Friday, May 28, 2010

In the News

Why Is a White Actor Playing 'Prince of Persia' Title Role?

I wondered about this myself when I first heard about this movie. I agree with the "whitewashing" of today's cinema, especially in Disney Movies. I mean, how long did it take to get a movie with a black princess?

Still, there's one (major) thing everyone has kind of overlooked. This movie is based on a video game. The character in that game had light skin, brown hair, and blue eyes. So they cast Jake Gyllenhaal, who has light skin, brown hair, and blue eyes. Holy crap!

Anyway, I think we all know who the REAL prince of Persia is...

Persian Cat

(and he's white!)

Favorite Song









This could possible be my favorite song of all time. It makes my eyes tear every time I hear it.

Friday, May 21, 2010

HTC Droid Incredible


A little over a week ago, I got the Droid Incredible smart phone. It was roughly $200, since I was due for an upgrade and it came with a $100 mail-in rebate (also, my parents chipped in $100 for my birthday).

I love technology, but I have been a little behind as far as cell phones go. I'm still drooling over all the applications and tools this phone offers, even though it's about the same as an iPhone. Despite my overall distaste for Apple and iTunes, I will concede that the iPhone is a pretty cool product. My biggest issue is the price and AT&T's spotty service.

Since I'm still on my family's plan, the Droid is only $30 for minutes (that's just my portion of the plan, since it's split four ways) plus a $30 data package. I was paying $45 a month for my POS Samsung Glyde -- so I'll gladly pay a tiny bit more for a phone that actually works.

I guess this entry is an attempt at a quick review. So here are the Pros:
  • Extremely fast when surfing the web or switching between applications.
  • Tons of apps -- not as many as with Apple, but they're catching up.
  • Free, turn-by-turn, spoken GPS navigation -- this app DESTROYS what comes on the iPhone, though I think the new iPhone will have something similar.
  • 8 megapixel camera -- somewhat unnecessary but takes some nice pictures.
  • No pre-installed Verizon garbage.
  • The touch screen is fantastic. Better than the iPhone, at least in my experiences using both. The T9 (is it even still called that?) works great, too.
Cons:
  • Battery life isn't great. The "Advanced Task Killer" app will be your best friend, since many apps will continue running even after you leave them. That's what really drains the battery. Once you get used to "killing" all your excess stuff, this phone is no different than any other smart phone.
  • Only 8GB of memory. It would be nice to see a 16 or 32 gig option, especially if you plan to carry all your music on here. However, you can always add an SD card for this purpose.
  • Some applications require an SD card to save (FxCamera, for example). Someone probably should have recommended I buy one (I'm looking at you, Verizon Wireless store guy). It's OK, though -- got a 2GBer from Newegg.
That pretty much covers what I've experienced thus far. My new favorite application tracks my calorie intake ("Calorie Counter"). The coolest part is scanning bar codes with the camera to automatically add the food statistics to my daily food diary. And no, I'm not trying to lose weight -- I'm actually trying to add a half pound a week. So far, not so good. Aside from occasional HUGE meals with friends, I generally do not eat much. No wonder I'm a bag o' bones!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

A lot has been happening in my life, but I often find myself with little to say. On a day-to-day basis, there are so many things that strike my interest and give me the urge to write, but I never seem to make it happen.

In an effort to get back into blogging-shape, here's a photo recap of the past few weeks.

K.Flay K.Flay

At the end of April, Dan and I ventured to Philadelphia -- specifically, St. Joe's University -- to shoot some photos/videos of K.Flay. I'm really happy with the results -- with the D60, I could expect maybe 30 decent shots out of 200. With the D90, I think I hit around 60. Better lenses help too, of course.

Beautiful Sierra Apache Singing

Backtracking a little more... in early April, I photo-documented the Howling Woods Farm clean-up day. I'm so grateful I had the opportunity to spend the day photographing these animals up close. I've only been around them a few times since I started volunteering, but I'm already so attached to each of them.

Preserved Anatosaurus

The last thing I wanted to mention was our trip to the Museum of Natural History. My last visit was years ago, so it was definitely worth going back. The halls of taxidermied animals proved to be just as depressing as I remembered. After all, we went to the museum in lieu of the zoo -- so dead animals don't really do it for me.

Luckily, the dinosaur exhibits put me in good spirits. The above photo is a dinosaur that was illustrated in one of my childhood books. Not the species, but that exact dinosaur. This particular specimen is important because the indentation of its skin and flesh was preserved as it fossilized -- something rarely found in most fossils. I immediately recognized this awkwardly contorted duck-bill from my book, which made me ooze with sentimentality for the rest of the day.



Other little things: I'm still working on choosing a new video card/power supply, and Rob has agreed to buy me a new monitor as a birthday gift. I also recently acquired the Droid Incredible. I guess I'm enhancing my technological presence in the world. So there's that.

I'll also be buying a new car soon. And by "new" I mean "pre-owned" and by "pre-owned" I mean something with under 40K miles on it. I'm aiming towards a Scion xA. My old car will be passed along to my sister, since my parent's paid for it. Well, technically my Nana left money and that's what we spent it on, but yea, it's not really my car.

In other grown-up news, I'm working on moving into a single-family house somewhere a little north of my current location. A big, enclosed yard would be really sweet -- especially when I want to BBQ and play with Dex outside.

To increase my dork-dom, I purchased a bike attachment so that I can more efficiently "bikejore" with Dexter. Or should I say, more safely "bikejore" with Dexter. I also found a reputable Siberian Husky breeder that may just supply me with my next dog; she's planning an agouti litter in about six months. We'll see where that goes. I rather rescue a puppy, but I might settle on buying one. I would like the opportunity to pick out my dream dog -- and agoutis are rarely in shelters. They're from racing lines, too. Fingers are crossed, but first things first, need a new place to live.

I think that covers everything. Of course there's a lot more on my agenda -- volunteer work, Jagazine, my comic/T-shirt series for Alejandro ... but I suppose I'll cover that when I get to it.