www.geoffmitchell.com

Thanks Jess for posting this on your website and making me aware of it. As a huge fan of this season of ‘24′, reading Tim Goodman’s recent post was cathartic. As I said to Jess today, I’ve suspended disbelief so high up it’s out of reach. WTF is with Bauer being in receipt of an audio recording so in demand, yet failing to play it into his Treo, voicemail, to CTU, or any other source? One phone call and the problem would be solved. Still, winces at plausibility aside, it’s as Goodman says, ‘This is the greatest hour on TV right now. Visual crack.’ If nothing else, read this for the brilliantly accurate reference to Secretary Heller going off the cliff. I don’t uncontrollably laugh out loud at work very often, but this one had my side aching.

Thanks Jess for posting this on your website and making me aware of it. As a huge fan of this season of ‘24′, reading Tim Goodman’s recent post was cathartic. As I said to Jess today, I’ve suspended disbelief so high up it’s out of reach. WTF is with Bauer being in receipt of an audio recording so in demand, yet failing to play it into his Treo, voicemail, to CTU, or any other source? One phone call and the problem would be solved. Still, winces at plausibility aside, it’s as Goodman says, ‘This is the greatest hour on TV right now. Visual crack.’ If nothing else, read this for the brilliantly accurate reference to Secretary Heller going off the cliff. I don’t uncontrollably laugh out loud at work very often, but this one had my side aching.

Well, it looks like the mPod music player I commented on recently has formally released, and surprise surprise, the name and UI have changed. :-/. Hmmmm… me thinks legal might have gotten involved, or perhaps they just thought twice. Hard to say but the full iPod-like aspects have been trimmed down. Still, it remains a really great product, and with the potential to sync with iTunes on the horizon, it could be the best choice on the market.
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Well, it looks like the mPod music player I commented on recently has formally released, and surprise surprise, the name and UI have changed. :-/. Hmmmm… me thinks legal might have gotten involved, or perhaps they just thought twice. Hard to say but the full iPod-like aspects have been trimmed down. Still, it remains a really great product, and with the potential to sync with iTunes on the horizon, it could be the best choice on the market.
Read the rest of this entry »

Michael Bay’s stylish sci-fi thriller stars Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson as members of a strictly regulated indoor futuristic colony who hope to win the lottery, a contest in which the grand prize is a trip to a utopian island, reportedly the last uncontaminated place on Earth. But a startling discovery about the true nature of the Island — and their very existence — leads the two to stage a desperate escape to the outside world.

Geoff’s Comments: Not a bad SciFi film, with a rather interesting premise/plot twist, that I think could have been played out a little more elaborately for even more of a surprise. I found it a bit reminiscent of ‘Logan’s Run’ in some ways. Very typical Michael Bay production [meaning so far over the top, it's almost unable to see the top]. Still, entertaining, and a good ‘Guy Movie’.
[ rent The Island at netflix.com ]

Michael Bay’s stylish sci-fi thriller stars Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson as members of a strictly regulated indoor futuristic colony who hope to win the lottery, a contest in which the grand prize is a trip to a utopian island, reportedly the last uncontaminated place on Earth. But a startling discovery about the true nature of the Island — and their very existence — leads the two to stage a desperate escape to the outside world.

Geoff’s Comments: Not a bad SciFi film, with a rather interesting premise/plot twist, that I think could have been played out a little more elaborately for even more of a surprise. I found it a bit reminiscent of ‘Logan’s Run’ in some ways. Very typical Michael Bay production [meaning so far over the top, it's almost unable to see the top]. Still, entertaining, and a good ‘Guy Movie’.
[ rent The Island at netflix.com ]

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m far a ‘hemp wearing, canvas shopping tote using, whole foods dining’ card carrying member of ‘the Green Party’, but I’m far closer to that side of the spectrum then I am to the ‘forest clearing, hummer driving, wood burning, cigarette butt flicking’ ignorant callous fuck side of the fence. bitter much? Enough so that every day, I come increasingly closer to walking up to the car at the stoplight to pickup and flick the burning embers back into their car. Dangerously close.

Tomorrow is ‘Earth Day’, but in the realm of my ongoing desire to ‘be the kind of person I’d admire’, I’d have to say that every day should be earth day. Right? I try to recycle, and although I drive what could be considered an SU-V, it’s a 4-cylander fuel efficient wannabe from Honda. And when a hybrid option for a mini-van is available, it’ll be on our list of things to buy.
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I have a couple of friends that are hardcore Christians. I love them, and honestly, I never make an aggressive point of presenting them with massive amounts of research and publications that dutifully poke gaping holes in their religion’s history and their belief systems. They have their views, and I have mine.

Hopefully I’ll not be stepping on too many sandals with this post.

