Project: Rich

I got them. I'm looking at them as I type this. They shall be placed in an envelope and sealed until Wednesday night, May 18th. Come midnight of that day, we are Episode III bound! First show baby. Just like the other Star Wars movies and the re-releases. And if that wasn't enough, I got tickets for the very next night to soak in that Star Wars goodness once more. It sure doesn't look like I'm the only one doing this. I'm just happy I didn't have to wait outside overnight just to get tickets like I did for Episode I. If it's that good, I might just have to get tickets for that opening weekend also. Oh man. I can't wait for this!

If I wasn't forced to upgrade my phone when I moved from an AT&T plan to a Cingular plan, I probably would have gotten another year out of my T616. With this being the case (and after a terrible experience with a Siemens S66) I got my Sony Ericsson S710a a couple of weeks ago. Here's the review.Let's start with the form. The S710a is a swivel form phone. The face swings around to reveal the keypad. I don't like moving parts. I don't like flip phone. I really only like the bar style phones. For me, moving parts means more things to break. With the S710a, I can definitely see the swivel becoming unreliable a year from now after extensive use. Thank god for insurance. My first impressions was this was a big phone. After using it these last 2 weeks, it's really not that big. You can definitely notice it in your pocket, but it's not bad at all. It's a little heavier than it needs to be considering most of it is high-grade plastic. They keypad is very nice. The buttons are flushed with the surface and there is a definitive click when fully pressed. Overall, I'm not very happy with the form. it's bigger, heavier, and moving more than it needs to be.The screen is absolutely beautiful. It's large, bright, completely visible in daylight, and is capable of displaying 262k colors over its 240 x 320 pixel display. It is easily the best screen I've seen on a phone. The sound is good. It's loud and clear when using it against your ear. The speakerphone could be a bit louder. The signal is great. I have Cingular in the Los Angeles area and the S710a picks up a noticeably stronger signal than my old T616.No matter how many extras a phone has, it's always a phone first. Now that we know the keypad works well, I can see everything on the screen, and the signal is strong, let's see how the other basic functions perform. The user interface is what you'd expect from Sony Ericsson. It's clean, intuitive, and easy to navigate. There is a bit of lag moving from item to item within the UI. It's a little annoying, but easily overlooked. Contact input and lookup is a cinch. Text input for messaging, e-mail, and web is as simple as it could be without a full QWERTY keypad. Even with all of the extras on the S710a (which I'll get to soon), Sony Ericsson didn't lose focus and made basic phone functions work great.Now let's hit some of the extra functions of the S710a. First and foremost is its 1.3 mega-pixel still camera. The images are large and beautiful when taken with lots of light. Outdoor images look great. Low light shots are a bit grainy, but you can compensate for this a little bit with the built-in light. There is also a video option on the phone. It works ok. Nothing great, but it's nice to know it's there if ya need it. You can shoot as many still shots and video that can fill up whatever MemoryStick Duo card you decide to use.Web browsing is done through Cingular's MEdia service and the S710a supports EDGE technology. Remember when you upgraded your home dial-up service to broadband service? Well that's what it feels like to have a phone moving data through EDGE. Browsing and downloads are fast. EDGE was a big reason why I went with the S710a and I couldn't be happier.Alright, the largest deal breaker with me is connectivity to a computer and syncing capabilities with my address book, calendar, and other PIM applications. I'm happy to say that through Bluetooth, I can perfectly sync the S710a with my Mac (through iSync) and PC (through Sony's software). It's an amazing and beautiful thing when it works and it couldn't be any simpler with my Mac.With everything that's going on in the S710a, you would think there's absolutely no battery life what so ever. Well it's definitely not as good as my T616 was, but you can easily get a couple of days out of the S710a before you need to hook it back up for a charge. I charge every night anyway so I really don't see too much of a difference between my T616 and the S710a.This review has been long enough. Time for some conclusions. The good greatly outweighs the bad on the S710a. The swivel style, oversized, and overweight form factor is easily overlooked once you look at that beautiful screen, hear the clear sound, play with the excellent imaging features, browse with EDGE support, and sync flawlessly with your computer. There's definitely room for improvements, but I'm not in a rush to see them. The Sony Ericsson S710a exceeds my needs and expectation and I can see a long, fruitful relationship with it.

Macworld News: "Interested in remixing a Nine Inch Nails song yourself? You can, legally. All you need is an Apple Mac running GarageBand 2 and a file you can download courtesy of Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor -- he's released a version of the song "The Hand That Feeds" in GarageBand 2 format."How cool is this? He actually wants you to take his song and cut it up. With so many creative GarageBand users out there, we're sure to hear some excellent (and not so excellent) remixes out there in a couple of days. Here is a copy of Trent's read me file that accompanies the GB file.

"Hola.""Mi nombre estaciona.""Mi nombre es retarda.""D˜nde estΩn mis pantalones?""Qu⁄ puta? Qu⁄?"Esto es parte del espaˆol yo aprend‚ mientras en Rosarito. Era una explosi˜n y yo no puedo esperar para volver en mayo. He anunciado algunos de las imΩgenes yo tom⁄ mientras allΩ. Si⁄ntase libre verificarlos fuera.Here to (poorly) translate this post. Here to see the pictures I took from the trip.

