.the gpb kids.

Joshua Bell

Posted by Jules - February 28, 2008 at 09:02:45 am

So we left Wondercon around 1 30p because we had a concert to catch- Joshua Bell at Zellerbach Hall. For those of you who don’t know, he’s been around forever- he played the violin parts in The Red Violin. I remember him from when I was in jr/hs- I listened to his recordings of Fritz Kreisler’s pieces over and over. And when I lost that cd, I went out and bought it again. He played the following repertoire: Tartini’s “Devil’s Trill” sonata, Dvorak’s Four Romantic Pieces, Prokiefiev’s F minor sonata, Grieg’s C third minor sonata, some encore I don’t remember, and Heifitz’s arrangement of Love for Three Oranges. I really enjoyed Grieg’s C third minor and the encore Love for Three Oranges- fiery and expressive, and sweetly lyrical where it needed to be. The Prokofiev was played in a surprisingly light and delicate manner sometimes compared to how I envision Prokofiev: bold, heavy, and distinctly Russian. The Tartini and Dvorak were less memorable for me, but were still very pretty. I think it was a good concert, even if he said all of one sentence to the audience during the entire time. But it’s about the music, no? Yay for music! I think mike enjoyed it too. 

Yip Yips at Wondercon 2008

Posted by Mike - February 25, 2008 at 08:02:00 am

Stan invited me to go to Wondercon with him this year in one of his Yip Yip costumes. The first thing we did was go the costume contest Saturday night where we did a short skit similar to the telephone one seen on Sesame Street. We didn’t have anyone filming for us, but maybe I can find us on Youtube later. It was pretty simple, we didn’t have any audio clip to give to the coordinators so we just yipped loudly. But we got a pretty amazing reaction from the audience. I couldn’t really see because I took my glasses off and the lights are shining toward you on stage, but they sounded pretty happy. I’m surprised they could even hear us actually. After our skit, we stumbled off stage (I almost missed the stairs). At the end of the night, the awards were announced and wouldn’t you know it, Stan and I got “Best Humorous.” He has the trophy on his desk at work. Maybe I can get him to take a picture of it.

On Sunday we went back for a couple of hours and walked the floor in costume for a short period. I have to say that the reaction people have toward the costumes is addictive. Everybody at least smiles when they see us and a lot of people want to take pictures with us. At sound points we would have a little group surrounding us with cameras. A few people has us pose in their booths and one website “interviewed” us. Most of the people knew who we were. I was surprised that both adults and children recognized us. Some, however, thought Stan (in blue) was the cookie monster.

The whole thing was very fun and addicting. If Jules and I didn’t have to make it back for a Joshua Bell concert I’m sure we would have walked the floor for a couple more hours. Yip yip yip.

Update: Stan posted the pictures at flickr. And here’s a video someone took of us backstage.

Infernal Unicorn!

Posted by Mike - February 22, 2008 at 05:02:36 pm

I think Netflix needs to take another look at their recommendation algorithms. Here’s the description of Infernal Affairs:

A veteran cop, Chan Wing Yan (Tony Leung), is given an enormous task: to go undercover within his own department and finger the detective who’s been deceiving everyone and leaking information to the criminal underworld. But the mole (Andy Lau), whose identity Chan doesn’t know, also has no idea who the internal investigator is, and the two soon embark on a dangerous and perilous game of cat and mouse.

And the description for Wonder Pets:

Linny the guinea pig, Ming-Ming Duckling and Turtle Tuck join forces to save a new crop of animals in distress in this family-friendly program that employs the fascinating technique of “photo-puppetry.” In this collection of exciting rescue episodes, the Wonder Pets jump into a storybook to help a unicorn whose horn is lodged in a tree. Later, they head to the South Pole to save a baby penguin who’s stranded on an ice floe.

Maybe there’s something I’m missing. Maybe Turtle Tuck is just like Andy Lau.

Flight of the Conchords

Posted by Jules - February 15, 2008 at 06:02:26 pm

A recent purchase of mine. Absolutely hilarious, I tell you (even though I’m not smiling in this picture). I swear!  

