I wish I could say it was more than just a coincidence that I’m in San Francisco at the same time as Macworld but unfortunately, I’m only here to help our company move its San Francisco office two blocks down the road. The move itself took place over the past weekend (and the few days before it), so for the last few days I’ve been running myself ragged trying to make the entire thing as seamless as possible. And, minor cable issue aside, the whole ordeal has been fine. We’re back up and running and I’ve got time to enjoy myself.
No gun issues this time. Actually, the whole trip has been rather subdued. Like I said, I’ve been pretty busy since I got here. Working 12-hour days has meant that I’m going hotel -> work -> hotel. Sleep -> work -> sleep. The jetlag hasn’t been given a chance to catch up with me.
Although it’s not all been work. I’ve still managed to find time to do some wandering. Being a huge nerd, I went hiking around San Francisco to find the offices of American Zoetrope, Francis Ford Coppola’s production company. While I was out there, I took a trip towards North Beach, past the City Lights bookstore - the heart of the beat movement. And, naturally, also found time to do a little shopping. Current haul includes
But of course, the entire city has gone Mac crazy. Macworld is taking place just 10 minutes down the road from where I’m sitting. Today, as I’m sure you’re all aware, is keynote day. On the trip down Market Street, from Powell to First (roughly ten or so blocks) I passed 4 Starbucks, each one filled to overflowing with people on Powerbooks and iBooks, presumably waiting for Steve Jobs’ keynote to begin (sitting in one of the windows was that guy who laser-etched his powerbook).
Today I managed to defy the odds by surviving exactly 27 years. To congratulate me (or perhaps console me), people gave me some loot. Current haul includes
27 being the age of the Rock N’ Roll death, I’m starting to feel a bit bummed out by the increasingly long list of people who had completed their entire careers and went to that great gig in the sky by the same age as I am right now. I’ve got about another 11 months and 30 days left to make my mark on the world or else I’ll miss my window.
Vincent Schiavelli, who died of cancer at his home in Sicily on December 26 aged 57, was a popular character actor noted for his roles in films such as Ghost and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
Schiavelli’s somewhat hangdog countenance appeared in more than 120 film and television shows; he excelled at parts which required an eccentric presentation, and in 1997 the magazine Vanity Fair declared him one of the best character actors in America.
We’re almost finished in the office for the Christmas break. I’ve still got 15 days holidays to take this year. Except there’s only 3 working days left. See the problem here?
Every year, we spend forever deciding who takes the consoles home for the Christmas break. Since the “BAGSY THE DREAMCAST, DOUBLE STAMPSIES, NO REVERSIES” method isn’t particularly fair, and the stakes were particularly high this year, we held a Burnout 3 championship to see who would take the Xbox 360 home.
Well, I won.
To be very honest, I’m not interested in the Xbox 360. My TV isn’t nearly up to the task of making games like “Condemned” look pretty. But the title of “Burnout 3 Champion”? Oh boy. What a great Christmas present.
(Today, I also got crowned Mario Kart DS champion - sweet.)
The trailer for Mel Gibson’s “Apocalypto” has emerged from the ether with Kottke and others are pointing out how awful-looking it is. And true, at this early stage it’s like a heavy-handed mix of Terrence Malick and Baraka (but without any of the nice things such a mix would suggest).
He’s got a bit of reputation as a “prankster” director (on one of the making-of featurettes on the Braveheart DVD, you can see Gibson reading “Directing an Epic for Dummies”). But I’m going to say that this is just a ruse. Gibson has officially Lost It and is now certifiably batshit insane. As evidence for this, I present this image which you will find as a single frame cut into an intense part of the trailer. You’ll have to go through the trailer frame-by-frame to find it yourself.
Amazon wishlists have never really worked me. Too cumbersome to suit my way of doing things and too limited to suit the things I want a wishlist for. So last year, I began using the del.icio.us “wishlist” tag. If I saw something I wanted, it would get tagged under wishlist+$itemDescription, e.g. wishlist+dvds, wishlist+clothes and so on.
This means that I’m able to keep things out of my head while still keeping them in a central place, one I use every day. But more importantly, it gives me a quick list of everything my heart desires that I can access from any computer on the internet. On my recent, exciting trip to San Francisco, I was able to go into an internet cafe and print out entire shopping lists based on my wishlist tag, Unfortunately, this meant I came back with an armful of DVDs.
But around Christmas, this system really starts to show its strength because it has the advantage of giving people a quick overview of everything I’ve had my eye on. It paid off. My Livejournal Secret Santa bought me a book from the list - The Mafia Cookbook (Thanks Karena!).
You know, it might be a bit hokey, but I’m so glad that the JCB song from Nizlopi is number one in the UK charts the weekend before Christmas. It really shows the power of viral marketing - so many people have sent me the link to the video over the past few months - and now it’s finally made it to the top of the charts. I don’t know if it was the well-deserved success, the amazingly touching song or the fact that I’m a complete pussy, or some combination of these, but I genuinely got teary when I saw them on Top of the Pops.
And it’s keeping the Crazy Frog off the top, so that’s another reason to celebrate.
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