One of these good friends send me this flyer as a PDF: about a discussion titled ‘The DaVinci Deception’ today, and invited my wife and I to attend. I know it’s all meant in the best of intentions, and it’s probably heavily pushed within the church as a way to reach out to friends and bring them into the fold. But what gives them the audacity to actually be so myopic as to think that they have the right to do so, without in turn, going with me to an equally focused discussion and exploration into the numerous reasons why my view is correct? I don’t do that because I don’t necessarily believe that any view, including my own, is absolute, but I do know that mine is definitely not dogmatic.
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The local NBC Affilliate, Channel 11, has an excellent website dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. And more impressive is the 1 hour documentary airing tonight, but available right now, for download and playback on your computer or iPod.

The latest chapter in the ongoing Apple vs Apple legal battles has gotten me thinking about my own experience in crossing the line between the two companies. It all began quite innocently. It was around 1994, I believe. I was working late, reading the manual and trying to master the use of a new CD burner we’d purchased for around $8-$10k. It had a 700mb internal HD and burned CDs at 1x speed. We had a need to archive software builds for shipping CPUs, as well as have a method for creating and distribution bundles to manufacturing as well. At the same time, we had access to all the latest and greatest software for internal use, and more often then not, i’d find myself away from the office and having a need for an application I’d only be able to access from within the company network. So here I was at work, access to the software I’d love to have been able to have with me at any given moment, and working out the kinks and learning curve on a new CD burner. Hmmmmmmmm….
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This series of intimate vignettes from writer-director Rodrigo Garcia (Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her) peers into the private lives of nine women, each with a different destiny. A star-studded ensemble cast includes Kathy Baker, Amy Brenneman, Glenn Close, Dakota Fanning, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Holly Hunter, Mary Kay Place, Sissy Spacek and Robin Wright Penn — with Joe Mantegna and Aidan Quinn providing the testosterone.

Geoff’s Comments: Each short segment was interesting, the characters were all very ‘real’, the situations dealt with felt honest, but it felt disjointed, and seemed to drag on for a few of my own lives at times. It’s also of a ‘chick flick’ in the sense of dealing with women in crisis and in stages of emotional instability
[ rent Nine Lives at netflix.com ]

Now… I’m not saying I am DIRECTLY responsible, but given that my employers for the last two years have been TiVo and then Apple… well… i’m just sayin’… :-)

Over all, only Apple and Tivo saw their brand trust rise in the last two years, according to the report.

Macworld: News: Apple could double market share on Microsoft defections

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Today is the birthdate of my wife’s late Father, Thomas Patterson. He passed away 8 years ago, quite suddenly and unexpectedly, just months before our wedding. The impact resonates with my wife to this day, as it does throughout her family. He left a strong, lasting and extremely positive impression on each of their lives.

I also learned this week that somebody I knew many years back had passed away. He worked at Apple, as did I, and an internal transfer landed me in a roll in a team under his supervision. And although his passing does not represent a ‘personal’ loss for me in any direct sense, these deaths hit nerves worth recognizing and acknowledging.

I’ve been fortunate to, with the exception of my Father, not have anybody intimately close to me die. That’s not a fortune I have any illusions about. That card will be dealt. With rare exception, the painful truth is that we don’t get to see the stopwatch too far in advance of it’s running out, for our own demise as well as that of somebody we love and treasure.
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My wife’s good friend had a birthday dinner Saturday night. My kids are transitioning from cribs to beds, still not consistent and not used to being put to bed by anybody but us. So, in order to attend, we opted to have a babysitter watch them while I went in a separate car from 6-7.30, the plan being to allow my wife to enjoy the party whle I’d came home to put them to bed. The other option was to have someone watch them after i’d gotten them to sleep, but that’s far too unpredictable.

So I got them fed, went to the dinner, and came home early enough to get them to bed. I watched a bit of TV and decided on an early bed time myself. I went to check on the before going to sleep, they were fine, and just as I was leaving I heard my son rustle and then the clear sounds of retching and, well, liquids and solids. I promptly got him up, cleaned up, stabilized, and went about the cleaning of his bedding. This never happens, and it struck me that had I not been in the room at that exact moment, would I have heard anything? Would I have known he’d thrown up? Probably, as I’d expect he’d have made it known, but it was oddly timed and somewhat fortuitous. The early bed time was not to be, but then and now, i was so glad to have been there to be literally at his side when he had to go through this.

I’ve posted on prior blogs/blog entries about the amazing ice sculptures at the Harbin Snow and Ice Festival and out that Anckorage Alaska has a festival of their own as well. It’s easy to look as say ‘wow’ at a glance, but stop a minute. This is ice. ICE, folks. Can you begin to imagine the detail and time spent creating these works of art?!?! I mean for god’s sake, this fish, leaping out of the water to capture a dragonfly, is carved out of a single block of ice… look at the water, the splash, the scales and the dragonfly. Then there’s the roman facade built and carved out of ice. Look at the scale of that in comparison to the people, and the details at the top of the building. Ice. Unbelievable. It makes me shudder to think of the work involved.

