A Yankee in the Emerald City

pitchers and catchers

2009-02-13T05:05:00.000-08:00

That’s the true harbinger of spring, not crocuses or swallows returning to Capistrano, but the sound of a bat on the ball.

-Bill Veeck

pay your taxes

2009-02-03T02:50:00.000-08:00

Attention politicians: The economy is in the shitter, and you are asking Americans to foot the bill with our current (and future) tax dollars. The least you can do is pay your own fucking taxes. Lord knows you can afford it a lot more than many Americans.

Jokes about crooked politicians have always been popular, but lately it's a stereotype which evokes more crying than laughter.

peanutty jerks

2009-01-28T09:04:00.000-08:00

I never thought I'd find myself so pissed of at a company called "The Peanut Corporation of America."

Ass holes.

still employed

2009-01-22T08:32:00.000-08:00

So far, no one that I know has been canned. There's been a lot of fear and discussion, of course, especially over at Mini-Microsoft. Personally, I'm amazed at the negativity over there: the general sentiment seems to be that Microsoft's layoffs are a sign of what a shitty, stupid company it is. Let's be honest: layoffs are never fun. Is there a way these layoffs could have been handled that would've left people feeling great about everything? Probably not.

My only hope with regard to the layoffs is that we are firing the right 5,000 people. There are a lot of great employees here who don't deserve a pink slip and may get one anyway.

stewing

2009-01-22T03:46:00.000-08:00

Megan and I had friends over for lamb stew last night, and I thought I'd share my father's recipe. This is hearty stew (you can eat it with a fork) and quite simple to make:

Ingredients:

2.5 Lbs. Cubed Beef (or Lamb); larger chunks are better than smaller
1 Bottles (750 mL) Red Wine (cheap wine is best for cooking!); an extra bottle is a good idea so you can add extra wine instead of water (and have something to drink with your stew, if you're not a teetotaler)
2 Small Onions (or 1 really big onion)
1 Package (2 Lbs.) of Carrots
3 Lbs. Russet Potatoes (about 7 Potatoes)
1 Package Frozen Peas
Vegetable Oil
3 Bay Leaves
Fresh Thyme
Flour
Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Recipe:
1. Brown the Beef
In a plastic bag, combine flour, salt, pepper, and beef. Shake and work the beef until all chunks are thinly coated in flour. In a large stew pot, heat vegetable oil on medium-high. Once hot, brown the flour-coated meat on each side. You do not need to cook the beef through, just brown the outside. You may need to brown the beef in multiple batches, depending on how much meat you have and the size of the pot. Once all the beef is browned, set it aside.

2. Saute the Onions
Coarsely chop the onions. In the stew pot, head some vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the chopped onions and saute until soft and slightly brown.

3. Start Simmering
Once the onions are ready, add the beef back into the pot. Pour in a bottle of wine, and add 4 cups of water. Add bay leaves, salt, pepper, and thyme to the pot. Cover the pot and bring it up to a simmer, then cook for about 70 minutes.

4. Add the Carrots
Peel and chop the carrots (Big chunks! This is a stew for men, not little babies). Add them to the pot, cover, and return to a simmer. Let cook for about 30 minutes.

5. Add the Taters
Peel and dice the potatoes. Make sure to set them in water as they are diced so they do not turn brown. Again, big chunks are best! Add the potatoes to the pot, cover, and let it cook for about an hour (or until the potatoes are soft but not mushy). You may want to add a little more water (or wine, if you have another bottle); you want the top layer of chunks to be just above water level.

6. Keep Cookin' (if necessary)
The stew is ready at this point, but if it's still soupy you want to cook it uncovered for up to another hour in order to boil off some water; your goal is a stew which is very thick! If you cook it too long the potatoes will disintegrate which isn't really desirable.

7. Add the Peas
Add the frozen peas into the pot. Return to a simmer and let it cook for about 5 minutes. Season to taste with additional thyme, salt, pepper, or anything else you want to put in there.

8. Resist Temptation
Smell your stew. Mmm . . . delicious. Now don't eat it. This stew will taste much better in a day or two. Put it in the fridge and let it "stew" for a while. It can also be frozen and stored for quite a while.

9. Enjoy!
If you made it right, this will be a stew you can eat with a fork. I recommend a nice loaf of bread to mop up the sauce, and I'm told a nice bottle of red table wine (perhaps the one you didn't finish off while cooking) goes very nicely with it.

lessons from this morning

2009-01-20T09:43:00.000-08:00

Reverend Lowery is the shit
Aretha Franklin can still hit her high notes
Being controversial wasn't enough to make Rick Warren interesting
Our country is in much better hands today than it was yesterday

i think i owe you a link

2009-01-16T08:26:00.000-08:00

Posting of this link to my blog is probably a bit overdue. I've been way about handing it out since not everyone who sees it will necessarily be invited, but in the end I figure if it's out on the net, it's public anyway.

getting back to work is more challenging than expected

2009-01-05T09:42:00.000-08:00

Like everyone at Microsoft, I have a lot of work to do. But my load reached near-ridiculous proportions late last year when my co-worker Steven left for CERN. So needless to say, the last two weeks were a much-needed break. What I didn't quite count on was how hard it would be to get back in gear . . . I've been at work for 8 hours today (I won't mention how productive I was last week) and still my mind is clouded with a vacationy haze. I'm debating whether it will be more effective for me to stay at work and hope to get something done today or call it quits and attempt to return tomorrow, revitalized . . .

happy new year, middle east

2009-01-02T07:50:00.000-08:00

Albert Einstein once said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Perhaps the Israelis and Palestinians never got that memo? It certainly seems like the strategy of blowing each other up over and over again has been thoroughly tested at this point.

happy 2009

2009-01-02T03:41:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that 2008 is already over; maybe it's because I'm getting older but time seems to be passing much more quickly these days. I'm at work (at least physically) at the tail end of a very enjoyable two-week hiatus. Now it is back to the grindstone here. Rumors of layoffs at Microsoft abound, with estimates ranging from no one to 17,000 someones. While I don't really fear for my job, the thought is definitely sitting in the back of my mind; it would be nice to hear MS come out and see either yea or nay to the rumors soon.

On cheerier fronts, the holidays were very enjoyable indeed. I was in New York visiting family for a few days, so many friends, relived 2002 by enjoying a chicken parmesan grinder at Yorkside with my roommates, and then headed up to Boston for Christmas with the Murphy clan and an absolutely awesome cake tasting at Something Sweet by Michelle.

