shooshee

It hasn’t been that long since things digressed via email like they did in subject:  field trip. This is an email conversation that’s been going on in the office today. It’s not Friday, but it IS the short week before a 3-day weekend. Names have been changed to protect the “innocent”…

j1: Hey Everyone -
I am going to be in and out of meetings and the office this afternoon.  There is supposed to be a carpet guy stopping by our office this afternoon.  If I am not here, can someone please instruct him to get the information he needs on the following tasks in order to send S an estimate:

• key him into the space next door and have him measure the new Das Iglu space only (no other floor in there).
• show him the current jagged edge on the carpet in the old Das Iglu near J’s desk and ask him to consider an option to put a rubber edge along the entrance to protect it and make it look better.
• ask him to give us a quote to patch the 3 small squares of carpet missing in the old Das Iglu (where the posts use to be).  Tell him we don’t need anything fancy there, just want it to not have the holes.

Thanks.

j2: Got it, Shag carpeting everywhere.

m1: White shag carpeting, specifically. And instruct the wall guy we want the “off brown oak-like pattern” fake-wood paneling on the walls.

j3: and maybe a gold marbled mirror on the ceiling?

m2: Tony Montana would be proud.

j4: I want bean bags and lots of other pillows.

j3: and a rain lamp – can we get a rain lamp? those were soooo groovy. (reference photo for those who don’t remember: http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeller/2210947570/)

s: How could such a thing ever go out of style? That and velvet paintings. Classic.

p2: i don’t know why j3, but i thought you meant one of these: http://www.moving-waterfall-pictures.com/moving_waterfall_pictures if you’re feeling daring, you can check out the religious or romantic pictures (sfw)..i think

j3: Wow. I know I’ve been single for a while, but THAT’S what romance looks like? (the one at the bottom)

j5: That’s what I got my wife for our anniversary!

k: YIKES! I think I’ll be staying single for-ev-ah!

p2: are you saying that’s not any good? that eagle flying up there?…i think that’s icing on the cake~

m2: I love the one with the white tiger superimposed… a very tranquil scene.

v: Click the “Romantic Pictures” link at the left… FABIO !!!

a: while we’re at it, what about a sauna? ’cause it’s just not humid enough outside…

k: And plastic coverings over the IKEA couches and the lamps. While we’re at it, we need some baskets of fake ivy for the ledge above L’s desk.

m1: How do you say “The Classiest Frickin’ Conference Room in the Western Hemisphere” in German? Because that’s what it’s starting to sound like we need to name the space across the hall.

p1: Geile Zeitlose Bude!…. maybe  “Die Bude”?

j6: My Google Translate says “Die meisten protzigen Konferenzraum in der westlichen Hemisphäre”.  Your name is much shorter though!

p2: die booty… ftw

It’s been a while since things digressed via email like they did in subject: OOO – almost a year in fact, but this is just too good not to share. This is an email conversation that’s been going on in the office today. It’s Friday, the Friday before a 3-day weekend, so of course we’re all a little less than serious. Names have been changed to protect the “innocent”…

p1 (5.14.09): In an effort to stay ahead of the competition we have decided to take a field trip on Thursday the 21st . We will be researching what the future holds when it comes to gadgets, heavy machinery, guns, robots and air craft. We will be going to watch the premiere of Terminator: Salvation at the Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek. we will pay for everything, just bring your notebooks.

We will have reserved prime seating for everyone that can go on that day. I know a few of you are out, but this day was the only day that works for most of us. We will be going to the 3:15pm show. We decided against riding together in a bus, since afterwards people can go home and the Alamo Lake creek is further north. Individuals can obviously ride together, we need to leave here no later than 2:15 sharp. Please adjust your schedules to be able to make this event. We will also try to have J. join us.