George Clooney’s Oscar-nominated docudrama pits TV newsman Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) against Sen. Joseph McCarthy and his single-minded crusade to quell the red threat at home. Despite corporate pressure to back off, Murrow and his CBS staff are determined to examine the lies and fear tactics perpetrated by McCarthy during his Communist witch-hunts. The impressive cast includes Robert Downey Jr., Patricia Clarkson and Jeff Daniels.

Geoff’s Comments: Wow… this was one hell of a cast, and some of the finest acting i’ve seen in some time, in particular Ray Wise and Frank Langella both turned in subtle and powerful performances. The story was wonderfully presented, intelligently layed out and told a powerful story of our history… one that has meaning and significance in our political system today.
[ The Official Movie Website ]
[ rent Good Night, and Good Luck at netflix.com ]

George Clooney’s Oscar-nominated docudrama pits TV newsman Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) against Sen. Joseph McCarthy and his single-minded crusade to quell the red threat at home. Despite corporate pressure to back off, Murrow and his CBS staff are determined to examine the lies and fear tactics perpetrated by McCarthy during his Communist witch-hunts. The impressive cast includes Robert Downey Jr., Patricia Clarkson and Jeff Daniels.

Geoff’s Comments: Wow… this was one hell of a cast, and some of the finest acting i’ve seen in some time, in particular Ray Wise and Frank Langella both turned in subtle and powerful performances. The story was wonderfully presented, intelligently layed out and told a powerful story of our history… one that has meaning and significance in our political system today.
[ The Official Movie Website ]
[ rent Good Night, and Good Luck at netflix.com ]

I have to comment that i never really thought about the inconsistencies and anomalies of the english language until I worked with somebody who had a hearing impairment. Talk about an ear opening experience… seeing how some of the language would be misread and misspoken really brings to light just how wacky our use of words and spellings can be.

Here’s some great examples.
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I have to comment that i never really thought about the inconsistencies and anomalies of the english language until I worked with somebody who had a hearing impairment. Talk about an ear opening experience… seeing how some of the language would be misread and misspoken really brings to light just how wacky our use of words and spellings can be.

Here’s some great examples.
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I’m sure you’re tempted to pick up the phone and call me to profess all the wonders that Metamucil can do… but that’s not quite what I’m trying to say here. What I’m commenting on and capturing for posterity [as well as some of the initial arsenal that'll be used to thoroughly embarrass them when they start dating] is that for the kids, Poop is the bomb… poop is where it’s at… poop is the shit.

It’s not the actual poop that’s big; that’s run of the mill (pun intended), but the word has become the de-facto substitution in songs, names, an pretty much anything. These day’s ‘Mary had a little poop’ is gleefully sung, as is ‘rock-a-bye poopie’, ‘twinkle twinkle little poop’ and my personal favorite, ‘Old MacDonald had a poop’.

I think they’re gonna like my Farrelly Brothers DVD collection.

Some things just stands out to me. Like 12:34 in the afternoon or early morning… it just stands out as being unique. After all, you can only look at a digital clock twice in a 24hr period and see a sequence of 1,2,3,4. Sure, the same holds true for every other single possible moment in time, like 7:31, but when I look at a clock and see 12:34, I take note, it’s something I like to momentarily marvel at the randomness of.

I have a vivid memory of being in school on May 6, 1978, and having a teacher tell us that at 12:34 that afternoon, for only 60 seconds, it would be 12345678. 12:34 5/6/78. It was very interesting to me. It gave me a strong sense of awareness about time, and history in relation to time. I made a point of watching the clock at lunch and somehow, feeling connected to an awareness about that brief moment, perhaps as an astronomer might feel connected to the planets during a full eclipse.

What’s that? You say you MISSED OUT on that brief moment in 1978? Well guess what? You have another chance ticking it’s way towards you. Tomorrow will be the calendar date of 04/05/06. BUT Wait.. there’s more! At 2:03am it will be 02:03 04/05/06. But for you daredevils, you thrill-seekers, you insane few that can’t stand to live on the safe side of the line, well at exactly 3 seconds into 1:02am, the exact string of text representing that very moment, which will not occur for another 100 years, will be 1:02:03 04/05/06!!! Can you stand the excitement?

Wait for it… and when it’s passed, smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.

The days of having my coffee mixed with equal parts coffee & half/half, the weekly baked potato packed high with cheedar cheese, bacon and sour cream, and the late night temptations of ice-cream and rich chocolates are now a thing of the past. Having been advised by my dr that my blood pressure is in the red and my cholesterol is almost double the desired level makes for a serious wake up call. Time to get back in control of this runaway weight train. The good news, i’ll not only live to see my children grow but I’ve got lots of clothes awaiting a reduced waist line. :-)