Archive

Ah, what joy to see Shakespeare under the stars... Chris and Tessa and Ahu and I had a great evening at the American Players Theater in Spring Green, Wisconsin last Saturday night. While the weather in Chicago looked pretty gloomy, all was made well by the time we got to the theater. In fact, it was a perfect night with fall evening temperatures and not a cloud in the sky or any wind. When the play was underway, there were incredible moments of stillness and quiet, an excellently peaceful occasion.

I have now finished the 9th book in the Prey series by John Sandford. Again, this one had a radically different plot but one that still involves a series of unfortunate victims. The criminals in the Prey books are always unique and fascinating but the part I enjoy most is the progression in the life of Lucas Davenport, the detective hero of the series.

Ah, another Elvis Cole novel put to rest... I enjoy reading detective novels but I think I like the Elvis Cole novels best not so much for the detective aspect of it as much as I just like the characters of Elvis Cole and Cole's partner, Joe Pike.

My parents bought this lamp for their home. Ahu and I liked it so much we bought one just like it for our family room. It casts a beautiful warm light perfectly suited for reading a book by the fireplace.

I ran across this today and about fell off of my chair I was laughing so hard. Finally someone lays out what should be obvious. In particular, I have seen people violating the hair dryer rules in very disturbing ways. I'm always thinking "Is it just me or maybe you're a disgusting freak!!!!" Anyway check this out for a great laugh: http://blogs.slashstar.com/tim/archive/2004/07/14/784.aspx

I really enjoyed this novel from James Rollins. I think I've read all of his books at this point, except maybe one...have to check on that. This one, all 460+ pages, was read over two days. It was tough to put down. The premise of the book centers around some interesting items found at the bottom of the ocean.

When I was looking at the Karate Kid entry, the following recommendation was made:

In the spirit of the new movie, I, Robot, I am posting this link. If I had seen this at the right moment in my life, I am sure I would be doing robotics work now instead of programming. Of course, you can't really have robotics without programming so maybe there's still a chance! (Image: Picture Lloyd Christmas saying to Mary Swanson: "Sooooo you're telling me there's a chance!!!") Be sure to check out the videos of the robot throwing a soccer ball - pretty cool! Myself, I would have done a video of one robot slapping another robot silly and perhaps a quick video of a robot doing a Crane pose a la The Karate Kid and delivering Johhny's finishing kick!

The theme used for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 is called Royale. It's a very attractive and elegant theme. I now use it on all of my workstations. You can see screenshots here, here, and here. You can download it from here. Once you unzip it, put the DLL in the c:windowsresourcesthemes directory and double-click the Royal.msstyle file to install it.

Since Ahu and I moved to West Dundee, my commute has been about 45 minutes in the morning and around 60 to 75 minutes in the evening. I listen to the radio in the car but I do not listen to the brainless talk radio stations. I usually listen to NPR (WBEZ in Chicago) or news radio WBBM 780. 780 gets old quickly because of the frequent commercials and repeating news stories. I enjoy NPR but between 4 and 6:30 PM, it gets a little repetitive and somewhat boring, depending on the stories. So I subscribed to XM Radio last week and, ever since, my time in the car is an absolute joy!