Top present honors this year go to my mom, who bade me a Happy Chanukah with a 120GB Zune. Now I have a lovely Zune Card to put next to my GamerCard:

http://zcards.zune.net/xweb/lx/swf/zunecard.swf

a rough time to be a seattle sports fan

2008-11-23T07:43:00.000-08:00

For those who missed it, The Times ran an article this week about the sad plight of Seattle sports: our baseball and footballs teams stink, our basketball team skipped town, and even the local college teams are a mess. As my cabbie ironically put it yesterday: "The only thing in Seattle to be excited about it the UW Women's Cross-Country Team." Pardon me for not being delighted.

The Mariners did try to improve the outlook this week by announcing the new manager, Don Wakamatsu. I have to admit that I was disappointed; I was hoping that Willie Randolph would come out on top. But hopefully Wakamatsu has what it takes to turn the team around and not be yet another in a long line of 1 or 2 year failures. Speaking of which, I think my season ticket deposit is due . . .

#10

2008-11-18T02:48:00.000-08:00

Thanks to some hard work from many of the guys on our team, Microsoft announced today the fastest Windows system yet: Dawning's cluster which placed at #10 on the Top 500! We view this as the best way yes of announcing that Windows is here to stay in the world of HPC, and capable of running some of the most complex and powerful systems in existence.

Rock on, team!

my other blog is work-related

2008-11-14T04:10:00.000-08:00

If any of you are wondering what I do with myself all of the time (I doubt you are), I've been blogging a bit for work lately. So if you'd like to read about my product and other HPC related things, check out the Windows HPC TechNet blog.

Speaking of business, I'm off to SuperComputing 2008 in Austin tomorrow!

back to blogging

2008-11-10T08:05:00.000-08:00

I've been taking some crap lately for the lack of blog updates in the past few months; consider this post my formal recommitment to blogging here. It's hard to say what exactly has caused my blogosphere hiatus; probably some combination of a busy worklife, a busy personal life, and the power of Google Reader and Facebook for sharing things that I stumble upon out on the internet (the wonders of Live Spaces are certainly not a factor).

But seeing as I've started hearing complaints, and considering how much I dislike it when my friends who blog lapse in their regular updating, I suppose it's time to renew my vows with this blog.

To recap some of the things that have been going on in my life lately:

Wedding plans continue
Obama won, and we partied in the streets of Seattle
I'm planning a number of trips, including visits to Austin, Denver, New York, and Boston
I attended the last game at Yankees stadium

In general, I'd say life is good. I feel slightly more of a tug towards the future these days; a feeling that I need to make some sort of a change in the next year or so. Perhaps getting married will suffice in that department :-) Or maybe I just need to move to Ballard.

really, alaska?

2008-11-04T22:55:00.000-08:00

On a night that was certainly exciting for America on every other front, Alaska appears to have re-elected convicted felon Ted Stevens. Personally, I'm suprised that such a thing is even legal. But between him and Sarah Palin, I'm forced to wonder: What the fuck is going on up their in Alaska?

tempted by the big apple

2008-08-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

This made me yearn, just a little, for a change of scenery.

our "vista doesn't suck?" ad campaign

2008-08-01T01:12:00.000-07:00

Vista-haters (and perhaps Vista users) may want to check this out http://www.mojaveexperiment.com/ It's certainly an interesting approach.

finally!!!!!

2008-07-10T06:53:00.000-07:00

Today, the Mariner's finally released Richie Sexon, the most overpaid, under-achiever in all of major league baseball. MLB.com has the scoop, as does the PI and U.S.S. Mariner.

I don't expect Richie, who has been paid $15,500,000 to hit .218 so far this season, to get picked up by any other team, at least not to play everyday. I honestly don't think there's any team out there that wants an aging slugger that plays mediocre defense and has only 30 RBI's at the All-Star Break. Then again, there's always some team willing to try out a guy like Sexson, and perhaps out of Seattle he can turn things around.

Good riddance, Richie! Mariners games will be just a little more fun now that I know I won't have to watch you ground into a double-play after they walk the bases loaded for you.

so much for not doing evil

2008-07-08T04:26:00.000-07:00

I took some small delight in a Times article from Saturday lambasting Google for it's disastrous child-care plan. It's hardly the first time someone's written about some of the less fun parts of working for Google, but I think it's a very poignant piece as it deals with some of the difficulties that face a small startup that becomes a huge megacorporation almost over night. And I must admit some smug satisfaction in seeing the smug satisfaction wiped off of some Googlites faces.

the road

2008-06-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading The Road, which had been on my list for a while but always pre-empted by one trashy novel or another. I'm not really sure what to say about it, other than I can't really remember the last time a book affected me so deeply. I literally found myself tearing up on the bus to work yesterday as I made my way through the book's heart.

I guess what I'm saying is: If you haven't read this yet, you really need to do so as soon as possible.

really-high performance computing

2008-06-18T05:50:00.000-07:00

My skip-level manager, Ryan, blogged today about our awesome recent achievement: a system running our product landed at #23 on the list of the Top 500 Super Computers. While our focus as a team is on a more mainstream audience (the "Bottom 5000," if you will), our goal with these runs is to demonstrate that Windows can be used to run a computer cluster with blazing fast performance, matching the fastest systems running on other OSes.

This is something we're really proud of as a team . . . and another reason I can't wait to ship our next version (coming soon)!

willie, we hardly knew thee

2008-06-17T01:24:00.000-07:00

The Mets have finally fired Willie. The only question on my mind: How soon can the Mariners interview him?

a day of reckoning

2008-06-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

Looks like the Mariners have finally gotten their act together enough to fire Bill Bavasi, GM of baseball's most overpaid underachievers for the past 5 seasons.

Delight is too strong a word for the emotion being felt by Mariners fans everywhere; it's definitely a case of too little too late for the 22-45 Seattle Mariners. They are an elite team when ranked on pay roll, but dad last in the big leagues when ranked by what counts: winning ball games.

The firing of Bavasi is a nice start, but it won't solve the Mariner's myriad problems. They've got a team full of aged, overpaid has-beens and young, lackadaisical show-offs. Hopefully the replacement of Don McLaren with a more competent manager is next on the docket (I hear Willie Randolph may be available soon!), followed by a mass-purging of the ranks.

In all honesty, the list of keepers on this team is quite short. Among the everyday players, I doubt anyone other than Ibanez, Ichiro, and maybe Beltre and Johjima, really have any place in a Major League lineup.

finally beautiful

2008-06-16T05:08:00.000-07:00

This was the first truly beautiful weekend of the year in Seattle (it's still beautiful today . . . looking out the Window across the hall from my office) and I had an absolute blast out in the sun. I can only pray that this weather was not just another break in the clouds; with any luck it will be like this from now through October. I think living in Seattle, the weather has started having a greater and greater effect on my life; summers are so nice (and the rest of the year is so drab) that July - September are easily cataloged as the happiest time of the year.