They have the full video for The Hand That Feeds posted on the front of the NIN site. Very cool.

I'm leaving for Rosarito Thursday night and wont be back until Monday night. This is probably the largest vacation I've had in 3 years. I know. It's only 4 days, but that's still more than any other time I've been away from work. We're staying at a friend's parent's beach house. The back yard is literally the beach. Never been so I hope it's cool. I'll try and make sure we stay clear of the federales. If ya don't hear back from me on Tuesday, call home land security. Good luck to us all.

This past week has been polluted with death. First Mitch Hedberg, then Terri Schiavo, now the Pope. Although I don't share the same beliefs that Catholics do anymore, you have to respect someone like the Pope who has been so firm and consistent in their beliefs with a want to make things better.

I can think of two great things that are happening in May (besides the fact that I'll be moving out at the end of that month). After 6 long years, we finally get new Nine Inch Nails in the form of an album entitled With Teeth. Easily my favorite band. The new single, The Hand That Feeds sounds very different from what you would expect from NIN, but still very cool. Unlike most bands, I think NIN gets better with every single album and I'm sure With Teeth is going to knock me on my ass when it's released May 3rd.As if that wasn't, we also get the new Weezer album, Make Believe, on May 10th. The new single, Beverly Hills sounds like classic Weez and I'm positive this one will also not disappoint. If I'm upset about anything, it's that Weez wont be making their way to SoCal for their tour. Oh well. Still can't wait for these released in May. Bring it.

You know the Siemens S66 I got about a week ago? Well here's my review. I hate it. It crashes. It doesn't sync properly with iSync and really not even supported by it in the first place. Bluetooth is very sketchy with it. The user interface is a lot more complicated than it needs to be. Contacts are a pain to deal with. On the up side, it's a sexy looking phone and with a firmware update to clear out some of the bugs, I can see someone who'd sync it to Windows liking it a lot more. Just not for me, though.So this being the case, I ordered another phone today in exchange for the S66. I went all out on this one. It's the Sony Ericsson S710a and I'm positive it's going to be great. The only thing I'm sort of hesitant about is the swivel design. I'm not a big fan of moving parts on a phone. I'll guess we'll see how it works out in a couple of days when I get it in my hands.

Here is a news story that has recently mad national headlines concerning a 911 officer saying "yeah... too bad" and then hanging up on a call received about an injured motorcyclist. I'm completely appalled and disgusted over this officers action and I hope you will be too after reading the article. In fact, I hope you feel strongly enough to join me in signing a petition demanding further action be taken against him. He was only suspended for 15 days.

If you know downtown Los Angeles, then you know the Hotel Figueroa. Well, up on the famous Hotel Figueroa is an ad for GM with content from my division at eVox. We didn't do the complete ad, but we did supply all of the content for it and I'm proud enough to show it here. You can find higher resolution images of these by clicking on the links below the images.higher res image herehigher res image here

This week is definitely a week to demonstrate exactly how much of a consumer whore I am.Picked up Finding Neverland. Saw it in the theaters and though it's a pretty decent flick. Not good enough to get an Oscar nomination, but pretty good. Kate Winslet is also super sexy. Also picked up Star Wars: Clone Wars - Volume 1. I remember back when they announced a Star Wars cartoon series thinking that is was just gonna be beyond stupid. I couldn't have been more wrong. Fans of SW and animation in general, rejoice. You should check it out if you haven't.According to the tracking number, my new phone is on the FedEx delivery truck and out for delivery. I haven't read one bad thing about the Siemens S66. Already bought a 512mb RS-MMC card for more memory. Can't wait to get my hands on it. Although officially undocumented, it should work perfectly with iSync. I'll probably do a quick review of it later this week.Here's the big one. This time tomorrow, I should have in my hand the Sony PSP. The launch titles are weak and getting terrible ratings with the exception of Wipeout Pure (which I also ordered). After the terrible taste the Nintendo DS left in my mouth, I'm praying for the PSP to live up to the hype. With its list of specifications, I think it will.

I love my Sony Ericsson T616. I really do. I wrote a nice glowing review back when I got it and it's been good to me for these last 19 months. So when I finally moved my AT&T plan to a Cingular plan today and they forced me to pick a new phone, I was definitely a little hesitant. In a couple of days, I should have my new Siemens S66 in hand and judgment will begin. Cingular is good about it, though. If I don't like something about it, I can have everything returned and either pick another phone or go back to my trusty T616 and the AT&T plan.

