For Everyone Obsessed with Mac

And even if you aren't...I still wanna take a minute to talk about the upcoming release of the Apple's IPhone. Everyone I know is going ape-shit in anticipation of this thing, and for good reason. It's the trendiest lil' gadget that does everything except poop and cry for it's mommy. Is it a phone? is it an Ipod? Is it an internet device? Does it take pictures?!? Who cares?!?! I want it. I want it.

Sure, there's a ton of things to be said about this phone, but I'm going to leave that to the experts and nerds. I just want it.

• Official Apple site


• the Tao of Mac


***UPDATE: It's out, I've played with it, I still want it...butI'm going to wait until version 2 comes out. This will let them get all the kinks out and allow me to finish out the remainder of my contract :)

2007: And Still No Flying Cars

I've started back at work once again. In case some of you don't know me, I'm a TV Producer. Trust me, it sounds way more interesting than it is. That's because though I love the documentary format, I don't really make documentaries. I make reality TV, which is an entirely different beast. Now you're probably thinking to yourself that I've sold my soul to the devil, and you may be right. Most reality shows are mere launching points for wannabe stars who indulge in narcissism and hubris. But what I like about what I do is that the format fits my short attention span very well. I get to learn things and then move on to something else. So now I'm working at a production company that wants to develop some ideas and they hired me to figure out it these ideas have the potential to become shows. One of their interests is a highschool baseball team. As some of you know, I did a sizzle reel for E! Entertainment on the softball pitcher Jennie Finch and her then-fiance Casey Daigle from the Arizona Diamondbacks - I called it Pitcher Perfect (my favorite title ever). Anyway it didn't get picked up.
Yet even with my past record of NOT successfully selling a baseball show, I now found myself spending most of the afternoon today at a highschool baseball field watching a group of sophmores and seniors practice. I learned some new things about baseball (which isn't hard considering I have, until now, remained blissfully ignorant of the sport). And now I am doing some heavy thinking about what kind of project I can make out of these kids and their lives. The creative process is a strange thing: part of it requires me to sit back and do other things while some portion of my brain is busily solving the artistic details. But of course it's a multi-layered process, so there is much revising. Here's an analogy: it's sort of like I've got a little granny up there and I just give her some material and close the door and when I've opened it up again, there she stands with a completed quilt in her tiny, wrinkled hands. I look at it and pretend I like what she made, and then I take all the material apart and reassemble it again into something I can actually use. Yep, that's the artist's process.

Robert Parke Harrison

For anyone who loves photography or great artwork, let me introduce you to Robert Parke Harrison. His work deals with the plight of the planet and man's relationship to it. He is a master of landscape - one in which the earth is represented by emotive objects that expunge the line between man and his world, yet masterfully suggest the chaos of his effect on it. Robert blends a variety of mediums together in unique ways; photography with sculptural, painted and performance elements all done in collage style. The work is evocative and layered without hitting you over the head with its message. His imagery is other-worldly, yet its nod to early photography is also evident. I hope you enjoy his work as much as I do.

Photos courtesy of Robert Parke Harrison and http://www.decordova.org

Film Studies?

Okay, so the last week or two since my return from India has been relaxing. I spent the first week back in the lovely state of Oregon (I hate it there) where I visited an old friend. We hung out, enjoyed the cold, and watched a lot of movies. After that, I flew to California to visit my best friend Suzanne. We hung out, enjoyed the cold and watched a lot of movies. Now I've got a couple days and then it's back to the work grind.

So I've been thinking about going back to school. I've been thinking I'd like to teach. I don't have to go back to school to do it, but seeing as I have no confidence in my intelligence, I thought getting my PhD would be a sort of HAHA to myself.

Anyway, V thought it would be helpful for me to attend a conference or two and meet some people, to help me decide if it's really what I want to do. So I did a little research and I've decide to go to a Cinema and Media Studies conference in March. We'll see how it goes.

Update

So folks, I've been using this blog the last couple of weeks for my trip to India. Now that I'm back in the lovely USofA, I'm thinking I'll keep posting to the blog, but I'm going to update it so that it's not dedicated only to the trip. If you've come to this site looking for pictures of the India trip or journal entries, just read entries for December 2006.

