All posts tagged “caption”

Shiny new Apples

Posted 958 days ago · Tagged: aluminum chassis, caption, Catherine, iPhone, Mac, Mac OS, mac os x, new macbook pro, Steve Jobs, time · 1 Comment

I have been pretty lucky over the last month. I have gotten two new toys, a new Macbook Pro and a new iPhone 3GS. I even got someone else to pay for them.

Photo of MacBook Pro - Taken with iPhone

I managed – with my coworkers – to get the budget to get new hardware at work. That allowed me to get a shiny new MacBook Pro. It is one of the new models with the solid aluminum chassis and sealed battery. For a serious road warrior that maybe an issue, but I have had zero battery issues and the battery life has been great. I typically get 5-6 hours of use. That includes continued wireless internet use and video compression from time to time. Along side of the other things that I am doing on the machine at the time. Be it listening to music, coding, running virtual machines, etc.

It is also running Mac OS X 10.6.1 and for the most part was a completely seamless move from my old Mac. Since Macs allow you to move your existing set up from one to another, it could not have been easier. The newest setup let me restore from a prior Time Machine backup. It was odd. It was like a brand new yet oddly the same machine.

Everything is faster. The start up and shut down/sleep times especially. I have had a couple apps that did not work at first but since then have released updates and work with no issues.

We are also using Exchange in Apple mail. The setup could not have been easier (easier than I remember Outlook ever being). With the exception of some calendar things (can’t seem to see private events) it has been a seamless integration with the large MS Exchange beast.

Photo of iPhone - Taken with MacBookPro

I have also gotten a new iPhone. Since many of the students and faculty where I work are now using mobile devices extensively (some exclusively!) we made (and won) the argument that we needed access to these devices so we could support and develop a mobile version of the college website. After an initial test (and an event that confirmed the usefulness) we were green-lighted.

I also got an iPhone for Catherine so I believe with all of the above I can say safely that I helped pay for Steve Jobs’s liver transplant.

Book Review: Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King

Posted 1015 days ago · Tagged: baby boomer generation, caption, dark tower series, READ FASTER, stephen king, Vietnam, William Hurt, yellow coats · Comments Off

Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King

I been digging audiobooks again on my commute and recently finished up the reading of Hearts in Atlantis, as read by William Hurt and Stephen King.

Hearts in Atlantis is a collection of 4 novellas and one “coda”. This is the third collection set up like this, the prior being Different Seasons (Featuring the stories that Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil, and Stand By Me are based) and Four Past Midnight. (Featuring the stories that the Langoliers and Secret Window are based). The film Hearts in Atlantis is based on the first of the four, titled Low Men in Yellow Coats, and the “coda” at the end.

Overall this is much less supernatural/horror King and much more the “literary” side. The stories follow a chronological order and there are some interconnected characters, though no two lead characters are the same. The first takes place in 1960 the last 1999. The overall scope is the Baby-boomer generation, their promises of hope, the weight, guilt, and complexity that the Vietnam War bared and ultimatum the glimmer of hope.

The writing, for the most part, is above-the-average King novel and he seems to have something to “get off his chest”. Guilt or perhaps fear, maybe both. The placement of the Vietnam war as a nearly a character is interesting. None of the novellas take place in Vietnam, though there is one flashback in the story “Why We’re in Vietnam” that is very surreal.

The first novella, Low Men in Yellow Coats, also ties in heavily to the Dark Tower series of books. Ted, the character played by Anthony Hopkins in the film, is a “breaker” and plays a significant role in the Dark Tower (Dark Tower VII). It is interesting, this was written approximately 4-5 years before DTVII. Very cool pre-placement.

Stephen King

William Hurt

The reading by William Hurt and Stephen King could not have been more different. Hurt is a trained actor and it shows. But he is not a trained reader. There are times I wanted to yell at him “READ FASTER”. Stephen King on the other had has a nasal quality to his voice, but as the author you get all the right intent and meter. He has read plenty of his other books and has a personal love of audiobooks.

Overall, I liked it. It is much more literary than most of King’s material, though there are supernatural elements (especially in Low Men in Yellow Coats).

Book Review: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

Posted 1019 days ago · Tagged: Amazing, book review, Books, caption, dark materials, golden compass, Harry Potter, Philip Pullman · Comments Off

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

I decided to dive into the “His Dark Materials” trilogy after looking at them on my bookshelf for some time. This is the book series, the writing, the characters, the plot, that Harry Potter wanted to be.

I am going to keep this relatively brief, as I think the whole series (after reading this and getting about 1/3 of the way through The Subtle Knife) deserves reflection – which I will write afterwards.