2008 Audi R8

Posted by Mike - February 15, 2008 at 10:02:45 am

I’m not much of a car aficionado but this morning Bobby and I saw a 2008 Audi R8 driving up to the Yahoo! campus and I couldn’t help but stare at it as it passed. I wonder if someone from Yahoo! Autos is taking a look at it today.

Maybe I should get one. It’s only $100,000.

Grizzly Peak

Posted by Mike - February 15, 2008 at 09:02:14 am

Yesterday I worked from home and went on a little ride during my lunch break. My short ride of choice? Grizzly peak. It’s a nice twisty road in the Berkeley Hills and you can take Skyline to Redwood for a longer ride if you want. I pulled over and took a few pictures while I was up there.

Jules and I are planning on getting some protective gear for her this spring so she can hop on the back and go on some of these nice rides. As fun as the rides are, they can get kinda lonely by yourself.

We Heart Stardust

Posted by Mike - February 14, 2008 at 12:02:37 pm

Stardust trailer at Apple.com

FLOATING in on an airy breeze of dreams and true love, the lively adventure-romance “Stardust” offers that elusive quality summer movies are supposed to possess but rarely do — total escape. LA Times

Stardust was one of my favorite movies of 2007. It resulted in me renting Shopgirl and the entire My So-Called Life TV series. I don’t know what it is specifically, but I agree with the LA Times writer that is a very immersive and magical movie that makes you feel good. It will probably be one of the few movies that I actually purchase.

Recommendation Engine

Posted by Mike - February 13, 2008 at 09:02:14 am

Oh Netflix, you’re so smart! How did you know??

I saw that today when I logged on to Netflix.

Wish List

Posted by Mike - February 13, 2008 at 08:02:45 am

I’m a pretty impulsive consumer. Most of the time I’m content to just browse a store but every so often I’ll get it in my head that I absolutely have to buy something. Sometimes I’ll have something in mind, get to the store, find they don’t have it, and buy something completely different. It’s not always little things either. That’s how I got my Nikon D50 back in the day. Originally I wanted the Canon Rebel but they were out of it at Costco so I just bought the D50.

So here I’ll make a list of some of the things I’ve been wanting for a long time. We’ll see how many I actually get this year.

• PS3

  The PS3 has been on my mind for a long time now, mostly for its Blu-Ray playing capabilities. I was totally blown away by Planet Earth at 1080p. But that’s not enough to warrant the purchase. I’m very close to getting one, I just need that extra little push in the form of a game (since it is a gaming console after all). And that push is named Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. It’s set to hit shelves in the US in April and hopefully by then I’ll have me a PS3 to play it on.

• Ninja ZX-6R

  That’s my dream bike, and one day she’ll be mine. Yesterday my coworker asked why I liked that bike in particular so much. Well, for one, I think it’s the only production supersport bike that comes in green (my favorite color). Also, it won the 2007 AMA Supersport Championship, with some help from its rider. And just look at it. I mean come on, do you really need a reason?

• Vio POV.1 Camera

  Some of the rides I go on are just beautiful. Nice windy back roads that see little to no traffic. Fields of grass and flowers, rolling hills of oaks, forests of redwoods, coastal cliffs. It’s so pretty and exhilarating. I’ve wanted to make videos of my rides for a long time. I just haven’t had the proper set up to do it. This system, while a little pricey, would do the trick.

• Apple iPhone

  What can I say? I wouldn’t call my current phone anything close to “smart” and I’ve never been a fan of PDA’s, but that iPhone. It’s one sexy SOB.

So that’s a short list for now. Other than the PS3, I don’t currently have any plans to buy any of the others. I guess that’s why it’s called a wish list and not a shopping list.

Ninja ZX-6R vs Ninja 250R

Posted by Mike - February 12, 2008 at 06:02:12 pm

My friend recently took the MSF course in anticipation of getting his motorcycle license. I was talking to him about it today and he mentioned he wanted to get a Ninja 250R. Images of boxy motorcycles danced through my mind and I scoffed at the idea. But then I actually looked up the bike and I have to say, this year’s model is pretty good looking.

Above are the Ninja ZX-6R, my bike of choice if I ever get a new one, and his desired Ninja 250R. They made the 250 more sporty looking which I approve of and for a $3,500 MSRP I’d say it’s a pretty good deal. (But still not nearly as sexy as the 6R.)

Search