Megan's family was in town, so on Saturday we had brunch at C.J.'s, then headed over to the International Fountain in Seattle Center to hang out and watch the kids playing. That is easily one of my favorite Seattle sites . . . it's very distinctly Seattle and a great place to hang out in the summer time. After that it was Mini-Golfing at Newcastle Golf Club, which has an unbelievable view of the city followed by dinner at Senor Moose (highly recommended).

I spent all of Sunday hanging out with Becca, resulting in an excellent BBQ, a completed Sunday Times crossword puzzle, and the successful completion of the Friday-Saturday-Sunday Ice-Cream-Per-Day Trifecta.

It's tough getting back to work now . . . but the potential for a beach BBQ next weekend will keep me motivated :-)

still alive

2008-06-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

I'm still here; still breathing; still traveling and working and playing and praying for BBQ season to finally start.

As you can see from this picture, I was in Europe at the beginning of the month on business; namely visits to Ferrari, Schlumberger, and Roxar, as well as Universities in Oxford, Bristol, and Southampton. Other than that, I haven't been up to all that much. I've been trying to ignore the slumping Yankees, Mets, and Mariners and trying to enjoy the occasional diversion.

Work is progressing nicely; we shipped our second beta last month and are pushing hard to ship the product soon.

Right now I feel a bit as if I'm waiting for something. Maybe it's just for summer. We've been so close to it on a few random days, only to be plunged back into drizzling darkness. Supposedly the weather here is supposed to get to you over the long winter when the days are short and you are always a bit damp, but I find it most distressing in June when it is day until 10:30 PM but you so rarely see the sun.

I think I need a vacation.

the ultimate baseball rarity

2008-05-13T04:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's Indians game included an incredible baseball feat: Asdrubal Cabrera turned an unassisted triple play.

But it's not all that exciting to watch, actually.

i'm famous

2008-05-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

I'm the "Josh" referred to in today's Overheard in New York headline contest. The primary purpose of this blog post is actually to inform you that if you don't yet read Overheard in New York, you should really start checking it out regularly.

finally spring in seattle

2008-05-06T08:22:00.000-07:00

The sun was actually shining this weekend in Seattle (finally!). So I dusted off my old baseball glove, grabbed a few friends, and headed for . . . the sporting goods store, so we could all buy new gloves :-) It was actually a something of a farce, the four of us all buying new baseball glove so we could go play in the sun.

We headed up to Discovery Park for the afternoon, and had a great time. Other than a couple short games of catch with my cousins, it'd been quite a while since I tossed a ball around (and a LONG time since I last swung a bat), and we all had a great time. Indeed the fun level on Sunday was as high as I've experienced in Seattle without a Beach BBQ (which are hopefully just around the corner!).

I'm starting to think I really should look to get involved in some sort of Softball league at some point.

i'm back, btw

2008-04-03T04:20:00.000-07:00

There have been some snide remarks made over the past month or so about my lack of posting . . . rest assured that I have not abandoned this blog. I'd been traveling quite a bit (to New York and L.A., specifically) and didn't have a chance to post. In a way, that's actually a good thing: good trips seem to keep me too busy to post, while boring/lonely trips seem to leave me with nothing to do but post.

More travels are on the horizon, at the very least it seems like I'll be headed to New York and Reykjavik, and there may be stops in So-Cal and/or Boston on the horizon as well.

attention seattle singles: move to new york

2008-04-02T04:39:00.000-07:00

The New York Times posted this very interesting story analyzing the number of singles in various parts of the country. It should come as no surprise to the hoards of male computer programmers in California and Seattle that they greatly outnumber their female counterparts. It may surprise you to learn, however, that New York City has approximately 210,000 more single women then men.

So the next time one of you guys from the Big Apple (I'm talking about you, Matt) complains about not being able to meet chicks, just think about how hard it is for them to meet you!

(This might also help explain how there are so many hot chicks with douchebags.)

not again

2008-02-29T03:47:00.000-08:00

My delightfully fun great aunt Sybil passed away on Wednesday, making the 3rd member of my family to have passed away in the past 18 months. I must say I'm getting a little tired of losing family members and am ready to start gaining them again instead.

Rest in peace, Sybil.

spring is in the air

2008-02-13T03:11:00.000-08:00

Pitchers and catchers for the Cubs, Giants, Royals, Mariners, Athletics report to Spring Training today!

elite

2008-02-12T04:34:00.000-08:00

I'm Yelp Elite.

awesome marketing from microsoft

2008-02-11T07:56:00.000-08:00

If you haven't seen this Microsoft Home Server book, you really need to check it out now.

caucusing tomorrow

2008-02-08T03:15:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is caucus day here in Washington state, and I am quite excited to go to my first caucus and show my support for Obama. The process here in Washington State is quite confusing, and Washington's opinion will definitely matter this year. These two truths led to an article in today's Times about Washington's big day.

But the most interesting part of the article isn't the insight and explanations. It's my friend (and fellow D'porter) Galen, who is a precinct captain for Obama and featured in the article!

Galen Main, 23, a graduate student in social work, said she was cynical about politics before she learned about Mr. Obama. Now she is volunteering for his campaign.
“Obama can get more done because he’ll get more people involved,” she said. “That’s the only way we can hold government accountable is to have the masses really care.”

Way to go Galen! She even had her picture printed in the paper!

it's never too late to ruin the country

2008-02-04T08:17:00.000-08:00

Those of you who think Bush is done doing damage to our country should take a look at Bush's final budget proposal.

Some highlights:

At $3.1 trillion it would be the largest budget in US history. That's the part Bush refers to as "spend[ing] taxpayer dollars wisely or not at all."
The highest military spending since World War II.
A 7.5% military spending increase, partially funded by $18 billion in Education cuts.
The federal deficit will have nearly doubled (to $5.9 trillion from $3.3 trillion) during the course of Bush's presidency.

Go read the article for the details. Suffice it to say that anyone calling Mr. Bush "fiscally conservative" has their head up their ass.