Delhi Belly and All things A 'Goan

Well kids, night has fallen on my last day in India. As I say farwell to my 35th year I also bid the strange and exotic land of Hindustan goodbye. Mostly I am sad to leave Goa, as I could have spent quite a bit more time there. In the end, my trip to Goa was too short, and in fact, we ended up only visiting one beach, and that for only an hour or so. I've never been to any beach like it though - there was loud trance music coming from the bar shown in the picture - people were dancing as if it was midnight in Paris and didn't seem to care - I was trying to capture a shot of one particularly interesting guy. He was about 55 with a big bloated beer belly and the tiniest white thong swimsuit you'd ever seen. There were lots of interesting exotic people to people watch there.
Yesterday after seeing Vidhu safely off, Rohit and I acquainted ourselves further with the moped by driving aimlessly around Anjuna for the better part of the day. We wanted to find a good masseuse to try the traditional Indian style of ayurvedic massage, but Rohit wanted to find a women to apply his and so we drove around aimlessly checking out the oh at least 20 massage centers. That took up a good part of the day, since none of the women seemed to want to massage a guy, so we finally gave up and visited a 'Western' style center (the only one in town) which is called appropriately "Zanadu Day Spa" and is owned by an American woman with long flowing dreadlocks and a strange Australian accent. With a name like Zanadu, I couldn't resist. And also by that time I had started to feel some trepidation based in part with my previous experience of having had a massage in India that was part relaxing touch, part strange groping that would have been awkward if I wasn't so out of commission with my Delhi Belly.
After our massages, Rohit and I went to the German Bakery, a famous spot in Anjuna known for it's banana nut pancakes, shown above. I couldn't resist having them spread chocolate syrup all over those puppies, though I felt guilty enough that I also ordered a shot of wheat grass. So healthy! The great thing about this bakery besides it's ambiance and great food is that they also have wireless connection for your computer, so you can lounge all day, drinking real espresso, nibbling on pastries and mango smoothies while you read some of the books they leave out in a multitude of languages, listen to funky trance music and surf the internet. Ah, I love the 21st century!!

Spices and Other Exotic Things

So right now I'm having the vacation of a lifetime here in Anjuna. Yesterday we went to a Goan spice farm that was set in a 200 acre forest. The way in was over a small wooden footbridge that lead across a lake and into a thatched hut building. The entire place smelled of spices (though mostly from the buffet they were cooking) which was served on banana leaves. We ate the tasty meal of Chipatis, rice, Dal and some kind of coconut beans and picked fresh bananas off of some hanging banana stocks. We sampled the local firewater called "feni" served in coconut shells and which smells like sweet rubbing alcohol. It's made from fermented palm or coconut juice and is 40 percent proof and it'll put hair on your chest.
After lunch we got a 45 minute tour from a very amusing tour guide - he showed us how they grow pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, chiles, lemon grass and cardamon. We tastes samples of leaves, bark, etc., and Rohit was man enough to try the local equivalent of cigarettes (which no one smokes) because they prefer to a chew beetal nut mixture of cloves, cardamon, beetal nuts and lime powder. It's supposed to be highly addictive and turns your mouth red. He put it in his mouth and after a minute or two, threw it up in the bushes. Everyone laughed.
After the tour we watched a small man climb a coconut tree in about a minute and then swing from tree to tree. That was really cool. At the end of a tour, we were promised a little 'surprise'. As I was at the front of the line, I got to get my little 'surprise' first. I was told to turn around...and I have to admit, I had no idea what was coming. What I got was a very cold laddle of water down my back. You can see from my perfectly captured expression that I was shocked. Vidhu squeeked a little, she was so surprised by the cold.
After our tour we visited Panjim, the capital of Goa and walked around - we had the spiciest dinner yet in India, eating Goan Kingfish in curry sauce. By the end of the meal our eyes and noses were watering. Luckily we also had Kingfish beer to wash it down. The restaurant was called Viva Panjim and was tucked away in a side street, sandwiched between old Portuguese houses. Strings of christmas lights and cobbled stone lined the walkway where we sat. It was very picturesque. It took us forever to find the place, but once we did, it was well worth it.
The rest of Panjim was fun - mostly we walked around looking at jewelry stores. Some of the architecture was really beautiful, very reminiscent of Portugual or Spain, with a decidedly European flare. Like this building, which is a gigantic structure to remind people of the crushing power of the Catholic church.
That evening we returned to the hotel and crashed. Vidhu's been sick lately and had to fly back to Mumbai today to meet up with the producers. She's also going to tour a Bollywood studio, which should be fun. I opted to stay in Goa with Rohit to continue relaxing...and because I'm in love with the tiny reese monkey Chives who lives at the hotel. When I visit him he preens my hair for fleas, and afterwards shares his back with me so that I can preen his. He's obviously very smart as well, since the hotel owners tell me he has particular tastes regarding humans and doesn't like everyone.
Anyway, today Rohit rented a moped, which we are now driving around (we're absolutely crazy, because I read a statistic that said here in Goa an average of one person dies each day on the roads and many of them are tourists). I'm driving and as this was a British colony, I'm driving on the opposite side of the road, and it takes a little getting used to. But the advantage is getting to avoid the 200 rps charge for a taxi everytime we want to go somewhere (the rental fee is 300 a day). Anyway, Rohit and I are going to go get a massage and then head to a beach to parasail for the rest of the afternoon. Later, I've got a date with the hotel pool and a good book. Can't wait!!!

Goa

So Vidhu, Rohit and I are in Goa now, having a relaxing, splendid time. After a 12 hour train ride from Mumbai in which we gorged ourselves on the food and drink that was constantly being offered us by roaming attendants "MASALA CHAI, GALUB JULUM, COFFEE, LASSI..." we broke up the monotony of eating with sleep. We met a lovely Indian family, traveling to Goa to visit relatives. They were an oddity here, in that they were of different castes, she a Goan Christian while he is Hindu, nevertheless a happy couple now residing in Dubai. The husband, Ginesh (sp) offered us Bacardi rum, and seeing that no one wanted any, I (being the ever vivilant hospitable neighborly type) couldn't let the man drink alone, so we downed a couple of rather tiny cups of rum and cokes (which aided in my getting some deep sleep on the very jerky, loud train). I hadn't had a drop of liquor since the plane ride almost 3 weeks ago. Needless to say later that night my broken toe had blown up to the size of an angry red sausage and I've got a rather strange bump under the knuckle where no bump should be. It's really gross.

