Christmas Dinner and Leftovers!

My family, G's family, and my sister's in-laws all gathered at our new place for Christmas dinner. I really enjoy cooking and entertaining so I had a blast.

The two mains were prime rib and a whole baked salmon. I'd never done prime rib before so I was pretty scared. Added to that, anything that big requiring over an hour of baking scares me as well. What if it's over or under done when it's dinner time? What if it comes out all messed up? There's no way to salvage something like prime rib or Thanksgiving turkey: if it's messed up, that's that- go get the yellow pages and pray for an open pizza joint.

The prime rib was pretty easy actually, and much easier than turkey. I stabbed it a bunch of times w/ a steak knife all over and inserted smashed garlic cloves in the holes, then crusted the whole thing with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Into the oven it went. A digital instant read thermometer probe is a must. Set that baby to 125F and go pour yourself a glass of red.

Baking salmon is pretty boring by now. I think my guests have figured out my M.O. Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, and add your favorite mix of leafy green herbs. This time it was basil, dill, thyme. The main wrinkle was that it was a 12lb. whole salmon, head on, not the usual Costco filet pack. Oh yeah, filled the cavity w/ lemon slices and slit the body on the outside to insert more herbs on lemon or lime slices.

A few lessons learned from entertaining:

• Make dishes you actually want to eat if there are leftovers. This goes for pretty much any meal, by the way.
• Having two ovens would have been really nice. I had to wait for the prime rib to finish before I could start the salmon. I got the beef started late, so we started dinner w/ just the that while the fish was baking. But the salmon was so big, I had to change from baking to broiling to speed it up. A second oven would have helped.
  
• Make dishes simple so leftovers can be re-used easily and creatively the next few days.
• There was lot of salmon left since people got full on the beef and appetizers. We packed a bunch of it for families to take home, but still had a good chunk left. The next morning, I made salmon omelettes and waffles for breakfast. Then the following night, I made salmon fried rice with mushrooms, green onions and scrambled egg. All gone! Instead of fried rice we almost had spaghetti instead- make your marinara sauce, thrown in some capers, the leftover salmon meat, add your pasta- voila!
  
• There wasn' t much prime rib left, but it became roast beef sandwiches today.

I've been wanting to make paella for a while now... hmm, need another excuse to entertain.

Anyways, aside from the cooking, it was fun to be with family.

What I Wanted For Christmas...

... But didn't get.

This is an almost totally crazy list... in no particular order. Disclaimer at the end.

1. 2007 Lexus LS 460 L

   • This was lust at first sight (on the web). I don't know why. Then when I saw(ogled) and touched(caressed) it in person at the Taste of Lexus event... wow. By the time I got to the line to test drive it on a closed track they closed it. Bummer. I'd settle for the regular wheelbase version, w/out the massage chair in the backseat, no auto-parking system is fine. Then again, if we're going all out, why not go for the hybrid version?

2. Sony KDS-R60XBR2

   • I'm going for the 60" version b/c it fits into our cozy TV area. The 70" one would be too big, if there's such a thing. My 2 year old Sony KD-34XBR960 is just fine. I'll wait for prices to drop, and maybe even skip this altogether for a flat-panel one in a few years.

3. PlayStation 3, 60Gb

   • I don't even know why I want this but to want it. I hardly played any games on my PlayStation 2. With two toddlers now, it's even less likely I'll play games on this bad boy. Well, at least it's an economical high-def DVD player, but I sure do hope Blu-Ray beats HD-DVD.

4. Rumored 16:9 Touchscreen Apple iPod

   • This is cheating since this one doesn't even exist. Oh well... make sure it's the black color w/ the largest hard disk.

5. Kershaw Shun Stainless Steel 23-piece Block Set

   • These are the knives Alton Brown uses. I can't believe Costco carries these now!! I used to want a set of GLOBAL knives, but after seeing the Shuns....drool.

6. Nikon D200 Camera

   • This gift would have to come w/ a series of photography lessons. If I were to get a DSLR myself, I'd get the D80. But this is a wish-list, so D200.

