Podcast Episode 2

Episode 2 of the podcast is now available. This episode has an Atari theme.

Ballet

I just got back from seeing Oregon Ballet Theatre's Winter Program. I give OBT an A- for this show, but I give the audience a D+. Advice to audience members:

1. You may think you are whispering your opinions about the dance to your neighbor. However, it only seems like whispering to you because you are 100 years old and hard of hearing. ACTUALLY YOU ARE YELLING. I can hear every word of your inane commentary even though I'm sitting two rows ahead of you.
2. The ballet performance is not a type of karaoke lounge. It is not acceptable to sing along with the music, even if you like the songs a lot. At least you were in tune, which is more than I can say for some of the American Idol contestants, but please, shut up.

The only reason the audience didn't get an F was because of the interesting people-watching during intermissions. One young woman in the crowd looked like a prettier version of Ashlee Simpson, and wore an outfit that combined fishnet stockings with furry boots, and made it work. (Who knows, maybe that was Ashlee Simpson and she looks better in person.) Another audience member wore a black and red long-sleeved dress with bold yellow stripes down the arms. It was like a cross between a Mondrian painting and Bruce Lee's tracksuit from Game of Death, and I mean that in the best possible way. It was one of the most stunning dresses I have ever seen.

Anyway, the ballet itself was very good, especially the new piece choreographed by Trey McIntyre to music by Henry Cowell.

I am on a podcast

I am one of the three hosts of the new podcast: Twitch Asylum Video Game Radio. We discuss both modern games like Kameo (shown above) and classic video gaming. We also laugh at each other a lot and don't take ourselves too seriously. Enjoy.

And in other news, I've decided that I like to watch Olympic curling.

Lost's Final Secret

I have a new theory about Lost. Read about it here.

Iron Monkey's Rule of the Broken Bell Curve

Normally you aren't dealing with "the average person" or a "cross-section of people," you are dealing with the type of person who would get into the type of situation you're both in.

The percentage of soccer fans at a soccer game is much higher than the percentage of soccer fans in the general population. This example is easy to understand, but what is harder to remember is that almost every real-life situation works the same way, and involves a nonrandom and to some degree self-selected group. We do not live inside carefully controlled studies.

San Cristobal

Part of the San Cristobal fort in San Juan, Puerto Rico

The power of four

From this:

Four jobs I've had: in essence I've only had variations on one job -- computer programmer -- so I can't really answer this with four.

Four movies I can watch over and over: Groundhog Day (or maybe it just feels like I keep watching it over and over), Blade Runner, Casablanca, The Fifth Element (more light, Azeez!)

Four places I've lived: Lake Oswego, OR; Portland, OR; Northfield, MN; Tokyo, Japan.

Four TV shows I love: Veronica Mars, Firefly, Black Adder, Battlestar Galactica (the new one)

Four places I’ve vacationed: Puerto Rico, London, Paris, Costa Rica

Four of my favorite dishes: Okonomiyaki, pad Thai, kung pao shrimp, spaghetti putanesca.

Four sites I visit daily: I don't think there are any I visit daily, but I often visit Clara, Michelle, Clive, and Snarkfest.

Four places I would rather be right now: At a party consisting of all the bloggers I read, at a warm sunny beach, Las Vegas, London.

Four bloggers I am tagging: Gretchen, Michelle, Clara, Starbuck