Say It Ain't So, Greg!

The news that Greg Page is leaving the Wiggles was quite shocking and sad. We've been quite fond of Greg's silky-smooth vocals, and his replacement Sam (Professor Singalottasonga) just isn't the same.

First Larissa, now Greg. *sigh*

At least we got to see the original Wiggles in concert before Greg left.

Be Yourself

I feel like I just got tagged by Calai.

IF YOU WERE A _______, WHAT WILL YOU BE, AND WHY?

1. An ulam/meal

Fried Chicken. Because I've eaten so much in my entire life, it's a wonder I haven't started clucking yet. KFC extra crispy please! (nothing beats homemade, though)

2. A furniture piece

A table, because you can put a lot of stuff on it and it just sits there, not complaining.

3. An item of clothing or apparel

A white T-shirt. Comfy, yet bland. No prints--okay, maybe a small understated logo at front chest pocket, which you have to really look at to notice.

4. An album or a song.

Alanis Morrissette, Jagged Little Pill. Because I literally lived that entire album.

5. A fruit or vegetable

A tomato. Because it could be either a fruit or a vegetable, depending on who you ask. Thus spake the Gemini. Plus it's a base in so many dishes.

6. An animal.

A turtle. Slow but steady.

7. A place.

Orange County, California. The weather rarely changes, but a lot of times it's smoggy. And sometimes the Santa Ana winds causes wildfires.

8. A cartoon character.

I love Family Guy. It would be quite interesting to be Quagmire (giggity!), but I'm more like Brian (a bit too serious for his own good). Although Brian's a drunk, and I don't really drink. Maybe Adam We?

9. An office item/ equipment

A Solaris box running Oracle. Because I'm chock-full of useless information.

10. An international celebrity/ personality.

Someone British, I would think, since my sense of humor leans towards the English. Maybe John Cleese, but not as funny.

11. A book.

One of those books filled with fascinating trivia that proves ultimately useless in the grand scheme of things. In my college days I would be a compilation of "Dear Abby" columns, since I was a sounding board for a lot of friends, both male and female.

12. A movie.

Dead Again. Because it had Roman and Marga(ret) as main characters. Marga and I always got a kick out of it. Ah, carpool days.

13. A mode of transportation.

A Mack truck. Starts slow, but then keeps on truckin'. Plus, Optimus Prime was a Mack Truck. Awesome.

Come Stop Your Crying, It'll Be All Right

Funny how a song reduces a guy to tears. I hosted a wedding reception this past Thanksgiving, and the groom danced with his mom to "You'll Be In My Heart", by Glenn Close from Tarzan. And boy, was he emotional. Tears were flowing down his cheeks. I looked at his buddies, and they were practically bawling as well. Their partners were looking at them in bemusement.

It is a bittersweet song, I have to admit. I get misty-eyed when I see the scene where that song is played--Kala singing it to baby Tarzan. That along with "The Living Years" by Mike+the Mechanics remind me how much I appreciate my parents. They also remind me that I'm a parent now, and hope that one day my kids appreciate me as well.

Excuse me--something's in my eye.

Pacman Power

I saw the Pacquiao-Morales fight last Saturday on a glorious 60-inch HDTV (my brother-in-law's). It was pretty cool--I'm not that big a fan of boxing, but I have to admit Pacman was pretty impressive. That last knockdown reminded me of Roberto Duran, though (¡No más!); Pacquiao hardly touched him. Morales just went down on his own, and quit.

Oh, and the Nuno-Viloria undercard? Vilario was robbed. Not just because he's a fellow Pinoy, but c'mon, Nuno got knocked down twice.

THIEF!

Somebody stole my Creative Zen Micro MP3 player over the weekend at work. I had left it in my work drawer and had forgotten it (something I had done for the past month). Today, when I wanted to block out the world while I worked, it was gone.

Bastard (or bitch, as the case may be).

What's worrisome is that someone was actually going through our drawers after work--one of my co-workers lost a small optical mouse for notebooks.

