Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Live Blog

I'll fire up the event at 7:30 PM and movie watching will start at 8:00 PM. Again let me know if you intend to participate, I'll add you as a panelist.

Raiders of the Lost Ark Live Blog

Online viewing party starts at 8 PM EST. Be there or be square! Shoot me an email or contact me on Facebook if you'd like to participate, I'll ad you as a panelist to the event that way I don't have to approve every single one of your posts. :)

Return of the Jedi Live blog

The Empire Strikes Back Live Blog

Marathon multiplier: Week 1

Not only did I survive the first week of the marathon multiplier, I crushed it. As of this morning I have ran 53.5 km or 33 and a quarter miles for the metrically challenged out there, leaving me a little over 73 km (45.3 miles) to run between now and February 6. I think it's totally doable. In fact I started to run shorter distances as of this morning aiming for a faster average pace. I really want to be able to run a 5k under 25 mn... For whatever reason...

In all fairness my average pace was slow all of last week but I had to deal with some pretty bad weather conditions, particularly Sunday morning when everything was covered with about an inch of ice. I had a couple of scares running downhill in the northern part of the park.

The weather forecast for this coming week is a little bit of snow but mostly very cold, no single digit temperatures though (just checked the latest forecast, there will be one night at 9), and that I can handle.

The marathon multiplier puts me at 80 km (50 miles) year to date and we're January 13! I can't believe I had to wait to be 42 to discover I could do all this running.

Polaroid is back

Polaroid announced about a year ago that it was abandoning the technology of instant films,and shutting down its plants around the world. Although it made sense from a business standpoint, it was not only marking the end of an era but I also felt that digital photography was in no way a replacement for the instant film.

Enters the Polaroid PoGo. It's a 5 megapixel digital camera with a thermal printer built-in. It allows you to take a photo, crop them and add a custom border including the classic Polaroid frame and then print it.

Looking at the specs, the only downside is that you can only print about 20 photos per full battery charge.

$94.95 @ amazon.com

Nike + iPod = The best $30 I've ever spent

The first part of the video is focusing on the Nike + SportBand, a product that has been recalled by Nike back in November 2008 so don't pay to much attention. What I'll focusing on in this post is the Nike + iPod Sport Kit.

So ahem yes, farewell Nike + SportBand we hardly knew you. Now going back to the Nike + iPod Sport Kit if you have any model of iPod Nano or an iPod Touch second generation this baby will only set you back $30 and here is why. Nike and Apple are telling you that you'll need the Nike + running shoes but in reality you don't. I am personally using the DLO action pocket but you could easily make your own.

In fact this I believe most of the issues people are having with Nike + are related to inaccurate information. For example this video is wrong.

At no point are you presented with a login window in iTunes and that left me scratching my head for a while until I figured, all I had to do was sync my iPod then chose to visit nikeplus.com when offered by iTunes and use the "save your run" function.

Love:

Spoken Feedback: While running and listening to music on your iPod you will get feedback on the distance you have already run or what is left once you pass the halfway point. They will come up every mile or kilometer based on your preferences and you can chose a male or female voice. You can also manually trigger feedbacks by hitting the center button.

Distance measuring units: You can select miles or kilometers depending on your personal taste and of course if your training for distances like 5 or 10k.

Power Song: Oh man this is one of my favorite features! Select a song on your iPod that motivates you when running and when you need a little boost all you have to do is hold down the center button (before you ask: Gonna Fly Now)

Workout Options: Not only can you select time , calories or distance but distance covers everything from a 1k to a Marathon! If you have no specific goal in mind you can just select basic and Nike + will just keep track of your run. Also the workouts you are using the most will appear on the very first menu.

The Nikeplus website: Ok, I have to admit, I hated it at the beginning but I really got into it and I love the options of setting youself goals and also register for challenges with other Nike + runners.

Hate:

The Nikeplus website: But more specifically the social networking aspect of it. To use a video game analogy it's like Nintendo's friend's codes. They've made it so safe, you can't really hook up with anybody unless you use the forums and I find them for the moment at best confusing.