Anyway, it was good to be out of Mumbai, and the further away we traveled from it, the cleaner the air smelled and felt, the more relaxed I got. They had a very cool bathroom on the train, it was Indian style hole-in-the-ground, but instead of leading to a noxious cavity of rotting poopies it was just a hole that spit out it's contents onto the train tracks that raced by underneath. It was an exciting experience to watch my pee fly away at 40 miles an hour, and sometimes I went to the potty just to see if I could aim it enough to get it to fly out without hitting the sides of the shoot. Unfortunately, I was barely able to keep the pee from hitting my ankles and feet, let alone aim it straight while being jostled around in a squatting position. It just took too much skill. Nevertheless the main advantage of the Indian style toilet that is sans container is that the typical "toilet side" smell that has till now accompanied our train voyages was missing.

Rohit just commented to me that I wrote an entire paragraph about peeing. Perhaps not the most interesting subject for anyone who happens to read this. Oh well!

Anyway, next I'll tell you guys about the spice farm we went to today and the hotel with the pet monkey named Chives. More later.

The picture of the four poster bed is my hotel room in Goa, the Tamarind Hotel. Really nice.

The Golden Triangle

In Jaipur, we learned that our Delhi flight that night to Mumbai had been delayed, and that meant more time to explore, so we stopped at a little-known ruins called Amber Fort. It was set high in the hills, overlooking the city, and there were very few white tourists (that's because we could find no mention of the place in the Lonely Planet guide and only a passing mention in the Rough Guide which was also unflattering). It turned out to be V's and my favorite tourist spot. Maybe it was because it was so run down, or maybe it was because no one cared where you went once you were inside - everything was open to the public. We were left to explore (and get lost) on our own. It was a really huge structure, spread out like a village with living quarters, gardens and towers. Some of the rooms were tiny, but many had ornate paintings and windows. Like the one in the picture with the doves.
Some of the structure looking vaguely like a place of worship, though that is only a guess on my part - perhaps it was merely the room used by people of higher ranks. Anyway, this one section was lined in mirrors so I took a picture of Vidhu gazing into one. You can see my arm behind her.
Even though there were many people there that day, when we went off on our own we almost got lost. One thing I found amusing was the hallways were quite narrow, but then the steps were so high, even I had trouble walking up or down them. Maybe the Indians used to have long legs but the rest of their bodies were short. The garden shown here was actually the most maintained element of the fortress. The rows of stone were a pattern that was repeated elsewhere in the design of the structure. I have no idea what the significance was of this pattern, as there wasn't any literature or writing anywhere that explained it. You can see how detailed the artwork on the walls is in the picture of us here.

Taj Mahal

Yesterday we visited the Taj Mahal, it was crazy big. My stomach has been upset so I've had to lay off spicy foods the last week, it's hard to do, but it's important since bathrooms are getting scarce.
We're traveling the Golden Triangle, which is the triumvirate of Delhi, Agra (Taj Mahal) and Jaipur - it's the most common route tourists take when visiting India. We're on our way to Jaipur, known as the pink city. It's the capital of the state of Rajastan, Indias largest state located in the Northwest. We hired a private car to drive us from Delhi and we'll be traveling thus for the next couple of days. We're traveling with V's family, they're very nice, though it's been a long time since they've been here so they're as much of tourists as we are :)
Rajastan is very different from Delhi. We're out in the desert here, and as we drive along, we pass camels painted in bright colors and hauling carts of goods or people. Indians love color and the more decorative things are, the better. Even the big commercial trucks are painted in bright shades of blue, yellow and red, with writing and markings on every side with flowers and dodads hanging from mirrors, windows, etc.
It's less crowded here, and I'm getting my first view of the Indian countryside - small huts nestled in fields of yellow flowers. I'm not sure what plant it is that is in season, but they look like mustard plants (though when we took a closer look, we discovered that it isn't mustard, but we're not sure what it is). We're going to spend one day traveling in Jaipur before a rushed 6 hour drive back to Delhi to catch our late night flight to Mumbai. We only had time to stop off at one fort outside the downtown of Jaipur, an amazing place where people just wander around. There aren't any nooks or crannies that are off-limits, so V and I almost couldn't find our way out of the place. It was an enormous structure, and the rooms just went on and on, in a haphazard way. The only rooms we veered away from was the areas tourists had dedicated as outhouses.
Tomorrow we're heading back to Bombay (Mumai) so that V can continue her work. I'm considering taking a side trip to Goa with Rohit, as it's supposed to be a great place to go. I know I don't really want to spend more time in Mumbai - I don't like that city at all, especially after getting out into the countryside where it's less crowded.