Let me know if you can come in order for me to finalize total seats reserved.
P. & J.

p2: woo hoo edumacational field trip!
i’m totally in!

after the field trip is when the real hilarity ensued…

v (5.22.09): Okay, so a few of you noticed that I actually took a notebook to yesterday’s Terminator field trip. So here are a few nuggets o’ knowledge that I noted from the dystopian destiny that awaits us all… (from a usability perspective, of course)

SPOILER ALERT – DO NOT READ PAST THIS POINT IF YOU HAVE ANY INTEREST IN SEEING THE FILM

1. In the future, a heart can be stopped with a single, well-placed punch from a cybernetic fist. It can also be restarted with several erratic punches from a fleshy man-fist. Electrical stimulation is optional. The heart is pretty much a toggle at this point.
2. Skynet will execute a 15-year plan to lure its two most feared opponents into a trap, but will fail to schedule enough Terminators to actually finish them off. On a factory floor where hundreds of the metallic minions are being assembled – the densest population at its disposal – only one weaponless, naked Terminator and one skeleton Terminator will be summoned into action. Skynet really, REALLY needs better ERP software to manage its available resources.
3. After decades of hype, nuclear weapons become sorta passé, just like the Y2K Bug or Avian Flu scare. A thermonuclear device can detonate in a hole a few hundred yards away, or several can go kablooey in the bowels of a military industrial complex, and they’ll inflict no more damage to you (or your optional aircraft) than the noisy neighbors on July 4th. This is why users click through our piddly warning dialogs without even a cursory glance.
4. Cute kids (and puppies) don’t die if you care about ticket sales. Sometimes the pleasing aesthetic IS more important than a useful or logical outcome.

j1: I twittered the only note I took… “well, a lot of stuff exploded.”

j2: Nice job V. I just wonder where they get fresh milk and medical supplies…

d: Also, (and I read this elsewhere) even though at skynet everything is inhuman (MOTOTERMINATOR!!!!), they still had a nice clean control room with fancy video screens. And a single chair. Cuz robots get tired standing on their feet all day—just like you and me!

j3: On a non-sarcastic note, it was pretty cool how the smaller robots are deployable from the larger.  Especially the motocycle terminators coming off of the Big guys legs.

m: I like the insights V. noted. I, for one, look forward to the day when users have enough processing power and RAM, that we can do away with menus, tabs and  buttons: we’ll simply present a nearly infinite web of information nodes, randomly assembled, which they can navigate by thought alone.

(To address D’s point, I’m really disappointed that the writers completely failed on the opportunity to do something interesting with the franchise: they could have used the command center scene to show us that Skynet is in truth a very primitive  AI, and that a human being is the entity actually responsible for Judgment Day and the resulting war…..)

d: Ahhhhhhhh! I see where you’re going, M…

It should have been a revival of The Wiz.

Stick with me here…

Marcus Wright is re-written to be a sort of futuristic killing machine Terminator-Dorothy character. Of course Diana Ross’ classic Dorothy would be played by Beyonce or Ciara or some other hot diva with a vowel at the end of their made-up name. And since we know that Christian Bale can sing (c.f. Newsies) John Conner could be the lion? Or maybe Toto? And they pick up Scarecrow and Tin-Man at the 7-11. Then the Flying-Terminator-Monkeys come and blow some shit up.

And then there’s some singing.

Later they’ll ease on down, ease on down the ro-oad to Skynet and Dorothy destroys the monitors of the control room (with the improbable chair). That’s when we discover a CG bulked-up naked Richard Pryor on the other side of the glass. They then have a bad-ass fight.

After the fight Dorothy gives her gigantic heart to John Conner. Huh? – I  guess he was the Lion after all. Then Dorothy dies (spoiler alert!)

I don’t know what happens after that but I’m no writer. Feel free to fill in the gaps, M. I need more coffee.

m: Best. Email (And Movie Pitch). EVER.

j4 (we have a lot of people with names that start with j): I agree with all the observations noted. The lack of character development, action scenes that defy the laws of physics, and the shallow attempt to infuse humanity into the script with a token kid (I really hate that).

But come on it’s Terminator. Do we really have the right to expect anything more than an action packed movie that is all entertainment and no substance. It’s just fun.

However, I would like to know where those guys got milk. Where are they hiding those cows?

What are they feeding the cows? You don’t see a lot of hay growing in the desert? Do terminators kill cows? Historically it’s a successful strategy, destroy your enemy’s food source and you destroy them. Wow, that alone punches a hole in the story ;-)

d: Come on J!!! It’s 2018! Everyone knows they’ve been injecting nano-cows directly into the bloodstream birth since 2014!

j1: but, but, but, what about the lactose-intolerants?!?!

m: guess you didn’t catch the goats they had penned up next to the gas station…   I think I also saw a selection of soft cheeses in the basement next to the carrots.

j4: What do nano-cows do to you. Does that mean that big burly dude made himself a pint of milk all by himself. Gross.