User's Manual and online Tutorials: Both contain either wrong or outdated informations.

It's easy to recommend the Nike + iPod Sport Kit. It's well designed and fairly easy to use. I wrote in this post mostly about the technical aspect of things but the incredible value comes in the motivation it gives you to run. You just want to get out there and not make a complete ass of yourself.

On a final note if you're considering accessories, you might want to skip the Nike + iPod Watch remote, I didn't find it particularly useful.

P.S.: The sport kit is only compatible with the iPod Nano and the iPod Touch second generation or higher, not any other models of iPods.

Probably not such a good idea

With Nike + you can set yourself goals but you can also sign up for challenges with other Nike + runners. I've joined 24 challenges so far that I consider doable, I might have stepped over the line however with number 25.

Enters "The Marathon Multiplier (1/3)". Here is what it's all about:

"This is only for the very toughest Nike+ runners. How many Marathons can you run in a month?

A series of challenges. We start with three in the first month, four in the second and five in the final month. Keep up and you're in the second month. Whoever can keep the pace until the end of month three wins the respect of the forums. Are you up for it?"

So errr yes I'm going to have to run the equivalent of a marathon every week for the next 3 weeks to make it through the first month and that's of course in January when the weather is the best in New York. Not that it really concerns me, I was running on New Year's day by 15 degrees, I'm just hoping there'll be no snow storms.

If you're scrolling down the list in the little Nike + widget I'm currently number 54 because I was the 54th runner to sign up. Challenge starts on January 5.

I'll be posting updates... Yes I know, I'm crazy.

Run, it's good for you

According to a study from the Stanford School of Medicine who tracked 500 runners for 21 years, elderly runners "were younger, leaner, and less likely to smoke" than nonrunners. 19 years into the study 15% of the runners had died compared to a whopping 34% for nonrunners.

If that doesn't convince you to start running, I don't know what will.

Source: Archive of Internal Medicine.

I repeat, Palin is qualified to be VP

Food for thoughts. Tomorrow morning, Barack Obama will be on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos", John McCain will be on "Face the Nation", Joe Biden will be on "Meet the Press". Sarah Palin? The McCain campaign is so convinced they are winning this election, they already sent her to Dick Cheney's bunker.

Palin is qualified to be VP

I have a feeling whoever is usually writing the talking points took the weekend off.

You just can't make this shit up

CNN entertainment is proud to report the GOP will have its own share of stars during its convention including Rage Against the Machine. I hope someone gave them the heads up because here is the beginning of their performance for the DNC in 2000.

The same nice guys who brought you "Testify", making clear at the time, they didn't see any difference between Bush and Gore.

I hate error messages

Because they are generally unhelpful and/or stupid.

Yes I know the connection to my computer was lost because I turned it off forgetting that the movie I was watching was streaming from the said computer.

Make sure your computer is turned on: I just told you I turned it off. It was a mistake, an accident.

Connected to your network: There's nothing wrong with the network. I turned the computer off.

And is running media sharing software: Dude! I was just watching a movie. Do you think that would have been possible without running media sharing?

Error messages suck.

If I lost my job today

I was browsing CNNMoney today looking for a recap of this week's disastrous events on Wall Street when I stumbled on this poll:

I can't say I was surprised by the question, I often ask it myself and I wasn't exactly shocked that 6 out of 10 people have enough savings for 6 months or less. What I really find appalling is that these results are coming from people who read CNNMoney. I think at the very least the 35% who answered "I don't have any savings" would better spend their time rethinking a thing or two about their financial lives rather than visiting the business section of CNN.

I always have at least one year before you ask.

It's Officially Summer in New York

First concert of the New York Philharmonic in Central Park. On the program:

Shostakovich: Festive Overture

Mendelssohn: Symphony No.4, Italian

Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture

Sousa: Washington Post March, Liberty Bell & The Stars and Stripes Forever.

Encore: Purple Haze.

