Weblog

Monday, 22 June 2009

  • More That [Than] Meets the Eye - Revisited (7/6/07)

    I had seen on the news that the Autobot vehicles being on display outside the Arclight in Hollywood, so I decided to check it out yesterday. Assuming that the Dome theater was going to be played on a domed screen ala-Imax, I decided to overlook the $11 ticket and watch it there. After finding out the next screening at the Dome, and wrongly thinking that the 1st 4 hours of parking would be free with movie ticket purchase, I initially wanted to time my arrival to avoid paying for parking. However, I decided I would get there as early as possible in case the tickets got sold out quickly.

    As I approached the box office, the cashier assumed that I wanted tickets for the very next showing, but I found out it would be played in a different theater instead. I thus debated minimizing parking costs or maximizing my enjoyment, and so inquired about the significance of the Dome. I was told that because the screen was so wide, in the old days there would be 3 projectors screening the same movie side-by-side, and it would be screen in digital to boot. It had a capacity of 800+ but the best [assigned] seat I could get was all the way in Y; I thought, what the heck, digital FTW!



    I had viewed some online galleries of the vehicles display, and knew there would also be a large banner hanging off the side of a nearby building, so I decided to check it out as well. Apparently, the building was under construction, and the banners were draped on 3 sides, with Megatron on the left, Optimus Prime on the right, and a "Transformers 7.4.7" in the middle. I then proceeded to the Coffee Bean just 2 blocks away to get a refreshing drink and chilled inside amidst the outside heat. With still some time to kill, I went to the top level of the parking structure to see if I could get a closeup . [More pics]


    As it turns out, the banner was indeed visible, and I thought that it would make a good backdrop for a photoshoot of The Phantom Matrix, and hopefully be afforded some sunset hues. I had considered moving it up so that I could do the photoshoot immediately after the movie, but even with adequate time I thought I'd might as well get a seat in the Dome - to my detriment. I tried to make my way to the upper levels, even trying to go downwards first, but security had blocked off the ramp access to only vehicles newly entering the structure, so I had no choice but to leave and return another day.

    I met up with Thien at the Montebello mall, where he was checking out the several toy and hobby stores there looking for his usual laundry list of cartoon memorabilia. By the time he was done, the food court had already closed, so I suggested we grabbed dinner at Applebee's, which was just a stone's throw away. There was a long line outside the cinema next door, presumably for Transformers, so finding parking was a bit of a hassle. I found a corner spot that a Tercel had parked irritatingly close to, and because it was shaped \_| I had no choice but to park at an angle to the inconsiderate hack.

Tuesday, 19 May 2009

Friday, 24 April 2009

  • Chile? You're From Chile? {Some airline commercial played in Singapore many years back}

    Chili Cook-off

    UNX-Burbank will hold an inaugural Post-Memorial Day weekend “Chili Cook-off” on Friday, May 29.   So form your teams, and start putting your taste buds to the test.

    At 11:12 AM on the day of the cook-off, teams should gather in the 2nd floor kitchen where the official tasting and judging will be conducted.  Once judging is concluded, the entries will be available to all. 

    Following are the Cook-off rules:

    1. Teams can be formed from among any UNX employee from the Burbank office.  Minimum team size is 2.  Maximum team size is 5.
    2. Chili entries must be home cooked – not store bought.
    3. You may also include on the side complementary foods like crackers, cornbread, etc., but only the chili on its own will be judged.
    4. An ingredient list must be displayed with your chili (you don’t need to include quantities used, just what’s in it).
    5. A “heat level” (e.g., how spicy is it?) warning must be indicated.
    6. Teams must prepare a minimum quantity of one crock pot of the goods at their own expense.
    7. Only final assembly (if required) and heat-up should be conducted at the office.  Our suggestion is to complete your fare at home and to bring it to the office ready to get it hot.
    8. Team names are required.
    9. Team costumes are preferred but not required.
    10. Teams must register with Brady or Jay by May 15.  The registration form is attached.

    Prizes will be awarded.

    Good luck and happy cooking!

Wednesday, 08 April 2009

  • The Sound and the Fury 4/5

    Maybe it's because I drive a hybrid and it was in electric mode the whole time, but this girl was walking down the side of the church parking lot with her friends and then suddenly strayed into the middle of the driveway as she put on her sweater! I wanted to "blast" my horn but it was at church, and safety trumps getting to church on time; I guess I should've just opened my window and let the 12" sub take control. I think the parking lot needs to be reconfigured, because while there is a pedestrian footpath, most people don't use it because the sanctuary is on the opposite side of the driveway. Granted, it is a parking lot and drivers shouldn't be popping wheelies or going above 5-10 mph, but even if you deign to take a leisurely stroll, please be mindful of drivers who are trying to get to church on time!

    So the green box (top left corner) is the area towards where the sanctuary is, the blue box is handicapped parking, the brown boxes are regular parking spots, and the black arrow represents the ideal flow of pedestrian traffic on the pathway. The problem is that the shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line, so instead of gravitating towards the pathway (away from the shortest path) those who parked in the 2-way section will tend to walk in the flow of vehicular traffic instead. To make things worse, as they walk towards the sanctuary, they would be blind to vehicles headed in the same direction behind them. I'm not a traffic engineer but I tried to rework the parking situation and came up with this idea... instead of 3 flows of vehicular traffic, it would have to be reduced to one way in each section.


    In this proposed solution, the church-bound lane would have to be wider than the current one-way section to accommodate the handicapped transit bus. When approaching vehicles are fanning into the main parking area, safety is enhanced such that pedestrians and motorists would be able to see one another. (Had the plan to have a designated hybrid parking section close to the sanctuary for the next development phase gone through, without this proposed solution there'd be a greater chance of people not hearing them coming and getting hit. Of course, legislation is currently underway to make some form of sound required.) Now, what I want to see next is drivers who are more considerate about parking in spots designated as Compact!

Thursday, 02 April 2009

  • BREAKING: Palm reveals new ‘Post’ smartphone, still working on Pre
    http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/04/01/breaking-palm-reveals-new-po...
    by Jeremy Kessel on April 1, 2009


    In an unprecedented move, Palm has revealed its heretofore ultra-secret WebOS-based smartphone — the Palm Post — at CTIA 2009.

    While the mobile world has been patiently waiting for the Pre since it was first teased back in January, Palm has apparently been hard at work on the (clandestine) Post as well.

    According to Palm’s press release:

    We’ve put an enormous amount of time, energy, and resources into the development and production of our new flagship device - the Palm Post. Rather than rush our highly anticipated Palm Pre to the market, we thought it was in the best interest of both our customers and our company to perform extended R&D on our new hardware and software.

    Not only does this ensure that consumers will receive the highest quality mobile device possible, but by moving our top engineers to a new facility - The Orchid- we’ve been able to do what no other company has been able to achieve until now…we’ve preemptively included all of the features and technologies that our customers (and Sprint) will want come 2011 in the Post! In other words, thanks to the DHARMA Intiative, we no longer have to wait for months of testing and feedback, but instead can rely on the needs and desires consumers will develop in the not too distant future. This enables us to provide the best, most comprehensive smartphones available anywhere on planet Earth.

    The Post’s most spectacular features include...