Oh, I got it. Maybe they’re using powdered milk left over from judgment day. Yeah, that has to be it.

v: That would be The Ter-moo-nator

… or more specifically, what’s in your google reader?

I *heart* google reader. I do. Wait, you don’t know what the google reader is? According to wikipedia, “Google Reader is a Web-based aggregator, capable of reading Atom and RSS feeds online or offline.” So essentially, all the posts from all the blogs I want to read are pulled into one place as soon as they are posted.

It’s probably been a meme (like the 25 Things I really(?) wanted to know about you) on facebook (I wouldn’t know, I still refuse to create a facebook account) or maybe it hasn’t. Either way, I thought you might enjoy some of the feeds that are in my google reader, especially if you hadn’t seen them before. And perhaps you might have a few of your own to suggest.

I’ve tried to organize this list into a few different categories and within those categories, the organization is purely alphabetical – the way it appears in my reader. The descriptions are in most cases pulled directly from the website. This list does NOT include some of the more personal blogs that I read or some of the feeds that I need to remove because they’re going a little stale.

austin local

• Austinist
  “Austinist is a news and culture website about Austin, Texas. We publish Monday through Friday, and also maintain a guide to local arts and entertainment events that we call the Weekly IST List.”
• east austinite
  “the sights and sounds of east austin.”
• KUT News
  The blog for the Austin local NPR affiliate KUT.
• statesman.com
  The local newspaper – Austin American Statesman “Austin news, weather, Longhorns, business”
• SXSW Baby!
  I’ve been reading this one since the beginning in 2000. “SXSW Baby! is an informal, unofficial weblog for participants in — or those considering it — South by Southwest, an annual new media, film and music conference and festival held in Austin, Texas.”
• SXSW Interactive News
  Official news about South by Southwest Interactive (the geeky portion of the SXSW conference that I care the most about.)
• Texas Music Matters
  The blog for the Texas Music Matters segment on the Austin local NPR affiliate KUT.
• The Arthouse Blog
  “The mission of Arthouse is to promote the growth and appreciation of contemporary art and artists in Texas. Through its exhibitions and programs in Austin and statewide, Arthouse helps nurture artists’ careers and deepen public understanding of contemporary art.”
• The Blotter
  “What’s on The Blotter? Police press releases, public safety updates, traffic updates and general breaking news.” part of statesman.com

girly stuff – health, fashion, shopping…

• BarkingDogShoes
  Started by a woman with rheumatoid arthritis… “My goal with BarkingDogShoes.com is to help women find a shoe that not only looks good but feels good.”
• Chronic Babe
  “For Babes, who just happen to have chronic illness – ChronicBabe.com is an Online Community for Younger Women with Chronic Health Issues.”
• She Saves
  “She Saves features deals and coupons that might interest women, including clothing and shoes, home decor, baby and children items, weddings, gifts, and more.” Hasn’t been updated for a little while though…

creative, technology, design, semi-work-related, geeky stuff (admittedly this is a very broad “category” and you’re probably familiar with many of these)

• BoingBoing
  “A directory of wonderful things.”
• Core77
  “industrial design magazine + resource”
• CRAFT Magazine
  “Celebrating the DIY spirit, CRAFT’s goal is to unite, inspire, inform and entertain a growing community of highly imaginative and resourceful people who are transforming traditional art and crafts with unconventional, unexpected and even renegade techniques, materials and tools; people who undertake amazing crafting projects in their homes and communities … coined “The Martha Stewart For Geeks” by Newsweek’s Stephen Levy.”
• Gizmodo
  “Gizmodo, the Gadget Guide”
• i love typography
  “iLT was born from a desire to bring the subject of Typography to the masses. All too often, articles on typography are rather bland and, although informative, do little to elicit feelings of wow. So, iLT is designed to inspire its readers, to make people more aware of the typography that’s around them.”
• Lifehacker
  “tips and downloads for getting things done”
• Likecool.com
  “Coolest Gadget Magazine”
• MAKE Magazine
  “MAKE Magazine brings the do-it-yourself mindset to all the technology in your life. MAKE is loaded with exciting projects that help you make the most of your technology at home and away from home. We celebrate your right to tweak, hack, and bend any technology to your own will.”
• mental_floss
  “Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix”
• NOTCOT
  “ideas + aesthetics + amusement”

humor (twisted, more schadenfreude type humor, but it makes me giggle)

