO.

I bought two movies today from Virgin across the street and ripped one of them on the desk of my co-worker. So on the plane ride home tonight, I will be watching and old movie I downloaded from my house "Cloak and Dagger" with Henry Thomas and Dabney Coleman. The movie I ripped is "I Am Legend". I never saw it, so I don't know what to expect out of Will Smith. I bought the Golden Compass but the new movies are coming out with a new dcess that linux doesn't natively come with.

Tomorrow I am going to be so jet lagged from the three hour time difference as well as drinking on the plane. I am sitting in the bar right now. I also have to do a load stress test on the server matrix we have setup as well as some calculations. The good part is that its all on New York time which should free up the evening to hang with Erik at Magicopolis. I figure its going to be quiet weekend filled with magic and pseudo packing.

When I get back tonight, I don't know if the number 3 rapid bus is working after 11:15pm so I plan on car service. The bus is $.75 and the car service is like $60, its a crime. I can expense it but its the principle. I know my house is a mess, a bit, and I feel I failed a little because I am not making plans to move yet. I know I will miss winter, maybe but I had so much fun doing nothing but work in New York. I only went out like four times this week, the rest I slacked. I still had fun and talked quite a bit of tech. Maybe I need a new position.

Well, I have minutes till my flight and I need a little time travel juice in my blood before this ship starts rocking and rolling. People of New York, I love you and hope to be yelling at you on the subway soon. People of Los Angeles, I didn't mean anything I said and I hope you take me back.

EOT AWAY FLIGHT VX528 JFK/LAX

Congratulations Obama

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:22:00 +0000

I don't need to say much, unless you were in space, you should know who is the new president elect.

I was at Harold Night at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater through the results and right when I came out I heard a winner was declared. I headed down to McManus to celebrate with my comedian friends and the bar was closed for filming an Eva Mendez movie. The place was lit up like... Well you know. Anyway, people on the street were honking like crazy and celebrating up and down the street. It couldn't have made it easy to film inside that bar.

I headed over to Jake's Saloon because I wanted a drink and I had to use the bathroom badly. The bar was packed more than the world series. Everyone was watching post-election coverage. I saw David B. and some others, then everyone from the UCB came in. When Obama was giving his speech, the bar was silent, everyone staring at the screen. While everyone was stopped, even the bartenders, the little foreign busboy kept on working and navigating though us like we were doing an Improv Everywhere gag. It was a pretty fun night. No riots, no fights. Just drinks.

Tonight I might be having dinner with Liz, tomorrow evening I fly out.

Now finally a nights rest

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:22:00 +0000

I am assuming there is no TV to watch but maybe Gordon Ramsey is on Fox tonight with some Kitchen Nightmares.

I just got back from having dinner with Liz. It was nice to see her without a party going on around us. We decided to go to Chat and Chew. It was nice except for the rainy evening. We bored each other with stories. It was quite funny.

I told her that I wasn't moving back after all. I will explain the whole misadventure in moving later but the synopsis is that I am not going to move yet. I feel bad about the decision but it had to be considered for many reasons.

I fly back to LA tomorrow evening so I believe I am going to get a half day of work in. I should be landing in LAX about 11:30pm or so. The its a Friday full of work and then a relaxing weekend where I will end up packing and cleaning anyway.

Election Day

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:22:00 +0000

I work at big media place in the middle of the Times Square and it's a flutter with news vans. I looked at a news site and didn't like what I saw.

Now look back and it's Obama: Electoral: 0 Popular: 10,883 (51%) McCain: Electoral: 0 Popular: 10,306 (48%)

And I am not blogging until I have more info.

Finally I got some Boxee

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:31:00 +0000

Unfortunately the alpha hasn't been tested or compiled for Fedora or Windows. It is mostley Umbutu or Apple. I am trying to put it on my Eeepc but the sources are large and I don't have a lot of space as it is. I might have to skip the compiling until I get back to Los Angeles.

After work I had to check out some apartments and my dogs are barking. Nothing like looking at apartments in SoHo, they are all walk-ups. It's not that I don't like walk-ups but when you are going to look at apartments, you aren't there long. It was like doing a work-out with Jillian. That reminds me, I wonder if Biggest Loser is on because Chuck wasn't on this week. Anyway, only one apartment interested me but it was on Sullivan St and it was small. It was very nice looking but expensive for the space. I will look at more apartments tomorrow.

Tomorrow night, after work, I am going to catch Harold Night at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. During the night, my pal, Jawnee Conroy is going to meet up with me. I figure it could be a fun night with the election results and maybe catching a drink at McManus.

What did you do with your extra hour?

noreply@blogger.com (tommEE) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 23:52:00 +0000

Max and Alaina's party was fun. I got to see Akira, Bobcat, Joe, Liz, Billy Bendick, Ana, Eric, Mike Warrington and Julia. Here are some bullet points:

Akira was dressed as Hawkeye Pierce from the Mash 4077th. He was accompanied by a very pretty girl but was not romantically attached. Too bad, I thought she was cute. We talked a lot about TV and legal stuff.
Bobcat is one of my favorite smart people that I like to get super drunk with. He told me that he talks to Kevin Nealon and that Kevin would like to meet the guy he hears so much about.
Joe stopped in for a minute but it was nice seeing her since I haven't seen her since February 2007. November 1st is also her birthday. She welcomed me back to New York and then she left.
Liz, my ex-girlfriend and friend, showed up and it was nice talking with her. She mentioned about her date the previous night but it didn't cause any awkwardness. I like being friends with her but I still am attracted to her also. Quandary? Nah.
Ana, I used to be interested in her before I moved from New York but I don't know why. She is cute but definitely not my type. She brought her boyfriend.
Julia buried the hatchet and joined us to eat after the party.
One of Max's co-workers is insane was was arguing a debated issue way after we were done with it. We even walked one way and when she followed, we turned direction. She followed again.

After the party we went to a diner and we were told we were being too loud by some stranger who used obscenity to address it. We saw some out of town girl run into the bathroom to puke and then we got asked by some stranger that is doing a documentary about trivia game show contestants, to email him because Bobcat was on Jeopardy and I was on Trival Pursuit.

I walked with Bobcat for a while and then he told me he was going to watch the Marathon. He wanted to cheer Bluerose on. I didn't have the energy to continue.

Max, Alaina, Liz and myself were supposed to go to brunch today but I didn't hear from Max or Alaina. I texted Liz that it wasn't going to happen and the Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill was over. She said we would get together before I leave town.