Istanbul, Not Constantinople

Resting in the lounge at the Ritz after a long day doing the tourist thing in the city. We visited both the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia, both of which have beautiful internal structures as well impressive facades. Bought a very small rug. Went through the Grand Bazaar as well as the smaller Spice Bazaar. Took a lot of pictures. Tired. The city is mentally challenging as a large number of people are crammed into a small space and they all appear to be trying to sell us something. I'm looking forward to our boat ride on the Bosporus tomorrow. And maybe a shower would be nice.

Good Morning From Istanbul!

I'm sitting in the Ritz Carlton hotel having coffee looking out over the Bosporus. How often does one get to say that? Anyway, after an extremely long day flying, we made it to Turkey at last, safe and sound. We're getting used to the time change and it looks like an exciting day!

News of the Times

Police are remaining patient in a standoff with an armed SJ man who threatened to kill himself. This is more crazy shit going on in my neighborhood (just down the street). The standoff held up some people trying to show up for our wedding today (in the back yard), as the cops had (still have, AFAIK) closed off the main street that runs near our house. I got some of our neighbors to knock off the noise for a bit while we did the do.

In other news, SWAT team neighbor has left because the house she was renting finally sold and new owners moved in today. The head of the household appears to be a family man (wife, three daughters) who teaches at a nearby school. Score! Oh, and he was there doing yard work, which made it all the sweeter.

In other news, I'm officially hitched (I keep hitting my wedding ring on stuff). Some friends took us out afterwards to Kyoto Palace where there was much sake consumption on my part (c'mon, man the bottles are small, how bad could it get?). This came back to haunt me later in the afternoon when I awoke from my nap slightly hung over and definitely sluggish. Packing is mostly done now and we're about ready to head off to Istanbul tomorrow morning.

Oh, we saw Monsters vs Aliens last night. It was all that I hoped for in a Monsters vs Aliens cartoon.

Holy Cow!

I'm getting married tomorrow morning!

SciFi Channel WTF?

The SciFi channel has decided that it needs a better name (i.e. one it can trademark) and so, will become the Syfy channel. Dude, wtf? The channel that brought us ghost hunters, the douchebag psychic, scare tactics, and pro wrestling (wrestling? SciFi? Wrestling???) thinks it needs an image makeover? Hey, how's about stop making crap like Mansquito? Or Prehistoric CGI Animals Attack Isolated Town Without Warning Or <Insert Implausible Natural Disaster Here>? Oy vey. Here's their announcement and here's their response to the inevitable shitstorm of critcism from their fans.

No Hover Boards?

Having seen Back to the Future II again recently, I feel dismayed and somewhat sad that it is unlikely that we will see hoverboards or flying cars by 2015.

Weekend Redux

1. Buy tulips and other plants for spring planting projects. Check.


2. Buy tickets to New Zealand on the spur of the moment. Check.


3. Go to Karaoke Birthday Party for Aki and Rachel, sing three songs, drink a few drinks. Check.


4. Go to Doug and Catherine's Get-Rid-of-Our-Booze-Party afterwards, drink a few drinks. Check.


5. Drink enough water to avoid headache in morning. Check.


6. Buy more tulips for spring planting projects. Check.


7. Find out about calling plans in Greece and Turkey. Check.


8. Get some new boots to replace my embarassingly worn Asolos. Check.


9. Get some travel books about New Zealand. Check.


10. Pay bills. Check.


11. Process more photo a day project pictures. Check.

I guess there's a reason why I feel like the weekend was a busy one.

Improvisational Travel - Auckland!

So, it looks like we're going to New Zealand in October. Qantas Airlines is having a crazy fare sale through March 20. Fares from SF and LA to several cities in Australia and Auckland, NZ are just $299 each way in the sale. With taxes, etc, that came to about $700 round trip, which is quite a good deal, if you're flexible in your traveling needs. And since my company wants me to burn PTO this year and both Noelle and I have been longing to see New Zealand, it seemed like an offer we couldn't refuse! So, we'll be visiting three continents this year. I can't believe I'm going to New Zealand!

A Long Time Gone

It was ten years ago today that I got on a plane to California and left Maine behind. Every non-nerve cell in my body has been replaced. I feel old.

Weird

If I google image search "watchmen banner," the picture I took at comic-con last summer turns up on the second page.

In other news

The next door neighbors appear to have moved out (my friends who own the place are in the final stages of selling the house). So perhaps no more visits from the SJPD.

Watch Watchmen

I have been hopeful since I first saw Zach Snyder talking about his Watchmen project that this movie could possibly capture the Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons graphic novel upon which it is based. Well, this movie delivers the goods. Visually, it's amazing to me how well the movie looks like a representation of what Dave Gibbons drew. And it's a stunning representation. Most of the plot that was not omitted is faithful to the original book and I think overall the script is faithful to the spirit of Watchmen. Some plotlines have been left out of the theatrical release, but the movie is already at 2:45, so it's remarkable to me how much stayed in the story. I really think this is one of the best comic-book movies I've ever seen.

Notes: not for younger viewers (there's a lot of sex and violence), it's long, and the story may be confusing if you haven't read the graphic novel. The basic idea is an imagining of superheroes who have the same kinds of flaws as regular people, perhaps even worse flaws than most. Oh, and there's a lot of blue penis in this movie, if that sort of thing offends you.

Another weekend, another blog post

Well, I sort of got the recovery I wished for last weekend. Friday night I was sort of planning on getting my tax papers ready for today and maybe some Fallout 3, but I ended up having dinner at Amber and Morgan's with Noelle and then going over to Will's for a tour of his spacious abode, some board games (well, just Carcasonne, really), and a viewing of Hellboy 2 on his ginormous tv.

After that late night adventure (I think we got home around 3), we completely blew off Wondercon this weekend. I have mixed feelings about it, but it was really nice to sleep in. We also got a number of errands run that we would not have otherwise gotten to, I think and I had a pleasant afternoon with Noelle, culminating in dinner at Zao in Palo Alto. After dinner we joined the other nerds at the beautiful Fox Oakland theater for Video Games Live. Noelle had fabulous seats (second row orchestra) and the sound was outstanding. Best of all, I was able to haul my camera gear into the theater and hopefully I have some fantastic pictures. Need to get some image processing done, I think I am about three weeks behind now.

Sunday was another super sleep in day. We got up late, visited a nursery to look at rose bushes, went to a bookstore, got some stuff at OSH and that pretty much completed the day before we met up with Aki, Rachel, and Cindy to see Milk at the movies. I guess Sean Penn's performance might have been a little better than Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler, but I think it was a bad luck for Rourke. After getting home, I pretty much spent the rest of the night getting ready for my Monday morning tax appointment.

And this morning was crazy too. Got up early to call a tow truck to take away the Z, which has been suffering from some new electrical malady, hauled some stuff out of the garage to donate, took Noelle to get a breakfast sandwich to placate her for needlessly waking her up early, saw my tax guy, and then rushed in to work to catch the last part of our monthly planning meeting. I am bushed and I have to take Noelle to the hospital tomorrow to have her gall bladder out. Too much stuff too close together.