"tom brady will be at his best"

2008-02-04T05:48:00.000-08:00

The Giants defense pulled a pretty awesome "none shall pass" on the Patriot's yesterday. My brother, Matt, was nice enough to point out this lovely editorial from patriots.com detailing the many reasons why the Pats would win; sadly for him, none of them came true. With hindsight, it's an hilarious read.

getting something right

2008-02-04T00:49:00.000-08:00

Microsoft has definitely nailed it with Zune Originals. These are REALLY cool!

ode to a coffee shop

2008-01-31T03:00:00.000-08:00

Bacon, egg, and cheese

"On an english" you were served

It's no longer so

----------------------------------------------------------

"Re-fry that doughnut"

That phrase now falls on deaf ears

Where are we to turn?

Feel free to submit your own Yankee Doodle haikus in the comment section.

farewell, doodle

2008-01-31T02:47:00.000-08:00

The news came to me on Tuesday that The Yankee Doodle had closed, and I was shocked. It felt like a real tragedy. The Doodle was as much a part of my Yale experience as The Dramat or my classes.

Today's Times actually has an article on The Doodle's closing, which includes quotes from some of its many notable patrons, undoubtedly including some of the most educated people in the world.

I was a Doodle regular during my time at school, and still think of it when I'm looking for breakfast on a Saturday morning. I guess I'll just need to resign myself to the fact that I'll never have an Egg sandwich of that quality ever again.

day 7: it's snowing

2008-01-25T17:55:00.000-08:00

This trip to Shanghai has been a great success from a work point of view. But in terms of seeing Shanghai, well, the weather has interfered. We only had two days in Shanghai to hang out, and after a cold and rainy first day, we had a cold and snowy (very rare for Shanghai) second day. So much so that we spent most of the day in a mall near our hotel.

I'm looking forward to heading back home. My feelings about the food here are especially hit or miss; some of the meals are awesome (I'm talking about the jiao zi), but often the more exotic ingredients and dishes just don't appeal to me. That, and it often seems like we eat Chinese food every day :-) I need a bit more variety!

We'll be up early tomorrow morning to head out, and then land in Seatte a few hours before we left!

day 4: work work work work work

2008-01-22T22:46:00.000-08:00

Other than eating and sleeping, we've done pretty much nothing for the past 3 days but work. The workdays haven't been that long (thankfully, with this wonderful jetlag) but they've been jam-packed and thus very tiring.

The only "Chinese" thing we've been doing is eating. Monday night we went out for Cantonese (my favorite so far), last night was Szechuan night (a.k.a. spicy), and tonight was Singaporean.

I'm enjoying my stay in Shanghai much more this time. Work has been busier and better, traveling with a buddy is much more enjoyable, and there are more folks from the Shanghai team who are around to show me around. I could easily imagine coming back here on a more regular basis if we can accomplish as much as I think we're getting done this time.

the g-men!

2008-01-20T11:18:00.000-08:00

With the Giants win today, I'm now totally pumped for a Pats vs. Giants Super Bowl. This may be New York's chance to stick it to the smug Bostonians!

day 1: it's raining

2008-01-19T17:33:00.000-08:00

Now I know why Rae wanted me to be the one to come to Shanghai in January: It's gross here. The rain was coming down pretty hard most of the day, and on top of that it's cold and windy. We explored Shanghai a bit, mostly going to places I'd been before (The Bund, The French Concession, Renmin Park). The new things that I saw were the fairly cool Urban Planning Exhibition Center and an awesome restaurant called "Yin" where we went for tea and lunch.

Otherwise it's been mostly wandering around, some shopping, and getting to know Zac and Meghan. We also had a nice shopping trip to the huge grocery store underneath Grand Gateway.

Jetlag is taking it's toll (it's about 5:30 PM here and I'm definitely ready for bed), but I'm coping pretty well and feel ready to get to work tomorrow. I hope this can be a productive week at the office here; there's a potential for us to accomplish a great deal this week if we stay on top of things.

day 0: i'm in shanghai

2008-01-18T22:00:00.000-08:00

I landed at Shanghai's Pu Dong airport at around 8:00 PM, and am doing my best to stay up late and adjust to the time change. I have a feeling I'm in for a fun week of being exhausted in the afternoons and waking up three or four times a night.

I'm here in Shanghai with my new friend Zac and his wife Meghan; hopefully travelling with buddies will make this visit to the orient more enjoyable than my last (not that I had a bad time last May).

Anyway, I hope to blog regularly during my trip to keep you all up to date!

from long island to new haven to canada

2008-01-15T03:59:00.000-08:00

The Times has a pretty interesting piece on Chris Higgins, my sophomore year suite-mate at school and a current star center for the Montreal Canadiens. It's definitely worth a quick read if you're into that sort of thing!

Truth be told I never knew Chris very well. He moved in to be with his good hockey buddy, Joe, who was single-handedly responsible for at least half of the funniest stories from my first two years of college. Last I heard, Joe was playing minor league hockey up here in the Pacific Northwest, but of course I haven't heard from him in a while.

It's sort of weird how you can live with people for a year or two and never really get to know them that well. I guess that's the nature of collegiate athletics though.

yelping

2008-01-14T05:01:00.000-08:00

After some (very mild) coersion by Steph, I've started "Yelping." You can check out my reviews on my Yelp! site.

heading to china again

2008-01-10T05:16:00.000-08:00

For those not in the know, I'll be heading to China again next Friday. It'll be a much shorter trip this time; 8 days in Shanghai will be the sum total. Unlike last trip, when I was a rolling solo, this time I'll be heading over with a guy from the Windows Server UX team. Though I barely know him, I expect this trip to be much more enjoyable since I'll have some other laowai with me.

I hope to (like last trip) keep a log of my travels up here, though I expect this time there will be a lot more work and a lot less excitement.

And on the off chance any of you will be in China the week of January 20th, drop me a line!

thoughts on my new home?

2008-01-10T04:49:00.000-08:00

Any feedback on the layout/feedback/aura of my new blog? Complaints? Compliments?

drinking the kool-aid

2008-01-07T16:14:00.001-08:00

After two and half wonderful years on blogger, I've decided to bow down to my corporate masters and move my blog out of Google's control and into Microsoft's.

With the help of Blog Backup Online's nifty new site, I managed to move all of my old posts and comments over to Live, so hopefully nothing will really change other than the eerie sensation that always arises when one switches from one multi-billion dollar megacorporation's products to another's.

My new blog can be found here.

let's go out to the movies

2008-01-07T11:22:00.000-08:00

Megan and I have been going to a lot of movies lately, and last night finally made it to the Coen Brothers' newest film, No Country for Old Men. I say finally because I'm a huge Coen fan, and the film has received almost universally terrific reviews.

