K-Squared Ramblings

Zune Fail, Comment Win & Holiday Creep

• Weird: Zunes all over the world froze up at the same time overnight. #
• Comment win: “like she was going to rip his arm off and beat his spleen to death with it. Not him; just his spleen” #
• Just a quick store run – yeah along with everyone else in town. #
• More holiday creep! I still need to mail Xmas gifts to people I missed! It’s still 2008! #

Moon and Venus Above Palms

Moon and Venus Above Palms, originally uploaded by Kelson.

Video Linkblogging: Mac vs. PC

Found this fun short movie: Mac vs. PC. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. It’s been done a million times. But how many times have the Mac and PC been Transformers? There’s a strong element of Terminator in there, as well.

(via Major Spoilers, though it apparently hit Digg a week ago)

Green Lots & Venus

Walking to lunch. Vacant lots are actually green! #

Spotted Venus at 1 in the afternoon! Thanks, Sky Map app! #

Carol of the Bells, ATM Design

Some more observations while Christmas shopping:

I like “Carol of the Bells” as an instrumental piece. Sung with lyrics? Not so much. It feels tacked on. #

Clever UI design on ATM: w/ fast cash, it won’t give you the cash until after you take your card. Usually I grab it fast, so I never noticed #

Mall Crush

Must remember: just because the mall is the CLOSEST place to grab lunch doesn’t make it the BEST place, esp. 3 days before Christmas. #

Eliminating the BS

Signs spotted while shopping:

Iglot sounds so much like igloo that it should be a kind of building. “Take it round back to the iglot.”

If only there were a way for this to say “Teh Aid,” it would be perfect.

Recent Reading: Flashforward

Earlier this month I read Robert J. Sawyer’s novel, Flashforward. It’s about what happens after, during a scientific experiment, the entire population of the world blacks out for two minutes and sees a vision of what they will be doing twenty years from now. It focuses on the question of free will, and looks at the different ways people might react to learning exactly what their future has in store.

Like most of Sawyer’s stuff, It’s a good, fast read that makes you think. It’s also been in the news lately, since ABC is developing it as a TV series to pick up the Lost audience as that show wraps up, and they’ve been announcing casting for the pilot.

I’ve posted a review of Flashforward at Speed Force.

Christmas Shopping

• Need to sleep. Found myself typing “Satan Claus” by mistake. #
• Symptom of car culture: I almost feel like I have to justify crossing the street on foot to go to another store instead of moving the car. #
• Sun Halo. All you have to do is look up once in a while. #

• Linens & Things: Nothing left to sell but the shelves… #
• Almost. Walked around a corner and they do have SOME stuff left #
• Virgin Megastore is closing too, but they’ve still got lots of stuff. Incl 5000 copies of Serial Mom. #
• Replica toys: I get the nostalgia factor, but at the same time it’s a weird idea. #
• Going out of business sales seen today: 4. Mervyns, Linens&Things,Virgin,Steve&Barry’s. #
• And the more stores I look at, the more “What You Own” competes in my head for the ubiquitous Christmas music. #
• Amazon’s wishlist needs a generic option. Like “I want an 8GB Micro-SD card” rather than “I want THIS Micro-SD card specifically!” #

Even Santas Have it Tough

Presumably this institution is designed to serve the needs of Santa Clauses who subsist on Ho-Hos.

Line Items for 2008-12-20

• Ugh. How does seeking to nullify 18000 marriages fall under “protecting marriage?” #
• How long before a bunch of fundamentalists decide that straight marriages without kids are anti-family and seeks to nullify mine? #
• Can we get a moratorium on covers of “Last Christmas?” Actually, can we get one on the original too? #
• Once more unto the breach… #
• Funny how easy it is to spot a cover by Darryl K Sweet. It makes me want to mash up Xanth, WOT, and every other fantasy series he’s covered #
• I can’t see giving someone Countdown to Final Crisis as a gift. Maybe a gag gift? #
• Someone EXPANDED The Red Balloon into a full-length film???? #
• Nothing says Christmas like 50s xmas song played on a mall stage by a guy with a ukulele. Now he’s singing Over the Rainbow. ???? #

Christmas Songs

I like hearing so many different kinds of music at Christmas time. Except when they play the same songs over and over and over and over and #

Saddleback Snow – Two Days Later

Saddleback Snow – Spectrum Wheel Two Days Later, originally uploaded by Kelson.

I’ve added a few more pictures to my Snowline photoset showing the unusual amount of snow in the local Santa Ana Mountains.

There’s a few more from Thursday, plus a couple of pictures I grabbed Friday morning, like the one shown above.

Update: Here’s one more, from a batch of photos I took at lunch today. More at Flickr…

School of Night & Snow

Just got back from seeing “The School of Night” in LA. Good play. Awful drive. Must sleep. #

They’re taking the Great Park Balloon up! Would be the perfect day [all the snow]…but I don’t have time! #

Woodbridge Snow View

Woodbridge Snow View 1, originally uploaded by Kelson.

Saddleback and the Santa Ana Mountains got an amazing amount of snow yesterday, and I went out to a couple of spots this morning to take photos. Check this Flickr set for more.