I don't know why I've been so unmotivated to post here lately. Even when I actually do, none of it is very personal at all. It's not like there's nothing going on with me. It's actually quite the opposite. Who would have thought it'd have to do with girls either. Every time I get close physically with another girl, I start thinking about the ex and that in turn doesn't make me want to do anything with this new person. I probably wouldn't have this problem at all if all my ex was to me was an ex, but no. We're trying to be friends and that means I'm seeing her regularly in a friendly way. I guess what holds me back is thinking that she may be upset or sad if she knew I was messing around with some girl. That's the last thing I'd want to do to her. Hmm. I can already see the advice you'd give me. Fuck her and think about yourself. If she can't handle it, then she's not really your friend. Right?So what else can I talk about? Oh yeah. The circle is complete! I am, of course, talking about Felicity: The Complete Fourth Season being released on DVD last week. I know. I'm gay and this and that. You have no idea what you're missing. This is easily one of the best TV series ever created. Now I can start watching the series from beginning to end completely non-stop. Another quick TV thing. The Shield season 4 is starting tomorrow. That show is right up there with 24.Alright. Back to work, but more later.

So the Oscars are over. I threw together what I think was the best actress, actor, and movie with 9 more notable favorites. Thoughts?

• Best Actress: Kate Winslet - Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mindi>Notable favorites:Dakota Fanning - Man On FireHilary Swank - Million Dollar BabyKate Winslet - Finding NeverlandLaura Dern - We Don't Live Here AnymoreNaomi Watts - We Don't Live Here AnymoreNatalie Portman - CloserNatalie Portman - Garden StateUma Thurman - Kill Bill Vol. 2Virginia Madsen - Sideways
• Best Actor: Clive Owen - Closeri>Notable favorites:Denzel Washington - Man On FireJamie Foxx - CollateralJamie Foxx - RayJim Carrey - Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless MindMark Ruffalo - We Don't Live Here AnymorePaul Giamatti - SidewaysThomas Haden Church - SidewaysTom Cruise - CollateralZach Braff - Garden State
• Best Movie: Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mindi>Notable favorites:CloserCollateralFriday Night LightsGarden StateThe IncrediblesMan On FireSidewaysSpider-Man 2We Don't Live Here Anymore

Alright. I finally got out there and shot some images of my bike. Some were taken in the Rose Bowl parking lot and some were taken up on Angeles Crest Highway. They all came out terrible so I'll probably go and do another round of shooting today. That's what I get for putting down my camera for almost a year.

Oh sweet! I had Muhammad on my fantasy team last year. He was the number one fantasy receiver. Time to go find his jersey. Go Bears!

I don't know how many people have seen this, but if you are wanting to see everything that happens in Star Wars Episode III, then click here. You'll be treated to a huge visual walkthrough of the entire movie. There are major spoilers here so don't click unless you want to be surprised when you see the movie. I can tell you this, though. Now that I know exactly what happens, I'm even more excited to see it. Looks like it's gonna be done right.Let's rock!

Can you believe it's 3am and I'm not even close to being tired yet? SoCal is still getting pounded by rain and it sucks balls. You know what else sucks balls? Hunter S. Thompson committed suicide yesterday. I'm gonna missed all of the non-sensical raving of his lunatic mind. Can ya guess where that quote is from? Anyway, I'm sure countless people probably thought this wouldn't be the way he'd go. In any case, he'll be missed for sure. I wonder if they'll actually create a statue of a fist with two thumbs for him (an idea by HST for his memorial). You can check out his last ESPN editorial that he did back on the 15th here.Since I can't sleep, I'm contemplating going out for a drive up to Angeles Crest and checking out the thunder storm. May even take some pictures. Actual, I was thinking about that the other day. I used to update my photo album all the damn time. Haven't updated it in over a year now. I'm way past due to do something with it. I guess that's just another incentive to go out right now.Remember the refrigerator blues? Of course you don't. Well the one I did buy two years ago decided to die and now I have to go through the whole damn thing again. I'm happy about that. You know. Spending more money and all.I pushed my friend Dan to start his own blog. He has the most irrational rationale I have ever seen in a human being. Leads me to believe he's not really human sometimes. In any case, it makes him say the most ridiculous things without even coming close to thinking first and I thought it'd be funny to see it down on paper, err... web-er? You can check out Dan's Wisdom if you ever get bored.Alright. Gotta go find something to keep me busy while I wait to get tired.

Usually I love the rain. The world turns extra green and everything looks clean. It makes everything just look right. Well, I could really do without it this weekend. Now that I have my bike, I understand why motorcyclist absolutely hate it so much. Now I don't hate it. I just hate it for this weekend.I saw Constantine last night. It was ok from what I remember. I was slightly inebriated, but sober enough to tell ya that it wont win any awards. I finally saw Million Dollar Baby. You know what? I don't see the big deal at all. I can't stand movies that look like they're really working hard to get that Oscar and this flick was tainted with that feeling. The acting was real good, but the story was just absurd and full of cliches. This movie is absolutely not in my top 10 for 2004. Also caught Ong Bak last week. The movie was absolute crap but Tony Jaa was freakin' amazing to watch. It would have been nicer if they shot it right so you could see what was happening, but you got the idea. He's bad ass and I'm sure we'll see more of it in later movies.I need to figure out what I'm doing this weekend. It's raining so the options are narrowed down now. Think I'll start off with a bagel and juice. Need to get rid of this hang over.