Yet I found myself a little unsatisfied at the end; with many loose ends still untied in the plot, that was probably inevitable. I had a hard time understanding what the movie was trying to say, perhaps not because it didn't say it well but rather because I didn't like its message. Like many of the Coen Brothers' best works (Miller's Crossing and The Big Lebowski come to mind), it's a movie I expect I'll need to see a few more times to fully comprehend.

But for any movie lover that's not squeamish, and perhaps especially for those who are, this movie is an absolute delight. It's violent, (but not gratuitous), darkly humorous (but not funny), and philosophical (but not preachy). And it's absolutely the best film I've seen in a long time.

a thing of beauty

2008-01-07T10:44:00.000-08:00

Dan and I headed on Saturday for what would become a shopping trip of epic proportions. The trip included a quick visit to The Trading Musician up in Ravenna, a long and fruitful stay at American Music in Fremont (definitely my new go-to music store in the area), and a (hopefully last ever) visit to Guitar Center in downtown Seattle.

By the end of our journey, my wallet was a lot lighter and my car was a lot fuller . . . with my new Heritage Cherry Gibson SG Standard (name to be determined . . . let me know if you have any suggestions). I've been pumping it through a Marshall MG50DFX and have been delighted with the results so far. The guitar plays incredibly cleanly; it's comfortable in my hands and looks awesome strapped to my chest.

For those wondering . . . yes, this guitar is way nicer than someone of my skill level needs. But I really like it and expect its awesomeness to help motivate me to new levels of playing.

I expect to spend a lot of time in the next week learning all 3 of the songs in the AC/DC repertoire.

building a robot army that rocks

2008-01-02T11:17:00.000-08:00

Go here: http://www.gibson.com/robotguitar/RobotGuitarVideoVoting.aspx
View the video called, "Instructions"
Shit your pants with glee

vacation

2007-12-27T12:02:00.000-08:00

I've been on vacation for the last 5 days here on the East Coast, and it's awesome! I was pretty darn desperate for a vacation and it's nice to finally be on one!

After 4 days in Boston for Christmas, I'm back in New York now for tonight's big event . . . my engagement party! My mom has set it up at the Kittle House and it promises to be REALLY fun. Megan's headed down with her family as we speak, I've got some news dress-clothes (thanks to my mom's Hanukkah present!) and my relatives are all coming . . . I'm getting excited!

Being engaged is a pleasure with all of the parties and gifts I've been receiving; so much fun I'm glad we've designed not to get married until 2009 . . .

check me out!

2007-12-19T13:01:00.000-08:00

I was catching up on some HPC news out in the blog-o-sphere today, when I discovered that a video of my explaining some of our new product features was posted up on Channel 9. So if you'd like to learn a little about what I work on, or just hear the sound of my voice, check it out.

Hopefully I don't embarrass myself too much.

sad news for seattle music

2007-12-18T13:32:00.000-08:00

Bobby just told me: The Croc is closing.

what took you so long?

2007-12-06T17:45:00.000-08:00

The Times ran a piece today on airlines planning to offer wireless internet in-flight. I used Boeing's in-flight system a couple of year's ago, but the business model wasn't working for them and the system is now "defunct."

It's no surprise to me that JetBlue is the first airline planning to offer the service. It's also no surprise that they won't be charging (at least at first). Personally I feel this is a longtime coming. I'm sick and tired of airplanes and hotels that don't have wireless internet. I'm also sick and tired of paying exorbitant fees for internet access (which costs the providers very little), but that's a rant for a different day . . .

seattle tourist tips from the new york times

2007-11-26T13:42:00.001-08:00

The Times' Frugal Traveller hit up Seattle recently, and wrote up the details of his trip. Most of the place on his itinerary were familiar, including The Triple Door and Daily Dozen (both within a block of my apartment). Some of the places he mentions I've seen but never been to; I will need to add them to my itinerary next time I have a visitor . . .

keeping our carpets clean

2007-11-19T11:23:00.000-08:00

Megan and I bought a bottle of this stuff yesterday in an attempt to make our place less disgusting, and it was AMAZING. The only bad thing I have to say about it is that I'm now fearing for my health . . . I have serious doubts that a solvent this powerful is safe to inhale or touch.

Of course, all this is just in preparation for the arrival of our Roomba 570 vacuum cleaning robot, which thanks to Bobby we are uber-psyched to play with. I honestly didn't think the day would come so soon when I when order a robot over the internet.

God, I feel so domestic.

beta 1

2007-11-13T11:45:00.000-08:00

Today, down at SC07 (where most of my team is this week), we officially announced the release of our first public beta of Microsoft Windows HPC Server 2008, my team's product!

This product, the successor to Microsoft Windows Compute Cluster Server (Surprise! Microsoft renamed a product!), has a whole bunch of cool new features and improvement in just about every aspect. It represents a ton of hard work by a lot of really smart people. So if you're HPC-inclined (this probably doesn't apply to any of you) please do check it out. We'll be making a ton of improvement between now and the final release, but most of the core functionality is there for your viewing pleasure.

who ya gonna call?

2007-11-12T11:57:00.000-08:00

After breakfast yesterday, we headed over the to Cinerama with some friends to catch their screening of Ghostbusters in 70mm. The Cinerama, which is my favorite movie theatre anywhere, is holding a series of 70mm films which will later include Tron (rest assured: I'll be there).

70mm film is a much higher quality than the standard 35mm film, but to be honest I couldn't really tell. But Ghostbusters has always been a favorite of mine and it was really fun to see it on the Cinerama's enormous screen. It's a really entertaining film, and seeing it seems to bring out the kid in me. We all had a nice sense of glee when the Stay Puft Marshmellow Man come pounding his way down the streets of New York.

One of the things we noticed (and discussed after the movie) was how New York-centric the movie is. I did find myself wondering: would this movie be as much fun for people who haven't lived in (or at least visit) the Big Apple?

every "the daily show" free

2007-11-05T14:11:00.000-08:00

For those who don't know it, The Daily Show is now offering free video of every episode ever made on their website. For Jon Stewart fanatics like me, this is a dream come true. And it's a great way for Viacom to continue their long war against YouTube.

Check it out!

say it ain't so, joe

2007-11-05T13:13:00.000-08:00

I'm a big Joe Girardi fan, and I'm hopeful that is selection as the new Yankees manager bodes well for the team. And I'm not convinced that getting rid of Joe Torre was the wrong move (though I don't like how the Yankees went about it). But seeing Joe Torre in a Dodgers uniform . . . something about that just doesn't seem right. He's supposed to be the Yankee Skipper.