This book deserves it’s own credit though. It is well written, well paced, and unique yet you can relate to it. I can see a book moving ahead with a strong plot but lesser language skills (lots of popular fiction falls into this category of great story, so-so writing) and others have the words and writing to dazzle but are really not telling much of anything. I honestly feel like this falls into that small category that has both. When books like that come along – I want to sing about them!

The levels of things going on in this are huge and many layered. The top layer of the characters and plots being one, the symbolism of the dæmons and Dust, the layer of the Church and its influence on both life and the world, and then the representations of the characters. UGH – there is lots! And yet just looking at the top layer is great, as the characters and plot soar.

Philip Pullman

The other item I want to touch on is the idea of this as a children’s book. REALLY? I am not sure I would want my 10 year old to read this. There is nothing objectionable (the church stuff is right on folks) but the layers and complexity are really quite a bit more and worth getting into.

To say I like this book would be an understatement. I wish I had not taken so long to get to it.

Beer Review: Rogue’s Charlie & Southern Tier’s Mokah

Posted 1022 days ago · Tagged: beer review, behold the power of beer, caption, peanut butter pie, Southern Tier · Comments Off

Last night went to the Drafting room with gift certificate in hand. Been awhile since our last visit and it was a treat. Two new beers to try.

Rogue Charlie

Part of the John’s Locker Stock series

When we arrived, I always check this as the Drafting Room is one of the limited locations getting the JLS of brews. The Charlie is an Old ale style and strong and very balanced. It was served is a tulip like glass with a nutty rich brown color. A low off-white head led to a sticky and malty aroma. The brew was rich but delicious. It was very drinkable and I enjoyed it with brisket. It at times reminded me of Hop Devil served on cask.

Southern Tier Mokah

Click to expand me to read the bad-ass label (ingredients included - LOVE THAT)

For desert had the Mokah from Southern Tier. This was served in a tulip glass and is really pitch black, right up there with the Opaque Espresso Stout. The smell is like Hershey’s kisses and the taste is like a thick chocolate cream soda. This was a delight! The coffee flavors sunk in and the coffee/chocolate flavors bathed my tongue. We enjoyed this with a HUGE slice of Peanut Butter Pie. And the 11% alc on this was sneaky, no way I would have ever placed this as high as that. I really really like this!

Book Review: Spaceman Blues: A Love Song by Brian Francis Slattery

Posted 1052 days ago · Tagged: book review, caption, coolness, friends and enemies, New York, New York City, soul partner, United States of America, Weird · Comments Off

Spaceman Blues: A Love Story by Brian Francis Slattery

Spaceman Blues: A Love Song by Brian Francis Slattery

Reading a book that seems to fuse the ends of the writing and reading world bell curve could have been a real disaster or a complete success. Luckily, this falls into the second.

Wendel is a heart broken over the disappearance of Manuel, his love and soul-partner. But this is not regular disappearance, he literally vanished. Manuel is a social wonder and loved by many, hated by many, and every time we learn more about him, involved with seemingly everything. Poor Wendell learns of most of this as his search continues and information is revealed.

I will borrow a bit of summary here – though I have edited it to limited spoilers:

Editor/writer/musician Slattery’s chaotic debut takes readers on a headlong trip to the end of the world. Manuel González, a legendary New York City party animal, has disappeared and his apartment has exploded, leaving behind only the memories of his thousands of friends and enemies. His lover, Wendell Apogee, is determined to find out what happened. So are police inspectors Herman Trout and Lenny Salmon, who uncover a web of bizarre characters, from Lucas Henderson, former Lunar Temple cult member, and Arturo El Flaco Domínguez, González’s worst enemy, to a washed-up ’80s pop band the Marsupials.

Brian Francis Slattery - editor, writer, and occasional musician (you should look at this guy's resume!)

I think there are 2 ways you could look at this book – both of which hold up. I can see people complaining about a plot that jumps and seems to have logical thrown out and that a book with aliens and super heroes should move along at a brisk clip. I get that. I find my self on the other end. The writing is fluid and lyrical, almost poetic in its rhythm sometimes. The plot does jump and things happen for reasons that are sometimes revealed and sometimes not. But it matches the acid-dripped version of New York that this is written in. There are times when the action picks up that I would like more “POW!, BAM!, ZAP!” but they are few and the literary flow and nearly “coming of age” factor are an interesting counter point to the comic book-like plot.

Basically – I liked it! I will go check out his second book, with equally long title – Liberation: Being the Adventures of the Slick Six After the Collapse of the United States of America.