Archive for "Reviews"
Blue Collar Poker
Posted on January 7, 2007 by Ching under Flickr, Food and Drink, Poker, Reviews.
We returned to APL HQ yet again for another try at the Blue Collar Poker Tournament. We must be gluttons for punishment you say. Well, it’s not like it’s a real long, long shot. I did find out Friday that Micheal (aka Phantom2 at Doyles Room) took first place and won $300 at last Sunday’s tourney. It’s ironic that I was the first one out of that tournament while he was the last one out. We had a good laugh about it. I think I’m a pretty good sport when it comes to poker. Despite the embarrassment, I wasn’t really too upset. After all, the only losses I suffered were $10 and a bruised ego. It’s not like I lost my first born or anything.
Anyway, Brian and I returned today with a backup plan. We figured that if we both got knocked out early this time we’d just go watch Casino Royale. We’d both been wanting to see it, but haven’t had a chance to.. Now would be the perfect opportunity.
It’s funny because while we were in the shower Brian asked, “What if we don’t get knocked out by seven? Do you want us to just bail?”
I said, “Baby— if we are still playing at seven we’re nixing the movie because there is a great chance that we are winning some money!” As much as I am a movie buff, I think I’m a bigger poker addict because when it comes down to it, I’d rather be playing poker. Of course, I can watch movies anytime. I only get to to play poker once in a while. (more…)
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New Discoveries
Posted on December 25, 2006 by Ching under Family, Reviews, Toys, Web.
In keeping with my promise to share with you all the cool things that I come across, this blog entry is more of a “Did you know?” post. These are the things that I discovered recently:
- Kodak has a camera trade-in program. As digital cameras go, I really don’t like Kodak. I am partial to Canon. Most of my digital cameras have been Canons. I also like Nikon cameras because of their excellent reputation among photographers, professionals and amateurs alike.
However, I have to give some props to Kodak for their innovative new marketing approach. They will take any digital camera and give you a cash rebate toward a new Kodak EasyShare digital camera. I think it is a brilliant idea. So brilliant, in fact, that I almost bought myself a Kodak on the spot.
- Rouxbe rocks. Why? Because it is a cutting edge way to learn the culinary arts. This is one of those ideas that you kind of wish you thought of yourself. I predict that this will be the next big thing. Just as I thought MySpace would be great when I joined about three years ago (I was a Friendster user first) and Flickr would be the most popular photo sharing community when I joined it early 2004. I remember getting a month or so of “pro” membership to Flickr by convincing five other people to register. Fun times. Anyway, I actually didn’t know what direction Flickr would take back in those days because it started out as some sort of game. It just kind of evolved into what the members of the community wanted. So anyway, I think Rouxbe is going to be huge! So join today while they still have some 1900 founding memberships left.
If that’s not enough reason to join, you should join because it is a well-designed, user-friendly web site. I know because my friend Ritchie worked on it. He doesn’t do anything crappy. He only does outstanding work. There you go. Check it out. Then send him a message to tell him how awesome you think the new project is.. He will appreciate the positive feedback.
- Blurb will get you published. Self-published, that is. Personally, I think the Blurb way of publishing is actually better than Lulu. There are pros and cons to both, but as far as designing the book I think the software that you use with Blurb is more user-friendly and versatile. For selling, Lulu is probably better. Anyway, try them both and you decide.
- Almost everything at Zazzle is on sale right now. Personalized postage, shirts, hats, mugs and calendars are on sale for $9.99 plus free shipping. You can’t beat that. I actually ordered some personalized stamps for us to use next Christmas. It’s got our picture on it with the words “Happy Holidays from Brian and Ching” printed underneath. I will post a picture when I receive them so you guys can see. Or you could order some yourself and see first hand.
NOTE TO MOM: I think this would be a great idea for your letter campaign. Put your web site URL and phone number on the picture or something. It will surely catch the eye of anyone who comes in contact with the envelope.
These are all the ideas and discoveries I have for now. Until next time.
P.S. Here are some of the photos that we took on Christmas eve and Christmas day. Enjoy!
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Recently Watched Movies
Posted on December 21, 2006 by Ching under Movies, Reviews.
Now that school is out Brian and I are catching up on some movie watching. We’ve watched almost a dozen movies in the last couple of weeks. Last Saturday Brian and I watched The Pursuit of Happyness. We went home and decided to play a couple of movies as we wrapped gifts. We watched The Break Up and Accepted. Needless to say, we were up until the wee hours of the morning.
Today we watched Eragon. It was a lot better than I expected. I was thoroughly entertained. The little dragon was really cute.
On the drive home Brian made the comment that we’ll probably discover in sequel that Arya is really Eragon’s sister, which made me realize that the story is a lot like Stars Wars. Eragon was left to live with his uncle much like Luke Skywalker. Arya was raised as a Princess like Princess Leia. There are a lot of parallels in the two stories. Eragon had to rescue Arya from Durza’s castle like Luke rescued Leia from the Death Star.
