Anyone need a house?


View from inside:

 

I have just finished eating an entire pizza and I am listening to a jazz rendition of MacArthur Park (BTW, this song was written in the summer of 1967 by songwriter Jimmy Webb as part of a 22-minute cantata. Richard Harris, who "sang" the song was actually an actor, not a singer. I think he just read the lyrics with a great deal of drama). I remember watching a band called "the Family Cruze" at the Manila Holiday Inn performing this song which I thought was neat. They also tried Bohemian Rhapsody - evidently a slow night appropriate for experimentation...

Given the weather, I watched a few movies this weekend:

Red Eye: Glad I didn't pay to see this one (it was on the movie channel). Not a complete waste of time, but almost.

Office Space: I watched this one when it came out in 1999 and I liked it and always thought to watch it again some day. This is a really good, under rated movie. Anyone who has ever worked in cubicle land will instantly get this movie. Some of the best parts are in the background (like the office workers unconsciously nodding at everything the manager is saying) and some great archtypes like the mentally unstable employee, the foreign IT guy, and the "consultants". I am glad I PVR'd this one.

Revenge of the Nerds: Yeah I know, but I have such a soft spot for anything so 1980's. The movie is so bad, so predictable, so stupid! but I totally enjoyed watching it. I don't care what you think.

Kill Bill Vol.1: This is the third time I attempted to watch it and I fell asleep again! Not because the movie sucks, but because I was really tired (I also fell asleep watching the Matrix at the Glorietta 4 and we all know how cool that movie is). This movie is f*&^n amazing. One day I will actually watch it start to finish.

Go forth and prosper.

I discovered Vienna Teng blog surfing. Check her music out - very, very cool (warning: major party killer material - this stuff is definitely for winding down!). I really dig "Gravity".

Old streetcars found in the farmland north of Toronto:




 

Ok! Because I select only the finest books, I offer you my summer reading list:

Fooled By Randomness: I love this book! I still have not finished reading it and I like it so much I am now reading it slowly so it won't ever end. The author (Nassim Taleb) has a great writing style. He is very sarcastic, and sometimes comes across as a dick (he doesn't like a lot of people it seems). However, I don't think he cares what I think about him, so he comes across as authentic anyway. In any event, it is the content of the book which is cool. Talking about dicks - have you seen the Crossfire episode with Jon Stewart? I love the Daily Show, but Jon came off as a righteous knob in this snippet. Maybe I missed something???

Freakonomics: Neat statistical inferences, although after reading Fooled by Randomness, I am not sure I believe any of it (or any economist for that matter) anymore! I still like the book even though it will be banned in Catholic countries (thank goodness the Da Vinci Code is taking all the Vatican heat!).

My Life As A Quant: Physicists being hired by Wall Street. I like this book - an autobiography by a not so famous guy. He also has a clear understanding that any model is perhaps useful but not reality!

Head First Design Patterns: I don't mean to come off elitist or anything, but there are really very few real programmers out there IMHO. Perhaps too many people buy the "Learn Visual Basic in 21 Days" book and get a job writing code. I am still amazed at how few senior programmers understand the concept of a pointer. Yes, modern languages like java, vb, c# etc. don't have "pointers", but you always access objects by reference - which is the same thing! Anyway before I digress too much, design patterns should be mastered by all programmers, and this is such a user friendly book to introduce the concepts.

The World is Flat: Seemingly about inter connectedness, the digital revolution and globalization...I don't know I have not yet started reading it yet. I will try to read it before the next protest.

The Black Book of Outsourcing: Just because...I haven't read this one yet either but it is on my shelf...lurking...

So there you go, you can now read what I am reading and be just like me.

I have been multitasking lately...work, exploring new opportunities, catching up with friends, etc. I also decided that I was uniquely qualified as a landscape architect and took it upon myself to reengineer my courtyard which has gone mostly untouched since I moved in several years ago. Fixing an existing deck became adding a new deck which became regrading which became adding a proper patio, and she told two friends, and so on, and so on...

Here is a picture from the early stages of my engineering miracle - new drainage around where the patio will go.


By the way, this has been a alcohol free summer for me (I am on medication which cannot be taken if one drinks). I have never been so clear headed before, nor got so much accomplished (e.g. my foray into landscaping described above). I have never spoke Swedish before, but I feel I could master the language with a couple weeks of study. I had a dream the other night about making a Manhattan. Clearly this period of enlightened sobriety will not last.