Time Warner Cable sucks

Today as I'm trying to pull an article off Usenet, I get the following message:

I go to the FAQs and man was that helpful:

I cannot access Road Runner Newsgroups or download articles?
As of June 23, 2008, Road Runner will no longer offer Newsgroups, however users can subscribe on their own to third party News providers.

Why is Road Runner discontinuing their own Newsgroups service?
Due to low subscriber usage Road Runner has decided to discontinue Newsgroups service as of June 23, 2008.

If I still want a news service, what can I do?
Subscribers can choose to use a third party service and purchase on their own through that service. There are many providers with offerings, as an example here are several providers:

* Easynews
* Newshosting
* UsenetServer

When is the last day that Road Runner Newsgroups service will be available?
Newsgroups service will cease on June 23, 2008.

How about being notified BEFORE the service is terminated?

New Squadron Record

I'm going to give it my best shot but I don't think I can be that fast, which might explain why I get my ass served by 12 years old when I play FPS online.

Yeah, Joe still got it.

Joe Jackson performing live, May 14, 2008 on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Jesse James and the bawdy bootjack

I am currently reading The assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford and on page 144 of the paperback edition the following passage grabbed my attention:

Jesse ripped off the paper and the box flap and with childish astonishment withdrew a black, ironworked model of a salacious naked woman, her arms crossed beneath her head, her legs lewdly cloven and lifted.

"It's a bawdy bootjack," Bob said.
"I wished I owned one a thousand times."

"Well. Now you do."

Jesse stroked the woman's round breasts with his thumb and blushed as he smiled. "I love Christmas."

"I can see that."

He imitated shame. "But I don't have anything for you! I never dreamed-"

"Your friendship is plenty."

Charley slunk in from the kitchen and then warily approached Jesse to examine the articulation of the ironwork. He asked his brother, "What is it?"

"It's a bawdy bootjack," he said.

"It's something I'll cherish always," said Jesse.

"Then we both have something to cherish," said Bob.

I understand what "bawdy" means and I know what a "bootjack" is, yet the association of both words stroke me as funny and funny it was because a Google search turned up nothing. After doing a little research, a friend of mine, James, pointed me in the direction of Naughty Nellie and although the item seemed to perfectly match the description from the book there was only one problem, she wasn't naked.

Now call me crazy, but I was really obsessing on the problem and decided to email the author Ron Hansen:

This might come out of left field but on page 144 of the paperback edition of "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" you are referring to a bawdy bootjack and how Jesse wished he "owned one a thousand times"

Your description looks very similar to a Naughty Nellie so my question is this, and I know it might seem a little strange and I feel weird asking but do you mean a bootjack that's like a Naughty Nellie but actually naked or is it one of those iron cast Naughty Nellie without paint that could possibly pass as naked?

A day later I received the following:

Dear Vince,

I saw it in a museum ages ago. An iron, naked, female figurine with her legs spread and painted black that was used to grip the heels of boots and was in fact called by the museum a "bawdy bootjack." Naughty Nellie sounds like a variation on same.

Good reading!

Ron Hansen

Now, I've been doing some further research and a little bit of thinking. Naughty Nellie was extremely popular throughout the 19 century and I was even able to find a photo of a nude version on an auction site:

Which leads me to believe that one, the expression "bawdy bootjack" was "made up" by the museum Ron Hansen visited and two that it was indeed a naked version of Naughty Nellie.

If you stumbled on this post, the odds are you've been reading The Assassination of Jesse James and were wondering the same thing. Then I don't feel so crazy.

Why can't I find a weighted companion cube?

So I've been playing Portal... Like a lot and all I want on my desk next to my monitor is a weighted companion cube. Is that too much to ask? Well apparently it is, because the only licensed product from valve is a crappy plush or there's also a pretty neat papercraft version but that's not what I want. I want the real deal.

Yes, I've searched Ebay. No dice (dice, cube.. get it?).

So if you're a Dremel God and you are reading this, will you make one for me? I'm willing to pay.