I'm sure that somewhere, there's an old Yankee fan with a grudge against the Brooklyn Dodgers wondering how this came to pass.

It just feels wrong.

who does god hate?

2007-10-31T18:06:00.000-07:00

There really is no limit to the types of fucked-up behavior some people exhibit:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-MD-Funeral-Protests.html?hp

I hope they end up paying every penny.

public duty fulfilled

2007-10-31T16:52:00.000-07:00

I officially completed my first stint at Jury Duty this morning when the jury from my trial (I was an alternate, and thus didn't actually deliberate) returned a verdict in the case of Washington State v. Baron Haghighi.

The case, presided over by the very likeable Judge Dean Lum, regarded a string of a bounced checks written by the defendant, Mr. Haghighi, who was found guilty of 7 counts of UIBC (Unlawful Issuance of Bank Checks) and 1 count of First Degree Theft. All told these crimes could earn Mr. Haghighi a long jail sentence or a very large fine.

The experience was enlightening, and despite the complaining that I've heard from so many people about Jury Duty, it was not a particularly painful experience. I am, of course, a bit of an idealist. But I found it very interesting to learn about how our judicial system works and to see it in action. I was actually quite impressed; Judge Lum worked very hard to maintain the impartiality of the jury, and I believe the correct verdict was reached in the end.

I urge you not to dread your next summons, and instead view it as a great learning experience and an important civic duty. And a chance to spend four days working within a few blocks of Salumi.

update YOUR blog

2007-10-25T17:21:00.000-07:00

I work hard to update my blog regularly; it's time you updated yours!*

*- This message is directed to everyone I know who has a blog. Whether you realize it or not, your blog may be a powerful tool of procrastination for me and lately I've had very little to read.

how long is a year?

2007-10-24T23:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a year now since my father died. 365 days ago right now I was headed home from the hospital with the knowledge or at least expectation that I would never see him again.

Does it feel like a year? I'm not really sure. It feels like more, and it feels like less. To say I miss him would be quite an understatement. But in a way I'm not sure that I have (or every really will) fully grasped the idea that he's truly gone. I guess all anyone can do after the death of a loved one is to move on with life and keep them in your thoughts; dwelling on it doesn't make it any less real and ignoring it is impossible.

Megan and I are heading to the symphony tonight; hopefully that will be something of a tribute to Dad. I think of him every time I go; mostly I just wish he could come with me.

am i the only one that didn't know about politifact.com?

2007-10-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

I've spent a bit of the morning perusing PolitiFact.com and I urge you to do the same. They take statements by and about candidates (from both parties) and fact check them with experts.

Regardless of which side you're on, this is interesting stuff!

a 360 for the common man

2007-10-23T14:26:00.000-07:00

If you know me, you know I love my Xbox 360. It really is a fantastic gaming console, and an equally fantastic home entertainment device. Hardware issues aside, I'd say it's without a doubt the coolest piece of mainstream technology to come around in a while (sorry, iPhone).

So I was really excited this week to see that Microsoft has officially announced the Xbox Arcade Pack which includes an Xbox 360 Core system and 5 Xbox Live Arcade titles. I'm hoping it's nice low price will help it break into the market of more casual gamers and take some market-share from the Wii. More 360's would be good news for me (more gamers -> more games) and my company (more gamers -> more money) and consequently for me again (more money -> higher stock price)!

After so many years of trying to capture hardcore gamers, it's interesting to see the market swinging back in the other direction with offerings like this.

my middle finger

2007-10-22T12:11:00.000-07:00

Last night, I managed to slice off a nice chunk of my middle finger while cutting a bagel. If the Microsoft Health Line nurses and doctors are to be believed, bagel related injuries are surprisingly common.

The real news of the evening was that thanks to the awesome Microsoft benefits, a doctor came to my apartment, tended to my wound, and left me with supplies to help it heal. I really cannot stress how unbelievably awesome of a benefit that is when compared to the prospect of spending 4 hours in an ER somewhere on a Sunday night.

I would type more, but my left hand is only marginally operational.

cleveland sucks

2007-10-21T20:48:00.000-07:00

Witnessing the end of the Indians pathetic collapse, all I can think is GO ROCKIES.

the cake is a lie

2007-10-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

On Friday, I got my copy of The Orange Box, for which I had been excited for some time. My excitement was largely due to the inclusion of Team Fortress 2, the sequel to one of my favorite games of all time. Team Fortress 2 is fun (I haven't really gotten to dig my teeth into it yet), but the real surprise of the whole collection is undoubtedly Portal (you should definitely click this link), easily one of the best games I've ever played.

Portal took me only a few hours to beat, but during those few hours I laughed my ass off. Even Megan enjoyed watching the game, which includes the most amazing and hilarious closing credits I've ever seen.

Portal really captured all that I think can be right with a video game. It was filled with the sort of mind-blowing "what?!?!?!" moments that only really ingeniously crafted game contain. It was thought-provoking. It was just the right amount of challenging; hard enough to make you think but not at all frustrating. And it was light-hearted, never taking itself too seriously for even a second.

To sum it up: Even if you are not a video game person, try to find a chance to try Portal. It might surprise you. And if you are a video game person, BUT IT NOW. You won't regret purchasing one of the highest-rated games of all time.

a new zune

2007-10-04T13:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Microsoft announced the release of the new Zune media players. The preliminary reviews actually look quite good, and most importantly it sounds like a big upgrade over the last version (which was something of a laughingstock).

I particularly like the new features, including automatic syncing over wireless (I don't have to plug it in; I just bring my bag into my apartment) and the ability to transfers TV shows from my Media Center to my Zune (Scrubs on the bus).

I think when my iPod finally dies, I will have to consider the Zune . . .

the headline tells you all you need to know

2007-10-03T11:58:00.001-07:00

Bush Vetoes Children’s Health Insurance Bill -The New York Times

"The White House has rejected as 'preposterous' any suggestion that Mr. Bush does not care about the welfare of poor children. " Thank goodness! I was worried for a second that Mr. Bush was going to let his actions speak for him on this topic.

kissing the hand that feeds

2007-10-01T16:37:00.000-07:00

Papa Microsoft just released a new version of Live Search. I've been using it for a while, and can honestly tell you that it's a huge improvement and brings us one step further in our goal to effectively compete with Google in the search space.

Go check it out; you might like it!

no postseason for the Mets

2007-09-30T15:22:00.000-07:00

The excellent photo, compliments of The Times, pretty much sums it up: Today, the Mets completed the worst late-season collapse in the history of Major League Baseball. Their loss is stunning, even more so because the once horrid Yankees managed to complete turn their season around to become the only New York team in the playoffs this year. My hopes for a subway series this year crushed, I'm left trying to figure out what happened to the Mets? Who's to blame?

