iPod no touch

In a moment of madness I bought an iPod touch at full price on Monday. I laughed, I cried, I had a blast. No, really, I just swore at my computer as I tried to figure out how to encode episodes of The Office into the right iPod format. I used DVD32 or whatever with Handbrake for PC and that didn’t work. So I tried AnyDVD, which worked with Handbrake. About 20 minutes later, I was able to watch The Office on the go. It wasn’t perfect though. About 20 minutes into the episode, artifacting or pixelation occurred (on a close-up of Dwight’s face, no less) and the video stopped playing. I was kicked back to the list of videos on the iPod touch.

In another moment of madness I returned the iPod touch less than 24 hours later. I realized I really need an iPhone with a fast internet connection. Wi-fi is neat, but neat shouldn’t set me back $400.

Oh, and there was no restocking fee when I returned it.  Thank you Best Buy!

Assassin’s Creed

Why do bad things happen to good people? – Creed Bratton

I canceled my pre-order of Assassin’s Creed after reading the mixed reviews on Metacritic. I heard that the game development team was responsible for Prince of Persia, a classic video game I played a long time ago. That was enough to convince me to take notice. Too bad Assassin’s Creed sounds more like a rental than a $60 purchase.

I’ll be playing Super Mario Galaxy instead.

Rain and dark

Had dinner in Menlo Park – driving in the rain with no street lamps is just crazy. The folks in Menlo Park must like their residential streets pitch black at night.

On the way back we saw ambulances and police cars, then a yellow body bag. Then we saw the motorcycle- the front was crushed and the front wheel was 30 feet away. I drove a lot slower after seeing that.

Cellar

Just got back from The Cellar for Susan’s birthday.  My ears are still ringing, and I feel old.

Yelp reviews of the place were dead-on: prepare for body contact.  There was plenty of room but guys and girls alike felt the need to glide past me with as much body contact as possible.  They also jabbed me with their elbows, purses, and hands as they flailed around to Walk Like An Egyptian.

There was a loose dress code, and the two guys in front of me were denied for their Adidas track jackets and sneakers.  The bouncer explained that next time they should wear button down collared shirts with slacks and dress shoes.  Uh, it’s called The Cellar, and it’s as hot as balls down there.  They should let people in with shorts and tanks.

CellMass

I’m back on CellMass. It tastes like Kool-Aid on roids. Way too sweet. I think unnecessarily sweet. I mean, if I drink protein shakes with water I can handle something with bad taste.

I keep hearing how creatine is the most important supplement other than protein, so we’ll see how this 2-month supply goes. For a while until today I was using plain Phosphagen creatine monohydrate. Not this new-fangled creatine-ester or whatever, which supposedly is absorbed better.

Prius newspaper

This morning a guy merged really quick and cut off dozens of people in the crazy 92/280 merge lane. I glanced over at the Prius driver and he was reading a full sized newspaper with the rest of it sprawled all over his dashboard. If he cares so little about his car, I’ll ask him if I can get his spare parts when he inevitably crashes.

Soulja Barney

TMJ?

I went to the gym after work and had the shortest workout ever. Immediately after the set of squats with 275 pounds my jaw felt really strained. After a few half-hearted leg presses I realized I had a splitting headache and I decided to go home. I’ve used this amount of weight on squats before, so I think my jaw must be really tired from grinding my teeth during sleep. A long time ago I thought I had a cavity and the dentist told me it was just TMJ due to stress. It’s been a stressful few weeks, to be sure.

Gone Daddy Gone

The Violent Femmes royalties are raking it in these days. I’ve heard their version of Gone Daddy Gone (not the Gnarls Barkley version) on NBC’s Chuck, the preview for Ben Stiller’s movie The Heartbreak Kid, and on the local radio station. Xylophones FTW!

Say hello (and goodbye) to Vii

China advertisement for the Vii.