7. San Francisco Giants Dugout Jacket, Black

   • W00T! G got this jacket for me for my birthday actually!! So technically, I didn't get it for Christmas, I got it about a week earlier! I got her the ladies version in white for Christmas, among other gifts. Now I can wear this to AT&T Park to shout, "Barryyyyyyy (Zito)!!!!"

Disclaimer: Truly Christmas, and Easter, is about God's everlasting love for us in sending his son Jesus to Earth as the way to reconcile us to him by dieing on the cross to pay for all our sins. Jesus resurrected on the third day, conquering sin and death, so those who believe in him would have everlasting life with God. The wish list was just for fun.

The Original PlayStation

With the PlayStation 3 coming out this week in Japan and the U.S., it's neat to see this at MSNBC.com: A second life for your first PlayStation

Turns out the original PlayStation is a high fidelity CD player! Mine is in great condition, put away in it's original box. I got it mainly to play Tekken 2 and got into other games later. PlayStation 2 came out October 2000, but I didn't have much time to play as we were in the middle of planning our wedding.

Scanning all the ad flyers in the Sunday paper yesterday, the PS3 is featured quite prominently. As well, at least 2-3 pages are devoted to Sony HDTV's alongside the shiny-black box. I wonder if Sony is offering some price reductions to spur TV sales w/ the PS3 fervor. May not be a bad move since demand is going to far outstrip supply of PS3 at launch, so why not capitalize on the hype and promote their TV's?

The San Francisco 49ers of Great America

So the 49ers announced today that they plan to move to Santa Clara just down the street from their headquarters and practice facilities on Great America Parkway.

They should totally use that name, "The San Francisco 49ers of Great America." If the Dallas Cowboys are "America's Team" and the Angels are the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim," then why not? The "of Great America" will give the team broader appeal across the nation, therefore raising their merchandising sales!!

Rather than analyze their stated reasons for moving, I re-call the 1997 bond measure that was make or break for the then planned stadium development w/ Mills Corp. at the Candlestick site. It's been nearly 10 years!

At that time:

• I had moved to the 44th Ave. place for not too long.
• I was still in my first stint at LSI.
• LK, Way, and I bought an SF Giants 17 game ticket plan. We even got playoff tickets and saw them eliminated in the 1st round by the eventual World Series champion Florida Marlins.
• Crazy: That season ticket plan allowed us to choose any game we wanted. Remember this was in the Candlestick days, so seats were plentiful. Near the end of the season, we of course still had a bunch of games to go to so we did two games a week to use 'em up.
• The best: Leaving early from work to see the Dodgers one night, Giants beat 'em 2-1, I think. And I took the next day off for the following (day) game and saw Shooter get out of a bases loaded no-outs jam, then Brian Johnson belting a walk-off HR in extra innings to tie the Dodgers in the standings.
  
• Was driving my '97 Toyota Camry, which was totalled in March '05.
• Had not even met my future wife, with whom I have 2 little angels now.
  
• I think Swan had just joined our pastoral staff at church.
• ... what else?
  

OK, so the title of this blog entry's misleading.

Update: An even better name, "Paramount's Great American San Francisco 49ers." Oh the sponsorship and cross-marketing potential!! ... "Mission: Impossible 49ers," "Star Trek: 49ers, 'Today is a good day to die!'"

... The new stadium could be called "Paramount Stadium"
... The Great America Theme Park could have "49er-land."

Superman Returns

(This movie "review" was originally sent to Swan in an e-mail. It's been edited some and posted here.)

G took me to see "Superman Returns" in IMAX 3D as part of our anniversary fun. I enjoyed the movie very much. As the movie started, it was as if I were transported back to my childhood when I saw the original with my parents. She astutely observed that it was nearly scene for scene a re-make of the 1979 original, which I made her watch prior to seeing "Returns."

Superman is a difficult superhero to write for b/c he is so powerful and such a perfect person and drama requires tension and conflict. An impossible situation has to be created for him to overcome.

In the original, the two rockets racing in opposite directions created a dilemma for him and he had to deal w/ it. The ending, turning back time to save Lois, really made the point that he is a god.