Is it (as my brother asserts) Omar Minaya, who failed to get enough quality starting pitching to really last the Mets a full season? Is it Willie Randolph, who's team suffered what appeared to be a complete mental collapse? Rick Peterson for poor management of the bullpen? The pitching staff and bullpen for collapsing under the pressure?

Personally, I blame Jose Reyes.

growing pains

2007-09-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

It looks like Apple is starting to get a feel for what it's like to be the big dog. The iPhone has been hacked and modified and now Apple has released an update that "fixes" these security problems. Stalwart iFans are, of course, annoyed to discover that their modified iPhones are turning into iBricks.

As a Microserf, I find it mildly entertaining to see Apple getting a taste of what has long been Microsoft's (hated and debated) balancing act: how do you satisfy the customer and prevent piracy at the same time?

Personally, I can't help but feel that this issue could have been avoided altogether if Apple had done the right thing and released an open platform to begin with, instead of locking (or rather, trying to lock) down the iPhone so that only their authorized buddies could create software for it. The iPhone has the potential to be an amazingly powerful platform, but I don't really believe that will come to pass if no one can write software for it.

*

2007-09-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

Designer Mark Ecko, who recently paid more than $750,000 for Barry Bond's 756th Home Run ball, announced that he will be donating it to the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown. But before he does, he will permanently mark the ball with an asterisk to forever remind Hall of Fame visitors of Bond's steroidy past.

This actually a remarkably smooth move on the part of Ecko. The ball certainly belongs in the Hall of Fame, but he is ensuring that Hall can't cover up its history.

sorry blog

2007-09-26T00:07:00.000-07:00

Blog (and blog readers): I apologize if you've been neglected. Between work, life, and travel I've been bad about keeping you up to date. But I promise to re-dedicate myself to you!

Keep on bloggin' . . .

chi-town recap

2007-09-25T15:12:00.000-07:00

Megan and I went on a mini-vacation to the Second City last weekend, but I haven't had a chance to blog about it until now (it's been a little hectic around here).

We saw a number of spectacular things in Chicago, including:

An awesome Cubs game at The Friendly Confines which include a walk-off win for Cubbies

Breakfast at Lou Mitchell's, including some of the best coffee I've ever tasted

The CAF's fantastic architectural boat tour of Chicago, home to some of the greatest architecture in the world

Empathizing with Cameron at the Art Institute of Chicago

Eating the flaming cheese at the Parthenon

A lovely evening with my Dad's Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin in nearby Wilmette, IL.

The only real disappointment of the trip was the L, which struggles to support the cities' large rush hour crowds. It made me nostalgic for the real Subway.

bye-bye xbox

2007-09-23T18:11:00.000-07:00

My Xbox 360 finally died as it no longer outputs Video. I was pretty much the only person I knew that owned a 360 which had not died. Now I've joined the ranks of the dead-360 club.

In addition to the personal annoyance and frustration of this, I feel additional embarassment for my company.

*sigh*

something good did come out of good luck chuck

2007-09-21T07:37:00.000-07:00

There's something really entertaining (to me at least) about realy horrible movie review. Well A. O. Scott of the Times delivers today thanks to the unsuprisingly disastrous "Good Luck Chuck."

work out? me?

2007-09-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

I've started working out; I've done it about 4 times in the past 9 days. It hasn't been too painfaul, actually. And I'm excited to start feeling less tired and looking more like I think of myself (it's been a few years since I was 165 lbs.).

I really don't want to end up looking like the stereotypical American . . .

new sunglasses

2007-09-04T17:34:00.001-07:00

I've been talking recently about getting some expensive sunglasses (I've become very dependent on mine lately, but they don't really get the job done). But everyone keeps telling me if I get expensive ones, I'll lose them. I seem to have discovered the perfect solution to this Catch-22: Find expensive sunglasses.

Like these Maui Jim Hulu's. I found them at a park on Lake Samamish last week. Some quick research reveals they are $300 sunglasses.

Sweet!

my bro's 15-minutes of fame

2007-09-04T11:00:00.000-07:00

Today's New York Times includes a letter sent in by my brother, Matt, in which he states that we have a "moral imperative" to address the growing number of uninsured Americans.

Way to go, Bro!

good fucking riddance

2007-08-27T16:15:00.000-07:00

hangin' out in the garage

2007-08-26T08:35:00.000-07:00

Last night, Megan, Costas, Shevaun, Becca, and I headed out to The Garage. The concept of place where you can bowl cheaply, play pool, and eat excellent food is just about the best idea I can think of, yet in 2 years I had yet to make it to the Garage. The place was awesome and I'm sure I'll be back there again soon.

As a side note, a big perk of having Becca in town is that we've been seeing a lot more of Costas (AKA Constantine) and Shevaun. Their really fun to hang out with (especially when Shevaun bakes).

Today . . . perhaps some blueberry picking? Then we could make a pie . . .

engaged

2007-08-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

After almost 4.5 years of dating, Megan and I are now engaged!

I asked her while we were out Kayaking in New Hampshire last Thursday, and she graciously said yes :) Megan's family, and my Mom, were up in New Hampshire with us, and it was great for us to all celebrate together.

I have a lot of friends that I owe phone calls to, but I'm currently at some off-site training, so I haven't had a chance yet. It's pretty amazing how many people that I know and care about when I start thinking about notifying all of them.

bye-bye scooter

2007-08-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

It's a sad day for Yankee fans today, as one of the Yankees' all-time greats, Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto has passed away. MLB.com has a great tribute page where you can watch clips of Scooter's most memorable moments both in and out of the broadcast booth.

"My best pitch is anything the batter grounds, lines, or pops in the direction of [Phil] Rizzuto."
-Yankees pitcher Vic Raschi

using google

2007-08-12T01:24:00.000-07:00

If you check somewhere over here
-------------------------------------------------->
you'll see that I've added my Google Reader shared articles feed. This will allow me to quickly post articles from some of my favorite blogs that I think you guys might find interesting.

For those of you calling me a Benedict Arnold: Outlook has some quirky problems with RSS feeds when you run it on multiple machines. Until that gets fixed, I'm using Google Reader (which is pretty cool, but far from perfect).