Anyway, the silver lining is that I get to buy a new one. My wife's asking if I want an iPod (which they're giving away at her company's Chrismas party), but I'm looking at alternatives (I have a decent-sized WMA collection, which would be painful to convert). Right now I'm looking at the iRiver clix, the Sansa E260, and the Cowon iAudio U3. I'm leaning towards the Sansa, if only because Costco has a great deal on it, but the clix is tempting.

Zune? Um...a bit over my budget, and first gen products just aren't my thing.

You've Got Mail

The Mail Fairy was good to me today.

First off, she delivered my very first non-kit lens, a Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens. I've never used a prime lens before, but I guess it's time to get serious about learning how to take good photos. Besides, my sister-in-law is getting married next week, and I promised her I'll take candid shots. Good practice, that.

Speaking of Prime...

Then, she brought me my Transformers: The Movie 20th Anniversary Edition DVD, complete with lenticular cover. Remember? "Bah Weep Grah Nah Weep Nini Bong". Oh, and "Megatron must be stopped--no matter the cost." Can't forget the classic songs "You've Got The Touch!" (immortalized by Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights) and "Dare".

Finally, she brought me my Cars lenticular poster, which came free from Best Buy. It's a nice 11x17 poster; while I'm not that big a fan of the movie (it's still The Incredibles for me), freebies are always nice. This one was especially impressive.

Hopefully she brings me more good stuff during the holidays!

Lake Show

I think I've mentioned before that I'm not a particularly big fan of the Lakers. Showtime...irks me. I was so happy when Detroit just crushed the so-called Dream Team of Shaq, Kobe, Glove and Mailman--and I'm not even particularly fond of Detroit!

The 2006 edition of the Lakers, though...well, they just seem so likable. Andrew Bynum's coming up aces, Jordan Farmar is pretty good, Rony Turiaf is coming along, and Luuuuuuuke Walton is playing well. You gotta feel for what Lamar Odom went through as well.

The fact that they're doing it without Kobe at 100% is pretty cool. The fact that they opened at 3-1 is pretty amazing (not as amazing as, say, the Hawks, but amazing nonetheless).

What happens when Kobe is at 100% will be interesting, to say the least. Will he disrupt the chemistry at all? What about those Garnett for Bynum and Odom rumors? How will that affect the team if it comes to pass? I think they'd be crazy to do it, since Bynum could develop into a monster.

Any chance that this makes me a Laker fan? Nope. =)

Of Dental X-Rays and College Theses

I'm no stranger to dental offices; ever since I was a little kid I've been in and out of the dentist's chair. If it wasn't braces, it would be a root canal. Wisdom teeth extraction. Prophylaxis (which always provided a quick laugh or two, bringing up images of teeth condoms. But I digress), at the very least.

I've gotten so used to the dentist that I sometimes fall asleep on the chair, even while they're performing some painful stuff on my teeth and gums. No anesthetic; I just get pretty relaxed. The sound of the drill is soothing--at least to me.

Anyway, this past weekend the family (daddy, mommy and the kids) was in the office getting a regular teeth cleaning. I got my dental x-rays done as well. Now, I remember dental x-rays taking a long time; they would do the x-ray, and then send them out for processing. After a couple of weeks they would call me back, show me the x-rays, and then tell me I needed more stuff done (boy, was I a gold mine for dentists everywhere).

Now? It's all computers, baby. My x-rays were ready on the screen as soon as they took the bite wings out of my mouth. Nothing surprising, really, but it got me thinking: boy, this would've been a great thesis way back in my senior year. Instead, we came up with a pathfinding algorithm. Nothing sexy, just a lot of coding, but it did the job, and managed to graduate.

Still, though, imagine if we had done this back then! Oh, it would've been an expensive thesis, and I believe the school would've owned it (so we wouldn't have made any money, really), but it would've been so exciting! So groundbreaking!

Oh, well. Shoulda-woulda-coulda. At least the x-rays showed that I didn't have any cavities.