I liked "Returns" b/c of the 2 impossible situations. First, how to save the mainland U.S. from the growing land mass that was laced w/ Kryptonite? Second, what to do about the non-relationship w/ Lois. The first one he solved by brute strength and determination- lifting the land mass into space. But it is the Lois storyline that really interested me- b/c of Superman's character he can not steal Lois from Richard, yet there is still that yearning for her- That is the impossible situation.

Although he is a god and Christ-figure, the movies also carry the theme that there are things he (seemingly) can not do. In the original, his Earth father dies of a heart attack and he says to his mother, "all those powers and I couldn't save him." The same thing happens when Lois dies at the end of the movie but he is then able to bring her back from the dead. In Returns, the theme is carried further. "All those powers" but he can't have the love of his life.

But the Jor-El/Superman/Jason(the kid) "Christ" speeches- the son becomes the father and the father the son -just give me goosebumps.

I think the biggest plot hole is the fact that Lois does not remember when she had sex w/ Superman to conceive the emerging Super-kid. This is due to the amnesia kiss at the end of Superman 2. Wouldn't a woman immediately ask that question?!? The amnesia kiss is like today's date-rape drug. (That also wiped out her knowing Clark is Superman.) Finally, the movie doesn't address the fact that Jason's powers will continue to develop and that Richard will find out eventually. To sweep that under the rug in the sequel would be to lose credibility.

Swan responded w/ an awesome reference to Greek mythology:

Like I said to Leon, Superman returns is // to Da Vinci code. Both movies speak of a super powerful man having an offspring with an earth woman. The only difference is Jesus had a daughter and Clark had a son. Jason is a mythological hero Hercules, a half man half god who has super strength. When he grows up what will he be? Superboy? It is going to be an interesting sequel.

The sequel can't arrive soon enough!

LOST: s03e06 prediction

I think Kate's been comprimised! In the season premiere, Ben (Henry Gale) sits down for a meal (breakfast?) on the beach w/ Kate. She asks why is he doing this. He says that he's doing this so she has something nice to hold on to over the next two difficult weeks. That's all we know. Next time we see her she's being put into the bear cage.

Something else must have happened there, which we weren't shown. Perhaps Kate was presented with some dilemma involving Jack and Sawyer?

Also, waaaaay back in season one, a strong theme in Kate's stories was her ruthlessness: Her primary motivating factor was to run to avoid capture by the law. Since then, that theme has been cast aside as it had become clear there was no way off the island, hence no where to run. Until now. Though it doesn't seem as if Kate knows that the Others have contact with the outside world, perhaps Ben's offer was for her to help him while betraying her friends in exchange for her getaway from her crimes. Michael betrayed his friends to get Walt back and leave the island, why not give Kate a similar offer?

English Standard Version

Previously, I mentioned the NET Bible and have since bought a hard copy and have been using it in my studies. I really like the principles behind this translation, but in real use, the English is pretty clunky. My NIVs are pretty much either getting put away now or will be donated to those without Bibles.

After some web research, the English Standard Version sounds quite good. It is an "essentially literal" translation. John Piper, of Desiring God fame, talks about why his church completely switched to the ESV in the article, Good English With Minimal Translation. I guess that title says it all as to why I'm going with ESV. (Piper link is thanks to e12aser!)

Though the ESV does not provide a free download, as the NET does, there are quite a few ways to use it online: mobile, iCal, various RSS feeds, and even a Firefox search plug-in. Quite tech saavy!

Daniel B. Wallace, professor of N.T. studies at DTS and is on both the NET and ESV translation committees , has a great four part series called The History of the English Bible at bible.org.

Finally, the Piper article has the awesome dedication his parents wrote in his first Bible (KJV): '"This book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book," Mother and Daddy' You better believe I'm writing that into my sons' 1st Bibles!

LOST: One more new ep. before end of the year!

Season 3, Episode 5

I can't believe they killed off Mr. Ecko. Most of the deaths on the island have occurred once characters "made peace" with their pasts. In Mr. Ecko's case, he not only did not "make peace," at least according to The Island's sense of morality, (I sound like Locke, "The Island!") he refused to make peace. Then the monster killed him. Great character, great actor, but Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (I'll call him Triple-A) doesn't like to be on one show for too long.