If you've found an RSS reader that you're really happy with, let me know! I'd be more than happy to migrate over . . .

busy weekend with my bro

2007-08-06T16:51:00.000-07:00

Matt's been in town since Thursday night, and I've been keeping him very busy in that time frame. Over the course of the weekend, we:

Took in a Mariners vs. Sox game
Watched the Blue Angels fly at SeaFair
Dined at Black Bottle
Enjoyed Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer at Seattle Opera
BBQ'd on the beach up at Golden Gardens
Shopped at Archie McPhee
Saw a play at the Intiman
Dined at Le Pichet
Found some time for Guitar Hero II

Now that's a busy weekend. Now, Matt is at home making dinner for Megan and I . . . it's good to have a brother on vacation!

i am a sousaphone hero

2007-08-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

This morning Kotaku pointed to this awesome piece in this week's Onion:

Activision Reports Sluggish Sales For Sousaphone Hero

SANTA MONICA, CA— "I played in career mode for hours and kept feeling like I was playing the same annoying circus tune over and over," complained a disappointed gamer.

As a Sousaphone player, I can honestly say there is no limit to the amount of money I might spend on this game if it actually existed. Though the article's claim that the ultimate achievement of Sousaphone excellence is to play Sousaphone in the Harvard-Yale Half-Time show (which I have actually done) is a bit questionable to me.

Activision, if you're listening: PLEASE MAKE THIS GAME!

throwin' heat

2007-07-30T21:44:00.000-07:00

Amidst Ichiro's big contract and J. J. Putz's complete dominance, it's been easy to miss that the Mariner's have been playing great baseball. Tonight, they defeated the Division Leading L.A. Angels 2-0 with great pitching (from Batista and Putz) and timely hitting (by Ichiro) to move up to just 3 games back in the A.L. West.

The best part of the game? I found myself literally laughing with glee watching Putz face Vladimir Guerrero. Vlad struck out on 3 high fastballs, each of which drew a futile, flailing swing. I'm not sure when the last time was that Guerrero was publicly embarrassed so thoroughly, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was in little league.

the best picture?

2007-07-28T11:25:00.000-07:00

Megan and I (finally) watched The Departed last night, after it spent about 2 months sitting on the shelf in its Netflix sleeve.

In general, I agree with what I'd heard about it before hand. The film was very good. The cast was excellent, the acting was very good, and the babe was pretty darn hot. But the ending . . . well the ending sucked. We could tell watching the movie that its writers had no idea how to end it. And the plot that they chose, in addition to being laughably stupid at moments, completely lacked any true sense of climax or closure. And numerous seemingly important characters and plot lines simply fell out of the story without ever being tied together.

So the film was good, but was it best picture good? Nah.

find me via "whoopsie wagon"

2007-07-27T10:03:00.001-07:00

My good friend Jason IM'd me last night to let me know that when he Googled "Whoopsie Wagon," my blog was the first of two hits to come up.

I think I've just added a second.

roid rage

2007-07-24T23:17:00.000-07:00

News continues to roll in about steroid-enhanced performances in just about every major support.

A positive blood-doping test yesterday caused the Tour de France favorite to quit the tour, continuing the process of turning professional cycling into an absolute laughing stock. At the end of Lance's reign I found myself getting into the tour, but now I can't watch: No team or individual seems to compete without rumors and allegations of steroid use.

Meanwhile, (co-jerks) Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield have again been accused of taking steroids in their attempts to bash more and more home runs.

It's no secret that I'm not an athlete, but I do really enjoy watching professional sports (especially baseball). Steroids absolutely take away from my enjoyment, and more importantly, I find their use incredibly immoral. It's cheating, plain and simple. Yet their use seems to be rampant. Am I the only one who is morally bothered by their use? Or are professional sports just filled with people willing to break any rule to get ahead?

Bonds will, in the next few days, break the long-standing career home run record set by Hank Aaron. Most of the U.S. is rooting against him, which is almost unbelievable: he will be booed for breaking one of the greatest records in the history of sports. And yet there's no real indication, in baseball or other sports, that athletes are seriously giving up on performance-enhancing drugs. Instead they seem committed to finding new and better ways to trick tests and cover their tracks.

jeff's birthday is happy for all of us

2007-07-22T23:08:00.000-07:00

Megan and I have passed the Black Bottle dozens of times, each time saying "we should go there some time." Well tonight we finally ended up eating there (the occasion was Jeff's birthday) and it more than lived up to our expectations. The food was excellent and that atmosphere was very "modern Seattle" (which means very yuppy).

If you're looking for superlatives, I can tell you that without question they serve the tastiest broccoli the world has ever seen; a table full of 20-something guys ordered "Seconds on broccoli."

sweet melissa

2007-07-18T22:31:00.001-07:00

Brandi (one of my oldest friends in the world) painted me this sweet painting of my guitar, Melissa. It's acrylic on canvas. We just got it framed this week and put it up next to the pinball machine.

Thanks Brandi!

the case for j. j.

2007-07-17T13:00:00.000-07:00

It's been 15 years since a closer has won a Cy Young Award (Dennis Eckersley did it in '92), but I'm going to go ahead and disagree with all of the current predictions and discussions and say that if things continue as they've been going, it should go to a closer: Seattle Mariner's reliever J. J. Putz.

Currently, J. J. is 27 for 27 in save opportunities (that's a perfect record, for those keeping count) with a 1-0 record and a .81 ERA. Notice that there is no digit preceding the decimal point. If the season ended today and he took the Cy Young, he'd do so with the lowest ERA of any pitcher in Cy Young history (none have ever recorded an ERA below 1.04). Granted he has not pitched a ton this year . . . but that is impressive regardless.

Putz has been nothing short of automatic. If he's given up only 4 runs and 18 hits in 44 and 1/3 innings, while walking only 7 and striking out 49. That's a WHIP below .6 and a Strikeout to Walk ratio of 7. That is not just good, that is UNBELIEVABLE. He has without question been the most consistently dependable pitcher in the game the year, and has been a big part of making a Seattle Mariners team that no one was talking about into a true playoff contender.

At the very least, he should be added to any one's list of Cy Young hopefuls for this season.

Update: According to Branton, I just jinxed J. J. So consider this update me knocking on wood (which I am actually doing as I type this).

congratulations, it's a fender

2007-07-15T22:22:00.000-07:00

I headed up to the U. District today to The Trading Musician to get myself an acoustic guitar, and ended up with this lovely, lightly used and newly setup Fender DG-8S (sorry; she doesn't have have a name yet!).

I haven't played the bass much since I was about 17; just tinkered with it on and off. Lately I've been feeling inclined to play again, but I've also been feeling that bass just isn't that much fun when I don't have band to play with. My hope is that the more solo nature of the guitar will inspire me to start playing more again.