The Varden were like the Rebel Alliance, Brom was like Obi-Wan, Murtagh is the Han Solo character, King Galbatorix is Darth Vader, his army are like the Storm Troopers, and all we are missing is a wookie. Then again, there is a sequel! Let’s just hope they don’t bring Jar Jar Binx. LOL. This is just the beginning. There are a lot more similarities but I won’t ruin the movie for you because it really is a must see. The visuals are breathtaking.
Kidding aside, here are my thoughts on the other movies that we have seen lately..
The Pursuit of Happyness was good but I expected more out of it. The movie previews kind of built it up so much. It made me cry but it wasn’t the bawl-fest that I expected. Not that it’s a bad thing. It’s probably good that it didn’t make me cry as much as I Am Sam did. I don’t think there was a second in that movie that I wasn’t crying. Anyway, The Pursuit of Happyness is an inspiring movie. It shows that hard working people prevail against all odds. Believe in your dreams and persevere. Happiness will follow.
The Break Up was disappointing to say the least. It wasn’t funny and it wasn’t enlightening. I could relate to some of her concerns and his concerns but none of it was entertaining. Why would I want to watch something that I experience in my daily life? It was a waste of two hours. Thankfully, I was productive. I was wrapping presents as I watched the movie so at least my time wasn’t completely wasted.
Accepted was pretty funny but it’s not the kind of movie that I would really go out of my way to see. Obviously, this one came from Brian’s Netflix queue.
The movies that I borrowed that we (or I in some cases because Brian refuses to watch some of my films although I always watch his with him) watched recently include, Intimacy (a foreign film), Somersault (foreign also), and Girl with a Pearl Earring. I have a thing for foreign films.
Intimacy is a French film and had lots of nudity. I’m not sure I quite got it. I think I was distracted by all the sex scenes.
Somersault is an Australian film. I really only rented it for one reason. I wanted to see Abbie Cornish, the girl that Ryan Phillippe cheated on Reese Witherspoon with. I figured she has got to be something special. She’s okay. She is youthful and vibrant, but probably not someone worth throwing a marriage away for.. Somersault is a pretty good movie, as indie films go. What he did, though.. Cheating on his lovely wife, who I love and admire dearly… That was really stupid.
I watched Girl with a Pearl Earring because I love Scarlett Johansson. We’ve had it in our movie collection for a long time but I’ve not had a chance to watch it until now. It’s a good period piece and even better considering that the movie is about a woman in a Vermeer painting.
It’s amazing how many movies I’ve seen in such a short period of time. Even crazier is the fact that I have so many more to watch because we are completely behind in our movie watching.
If I don’t post another entry until after Christmas, I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!
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Distance Learning Assignment
Posted on November 8, 2006 by Ching under Reviews, School.
Brian thought I should share this with everyone. It’s not that great but it is about one of our most favorite TV shows. I wrote it to satisfy my distance learning assignment in Dr. Graham’s Organizational Behavior (MGMT 862) class. Anyway, since Brian wrote a long blog entry I figured I might as well post this one. After all, I’m not one to be outdone. 😉
Show Information
Episode Title: Fannysmackin’
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Episode Number 145, Season 7
Aired October 12, 2006 at 8:00 PM
[ Sidenote: This is the episode with Kevin Federline aka Mr. Britney Spears. It is his first TV gig. Not that he is of any importance but I thought I would share that bit of trivia. ]
Character Analysis: Leadership Style
The character I have selected for this analysis is Gil Grissom. Grissom is the night-shift supervisor of the Clark County, Nevada CSI team. The team works closely with detectives and the county coroner to investigate crimes in the Las Vegas area.
Based on this episode and other episodes of the show, Grissom’s leadership style would fall under delegating—a style that is both low in relationship or supportive behavior and low in directive behavior. This suits Grissom’s personality quite well because he is dispassionate and anti-social. He provides minimal supervision to his team members and allows them to work independently. Fortunately for Grissom, his team consists of high-performing crime scene investigators who have the necessary skills, willingness and confidence to perform their jobs so the delegating leadership style works effectively. This style of leadership would not be effective or be appropriate for a low-performing group that does not possess a high level of follower readiness. Readiness is a follower’s ability to set high but attainable task-related goals and willingness to accept responsibility for reaching them. Follower readiness is an important consideration when selecting the best leadership approach to use. (more…)
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GIVE ME THE RUN AROUND!
Posted on October 24, 2006 by Brian under Reviews.
Yesterday I wrote to a company that manufactured my drive enclosure for my portable Hard Drive. I have been using this thing for like almost a year. I wrote to them and clearly explained my issues, my actions and what I needed (see below).
Question: I have purchased one of your enclosures that has recently failed. I tested the HD in another computer and it worked just fine. I found another HD and tested it in the Enclosure and it would not work either. I want to know how I go about getting an exchange for this product or if I can even get an exchange for this product. I was told by NewEgg that it had a 1 year Manufacture Warranty on it and they only covered it for the first 30 days. Please advise.
Today I go to check out my e-mail and they send me this (I will not edit it so that you can see how it was composed). (more…)
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