The whole Jack, Juliet and Ben(Henry Gale) triangle is really intriguing. Fundamentally, who is playing who? That whole dynamic is a total mind game. You can drive yourself crazy with all the speculation. Is Juliet good or bad? Were the X-Rays of the spinal tumor a plant intended for Jack to see? Is Ben really good when we've thought he was bad all along?

Some quick hits:

• The monster finally re-appeared, but it just didn't feel as scary as it used to be.
• The Others have really lost their mystique. Ana-Lucia said they can suddenly appear out of nowhere. There were the whispers different people have heard in the jungle.
• From the promo for the next ep. shows that Kate chooses Sawyer, not Jack. The producers say as much in their podcast, though it sounds as if this question.
• Why is Pickett so intent on killing Sawyer? It doesn't make any sense.

Anyways, I'm still on the LOST bandwagon... er, Island, that is.

just a test from w/in google

hi met sasha!

Fall TV 2006

Haven't posted in a long while, so why not re-start with something easy- TV!

The fall TV season has begun! More accurately LOST is back! Season 3!

So far, through three episodes, it has been pretty awesome. They always find a way to start the season in an incredible way- that "What the heck is going on?" moment:

Season 1: Open on Jack's eye and we follow his horrendous discovery of the plane wreckage.
Season 2: Some dude wakes up, eats, excercises, does dishes, and punches something on a computer... pull back to see Lock and Jack peering down the hatch shaft! HOLY COW- they just showed us everything in The Hatch!
Season 3: A book club discussion... rumbling... outside we see the Oceanic 815 coming down, breaks in two... "Henry Gale" comes out! WHOA! They just showed us where The Others live!

Of concern though is LOST's Nielson ratings are going downhill. YIKES! Tim Goodman of the SF Chronicle and many others have good theories on this. The mystery is too complex. The serial nature of the storyline makes it hard to gain viewers compared to shows that have self-contained stories in each episode. Further, viewers that miss an episode or two may get lost (pun) and stop watching. Also, seeing the success of LOST and Desperate Housewives from two years ago, serial dramas are everywhere now. Anyways, the LOST producers say the story runs about 5 seasons, so as long as they have enough time to finish the story w/out rushing it, I'm happy.

Speaking of serial dramas, I've started watching "The Nine" (on ABC, after LOST) and "Heroes" (9PM Mondays on NBC). Both are very LOST-like shows based on a high-concept premise. "Nine" is about 9 people survive a 52 hour bank robbery hostage crisis. "Heroes" is about various individuals discovering they have superpowers. From there, the show is about the characters and how they deal with the situation and it's effects on those around them. Interestingly, there is no "bad guy" (yet) in "Nine," whereas "Heroes" has a mysterious one. BTW, "Heroes" might as well be called "Unbreakable: The Series."

On a side note, shows from Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and probably other Asian countries are mostly serials. The key difference from their U.S. counterparts is that they usually only span one season of 20-40 episodes. A second season, if any, is usually considered a sequel rather than just a continuation of the story, a la LOST season 1, 2, 3 etc.

The last few nights, I've also been feverishly watching "Taken," the 2002 Steven Spielberg produced miniseries on Sci-Fi channel about alien abduction. There are "only" 10 episodes, but each is about 1hr 20mins. I watched the 1st few episodes when it first premiered, but got busy with other things, and then M was born; hence I'm finishing it now. Highly recommended- well written stories and good character development. I'm going to watch the final episode tonight.

Anyways, LOST will still be my main show. I don't have time to keep up with 3 shows at once. I'll probably try to stick w/ "The Nine" through the season, though I hear it's ratings aren't so good, so it's in danger of getting cancelled. I'll save "Heroes" for the summer when I'm counting the days till LOST starts again.

AeroPress

This seems like a neat new way to make a faster, even superior, cup of coffee or espresso. The AeroPress is from the maker of the Aerobie- yup, the pliable flying disc w/ the hole in the middle you sling around at picnics. Who would've thought?