• Cake Wrecks
  “When professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong.”
• FAIL Blog
  “Pictures and Videos of Owned, Pwnd and Fail Moments”
• stockery
  “with the unfortunate invention of cheap stock photo sites has come a new wave of photographic mockery. this blog is my ode to the worst of the worst stock images i have come across in my daily searches.”

cars, automotive (this category is getting added on to, for now – here’s my fave)

• Jalopnik
  “Obsessed With The Cult Of Cars”

music (there’s not much I follow here because there’s just too much to follow)

• Pitchfork
  “home of the gratuitously in-depth record review.”

illustration, photography, art & urban art

• DRAWN!
  “The illustration and cartooning blog”
• FFFFOUND
  the tumblr blog of ffffound.com’s image bookmarking
• Flickr Blog
  “The companion blog to Flickr, almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world.”
• Street Anatomy
  “medicine + art + design – Street Anatomy, created by Vanessa Ruiz, obsessively covers the use of human anatomy in medicine, art, and design.”
• The Big Picture
  “The Big Picture is a photo blog for the Boston Globe/boston.com … The Big Picture is intended to highlight high-quality, amazing imagery – with a focus on current events, lesser-known stories and, well, just about anything that comes across the wire that looks really interesting.”
• Urban Prankster
  “Urban Prankster covers pranks, hacks, participatory art, flash mobs, and other creative endeavors that take place in public places in cities across the world.”
• Wooster Collective
  “A celebration of Street Art – The Wooster Collective was founded in 2001. This site is dedicated to showcasing and celebrating ephemeral art placed on streets in cities around the world.”

I hope you enjoyed this. Did you find something you hadn’t seen before? Is there a feed I should add to my reader?

and fyi, the cool stuff I find in all my feeds generally get tumbled at shooshee.tumblr.com.

today’s the day, originally uploaded by sheeshoo.

Election Day 2008
projections: fivethirtyeight.com
information: league of women voters
coverage: npr.org – election 2008

no smoking, originally uploaded by sheeshoo.

We had a blast (pun slightly intended) last weekend at Maker Faire. We missed it last year – why I don’t remember. This year we only went on one day. Next year I believe we’ll plan on going both days. There was just too much to see and do and it was all SO inspiring.

Speaking of seeing and doing… I shot over 350 photos (digital and film), but managed to edit it down to a photo set on flickr of about 130 images and 2 videos. If I could find them, I included links to the Makers and/or interviews with the Makers in the descriptions of all the photos. enjoy!

Time for a light and fluffy interim post. One that highlights my tee-vee addiction and the shows that we will more than likely be recording, if not watching this fall. The shows that I am most looking forward to are in bold and the season premier dates are in (in parentheses). About half of these will probably fall off of our regular viewing after the first few weeks. Enjoy!

Sunday

• 7pm – The Simpsons (9.28)
• 7:30pm – Sunday Night Football (if there is a game I’m interested in, otherwise I just flip to it every once in a while to see the score)
• 8pm – Family Guy (9.28)

Monday

• 7pm – a double dose of geekery with Big Bang Theory (9.22) and Chuck (9.29)
• 8pm – Heroes (9.22)
• 8:30pm – Samantha Who? (10.6)
• 9pm – Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations

Tuesday

• 7pm – House (9.16)
• 8pm - Fringe (9.9 @ 7pm TONIGHT) It’s J.J. Abrams so we’ll give it a shot – I liked the season premier.

Wednesday

• 7pm – Pushing Daisies (10.1)
• 8pm – Private Practice (10.1) and will continue watching Season 5 of Project Runway (7.16)
• 9pm – Top Design (9.3)

Thursday

• 7pm – My Name Is Earl (9.25)
• 7:30pm – Kath & Kim (10.9) We’ll give it a shot because it’s sandwiched between Earl and The Office.
• 8pm – The Office (9.25) and Grey’s Anatomy (9.25)
• 9pm – ER (9.25) It’s the last season. And since it’s David E. Kelley – we’ll try Life on Mars (10.9)

Friday & Saturday
Big ball o’ nuthin’ except for Top Gear which airs at 7pm on Mondays but due to DVR conflict and nothing on the weekends, we’ll probably watch it on Saturdays or Sundays. And we’ll probably be watching all the stuff we recorded all week but didn’t watch.

Also…

Lost doesn’t return until “early 2009″ Time and Day TBD.
Top Chef will probably be on Wednesdays whenever Season 5 starts back up.