From the info on their site, they got this brewing down to a science. In the SJ Mercury News (I think), that even using the ground coffee provided in offices ("Superior Coffee"), the Aeropress is vastly better compared to the usual drip brew.

When I mentioned this product to G. Her response: "So much for that $200 (Nespresso pod) espresso machine." Not too long ago I got a French press coffee maker as well. Both are good, but for $30, the Aeropress is worth a shot.

bible.org and The NET Bible

When Googling Bible verses or theological terms, I'm usually wary of what I get since there's always the question of whether the author is conservative, liberal, extremist etc. Even if it's someone of repute, a critical mind is necessary.

Anyways, check out bible.org. The staff are alumni of Dallas Theological Seminary. The stuff I've read seems pretty solid.


I'm particularly interested in "The Theology Program". It's always been in the back of my mind to get formal seminary training. The program focuses on theology and doesn't include the Bible languages, church history, ministry electives, nor a study of each book of the Bible. I'm looking for a few good men (and women!) to perhaps go through this program together.


A while back, Zondervan came out w/ the TNIV (Today's NIV) translation of the Bible- which is gender inclusive. Zondervan is part of Harper Collins, which is part of News Corp. Hmm...

Anyways, bible.org have come out with their own translation, the NET Bible (New English Translation). You can read about it here. The most interesting aspects of this translation are:

1. It is 100% free to download online. Forever.
2. The copious translator's notes on each page!

Bible.org also has a nice history of the English Bible.

Another translation I'd like to look at is the Holman Christian Standard Bible from LifeWay, which is Southern Baptist.

One of my best buds, TU, mentioned that there is the issue of the "minority text" and the "majority text," referring to the Greek manuscript basis for the NT translation. Digging more about English Bible translations is a Pandora's Box... maybe I'll blog more on this topic as I find out more.

WooHoo! ThinkPad 600E lives! T42 is a little shaky though

My ThinkPad 600E is alive and kicking! It's been elevated from paper weight to something better. Maybe a dedicated BitTorrent downloader? Now I just need to find some batteries and I'm set!

On a related note, my T42 which is from work is really wacky after coming back from our Oahu vacation. Sometimes the hard drive doesn't spin up when the machine starts, especially when it was set on a stack of papers hence was not level. On a level desk, it seems OK now. Oh well, at least the company got the 3 year extended warranty. Once that is up, which is next year, they make us get new laptops! If they still allow us to get ThinkPads next year, my next one will be a Core 2 Duo or better!

I wish we could get MacBook Pros at work :)

Update: June 6, After playing phone tag w/ IT dude, he thinks the main system board is bent.

Magneto's the Good Guy! (X-Men 3)

The really like Mike LaSalle's review of X3 in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Here are the best parts:

The pretensions take the form of the central metaphor that compares mutants to people of extraordinary, groundbreaking talent. That metaphor is bogus.
...
The metaphor here is the clash between special talent (the mutants) and conformity (everybody else). But it's one thing for people to react with hostility toward someone who writes an incendiary novel. It's quite another for people to react in this way toward someone who can set their heads on fire. The first reaction is intolerance. The second is simply the genuine recognition of a threat and the beginning of self-preservation. The vision at the heart of "X-Men" -- of a golden Utopia in which humans live side by side with mutants -- is absurd. It requires that mutants never get mad, ever, and that humans never even have to worry that they might. But hasn't anybody ever heard of road rage?
...
The existence of the cure upends an already shaky societal balance. Some mutants want the cure, mutant activists protest the cure, and the militant mutant, Magneto (McKellen) wants to start a war over it, seeing this as the beginning of his people's destruction. Xavier, the saintly founder of the X-Men, thinks all this intolerance is unnecessary, but if you actually stand back and examine the situation (which the movie never does), it's clear that Magneto and the anti-mutant extremists are right. After all, if Xavier's moderate course is right, why, after three movies, are there less than 10 X-Men? Obviously, his dream is not where the future is heading.

LK invited me to see it Friday night to see it w/ some buds, but couldn't make it for various considerations. If I'm lucky, this will be a DVD rental. If I'm unlucky, I'll catch it at 2AM on cable in a few years.

Evangelism

From the perspective of a church, we unfortunately tend to think about evangelism in the limited (and misguided) terms of what events can we do or what programs can we offer to attract non-Christians to our church. (I chose my words carefully there- read between the lines- what didn't I write?*[see bottom])

If we look not just at evangelism of the Gospel, but evangelism of anything, we find we never need to think about what events or programs to do to evangelize it! Evangelism is actually very organic and natural.

If one truly believes in something and that it is a good thing, perhaps a life-changing thing, he can not help but tell others about it. TV shows (LOST!), great restaurants (Chapeau!), shampoo, cookies, anything- it can be evangelized. One only needs to believe in it's goodness, even greatness.

In the gospels, we see many instances of people having an encounter with Christ and returning to their town or family to tell everyone about their changed life. (Oddly, Jesus sometimes instructed them not to tell anyone what happened.)

We probably don't necessarily need elaborate evangelism events or programs. (Nothing inherently wrong with those things either.) If we're experiencing a vibrant, true spiritual life in Christ, it will show in our lives (Galations 5:22-23) and we can't help but tell others about it. (Example, John 4)

Conversely, if we aren't sharing Christ with others, then it is likely we are not experiencing God. Revelation 3:15-16 refers to these as lukewarm. One thing I don't get is when leaders of a church like Laodicea want to "do more evangelism." Not that I doubt their compassion for the lost, but if Christians are lukewarm, aren't the new Christians going to be lukewarm as well? Shouldn't we be spurring each other on to be "hot", and not lukewarm nor cold, all the time? If everyone were "hot," I'd think we'd all be evangelizing all the time wherever we are!

BTW, when I link Scripture, I'm linking to the entire chapter by design to encourage you to read it in context :) Of course, if you read to this point and didn't click on the links, you wouldn't know the difference. ;) Also, I'm linking to the NET Bible from bible.org, both which I'll write about in the near future.

* Sometimes we even forget that evangelism is all about saving the lost, but rather we think it's just about getting people to come to our church.

"LOST" Entertainment Weekly Cover Article

EW.com has a cover story on "LOST." It's a pretty good read.

Some nice bits:

"''When they pitched the button, my first reaction was 'No f---ing way!' And I mean that in a good way,'' says ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson,..."

"'For me,'' he [Exec Producer Damon Lindelof] says, ''Lost is about meaning — and the search for meaning.''"

"Says Yunjin Kim, who plays Sun: ''When a character reaches some kind of redemption, perhaps it's time to start packing your bag.''"

>> This was true for: Boone (came to terms w/ his feelings for Shannon), Shannon ("redemption" via Sayid "believing" she saw Walt in the jungle), and Ana-Lucia (wanted to kill Henry Gale, but didn't)

...and finally:

"''The more I hear about disgruntled Americans who believe there never was an exit strategy for Iraq, the more I understand why they want to know that the story we're telling has a...well, an exit strategy,'' says Lindelof. ''If they can't get answers to mysteries in real life, they most definitely want answers on their TV sets on Wednesday nights. And they deserve them.''

What those answers will be remains to be seen. Fox, at least, is willing to say what one of them won't be. ''Nobody is going to wake up on this show and mysteriously end up somewhere else.'' Promise? ''That's a promise.''

Told of Fox's pledge, Lindelof betrays a mischievous smirk. ''Well, then,'' he says, ''I guess we're going to have to do that.''"

Those last quotes from Fox and Lindelof are ironic, since the series started off exactly like that: Jack woke up (on the show), and mysteriously ended up somewhere else- the island!

Star Wars Trilogy: Now in xTreme Ultra High Def w/ 32.3 Channel Sound

Lucasfilm announced that they will now release the original Star Wars Trilogy on DVD without the digital special effect enhancements from the 1997 theatrical re-release.

For the record, I have bought:

• Star Wars Trilogy (original versions) on LaserDisc from Columbia House ($1/each+shipping)
• Star Wars Trilogy (original versions) on LaserDisc, THX ($10/each from local store clearance)
• Star Wars Trilogy (special editions) on DVD, (~$25/set from online store)
• Ep 1, 2, 3 on DVD

I don't think I'm going to get this "new" old edition. It's not even Blu-Ray! Then again, even if it were (or will be), I don't think I'm going to get it. As an aside, there aren't that many movies which I already have on DVD which are worthy of the eventual upgrade to high-def disc- the LOTR Trilogy and the Pixar films are the 1st to come to mind.

The other thing is that the press release states that they heard the outcry from the fans demanding these editions. I don't believe that for one second. Lucas stated many times that he would not release the original versions of these films: a few years ago, they were released on VHS w/ THX cert. and they said,"This is your last chance to own the originals."

A similar thing happened for the DVD edition. Lucas said he wouldn't release them (special editions of the original trilogy) until the new movies were done and there'd be a super-box set. Of course, once they realized that they were about to miss out on the DVD $$$-train as high-def was on the horizon, they released it right away.

PlayStation 3

So Sony announced launch details for PlayStation 3. It will come in two versions for $499 and $599- the cheaper one is missing the flash card slots, HDMI port, WiFi and will have a 20Gb hard drive rather a 60Gb one.

For a game machine that is pretty darn expensive. I remember my PlayStation 2 was $250 at launch and I barely played it that much.

But for a high-def DVD player, the $599 one is CHEAP! Plus it's a game machine! At the November launch you're gonna see audio/videophiles competing to get 'em along side the full-grown (20-30 y.o.) kiddies. In comparison, my father's first DVD player was a top of the line Sony that had an MSRP of $1200!! (We knew someone who legitimately got it for us cheaper.)

Almost everyone is decrying the fact that "low-end" one is missing an HDMI port to transmit the video signal to your brand new HDTV. What's the big deal? I'm pretty sure the A/V Multi-Out port can output full HD component video anyways, and most studios have already said they will not downgrade the resolution for the analog connectors.

Anyways... if you're wondering, I don't think we're getting one anytime soon.

More Prayer & Devotions

Started waking up at 7AM to have my quiet time w/ God. It wasn't too hard after the 1st couple times. I used to do it at night after finishing the dishes and the kids were in bed. But from MasterLife, one of the reasons stated for having a quite time is to prepare us to bear spiritual fruit. It occurred to me that I probably need to be awake to bear spiritual fruit. Therefore it didn't make sense to have my quiet times (preparing to bear fruit) in the evening, usually right before bed, and then go to sleep! Seems pretty simple, but it was earth shattering to me.


On my ~1 hr commute, I'm usually listening to 680 KNBR "Thee Sports Leader." From now on, I'm going to pray a while before I hit the AM button.

Anyways, The Razor is really hard on the ears on the drive home. Thankfully, it's baseball season.

If could find my Old Testament on CD , I could probably burn through it pretty quickly.

I'd still listen to the Tony Bruno segment on Gary Radnich's show.

Summer Movies

It's May, so the summer blockbusters are imminent... looking good:

1. Superman Returns, the new trailer is pretty awesome.
   
2. Cars from Pixar, I wonder if mL is old enough to sit through it
3. M:i:III (mainly b/c Mr. "LOST" himself, J.J. Abrams, directed)
4. X-Men 3, only if the reviews are good

While folding the laundry the other night, and flipping channels on the toob, saw a promo piece on M:i:III which basically said, "Tom Cruise is so awesome!" Anyways, at least G got interested in the movie. (And not b/c of Mr. Scientology)

With kiddies now, it's hard to see any movies even at home, let alone at the theater. When the movie is a blockbuster that should be experienced on the big screen, I usually want to go on opening weekend. Of course, G always asks, "So when are we going to use those VIP passes?" ($6.50 tix, but have to wait 2 weeks after opening) *sigh* delayed gratification (mantra)

Last year, I was dieing to see Batman Begins. Weeks and weeks went by, and by the time we saw it the only decent screen/showtime was on IMAX. G got nauseus from the fight scenes.

First

This is my first blog post.