Maybe next video will be the V-Cube 6… or the Mirror Blocks… or maybe I’ll just jump to the V-Cube 7. Meh. You’ll find out soon enough!

Ok, Ok, OK!! So I feel obligated to write posts on or around special occasions, while being lazy with other posts. Whaddya people want from me anyway??

Well, not to worry. I am, in stages, working on the vacation post I so have promised you all that I’d get to. It’s not easy, because there were so many good things that happened while we were in Germany. I swear, nothing really bad happened, which was amazing, considering all that could have gone wrong. Everywhere we went, society as a whole somewhat mirrored life in America, and the people we met were about as friendly as you would expect over here. So really, I’m having a hard time putting my perspective on the entire experience into words without sounding somewhat stupid or “touristy”. By the way, I haven’t talked to Christian Wüst much since the trip, but I want to assure him that he did much to help us out while we were there. He was a most gracious host as well as being a great friend to hang out with. I also want to tell his friends (Hans-Peter, Sascha, Harry, Suzanne, Dennis, Wongo and anyone else’s names I forgot!) that they left an awesome impression upon me and I’m honoured to have met and talked with them. That being said, just check out the pictures and video in the sections above to get an idea of our experience there. I’m writing more about it, so be patient.

Ok, I got that out of the way. Aside from the awesome trip to Germany last October, my thoughts about Year 2008 was that it was much like any other year, really. The major differences, at least for me, were kind of trivial. I connected with more old friends and classmates on Facebook, especially towards the end of the year. I went a bit crazy on puzzles, buying a Square 1, Pyraminx, Pyraminx Crystal, Eastsheen 4×4 and 5×5 cubes and a V-cube 7 (I got the V-cube 6 while in Germany). The house has been doing fine, except for dealing with pigeons on my roof! Tech-wise, the iPhone has become an indispensable part of my life, allowing me to be online, e-mail, send pictures easier, play cool games, write in my blog and other places, jam to music and much else more no matter where I am. (Did I mention it makes calls, too? Just thought I’d throw that in there…) In fact, a couple of blog entries here were written and published on my iPhone when I had to do without the computer for nearly a month while I was waiting for a replacement part for it. Anyways, the birds did very well this year, although we lost one of our flock to liver disease . We still miss our little Kiwi. My wife got handed the diet from hell, courtesy of her doctor and a high cholesterol count, which forces me to limit what I eat as well to make it fair. Last but not least, my work has gone much better this year, thanks to a deeper understanding of my role and duties in it. I do sense some big changes coming for me professionally for this year, though. We’ll see what happens; I don’t want to worry and it’s not worth worrying about when all I have to do is adapt.

Well, I think I’m done here. I won’t make promises, but I’ll try writing more here, and I’ll be writing more thoughts on the October vacation. Cheers!…

… Oh, before I go, one more thing. I started out 2009 by… you guessed it… buying more puzzles. On the first of this month, I ordered a Mirror Blocks puzzle (also known as a Bump Cube) and a V-Cube 5 to round out my V-Cube collection. You can only get these puzzles in Japan and Greece, respectively, so I made sure my finances could handle it. We are starting the year with no debt, besides the house, and we want to keep it that way! Also, yesterday I used a Barnes & Noble gift card to purchase a Rubik’s Icon cube. Below is the unboxing and review video I made for it. When I get the other puzzles, their videos will be on this blog as well.

See ya soon!

Last night, Christine and I had the good fortune to catch the premier of SciFi Channel’s new show, Sanctuary. Though it was only the two-hour pilot, the show looks to be very promising. It started out slow, but I think that’s to be expected, as the characters are very deep. Because of this, the main premise of Sanctuary virtually necessitates some good character exposition since the overall plot wouldn’t make sense without it. However, the story’s pace moved very smoothly even while giving us good insight into the characters. Still, the writers and series creator gave the characters a lot of room for growth. The show itself is somewhat of a cross between The X-files, Torchwood and a healthy dollop of X-Men for genetic abilities abounding in some of the characters.

Below, I’ll embed a clip I’ve snipped from Hulu.com. I was very surprised to see Sanctuary on there after it just airing last night. Due to the content provider’s whims, it may be on the site for a while, or maybe not for long at all… so if you like the clip, you can just point the mouse onto the embed’s progress bar and rewind it to view the show from the beginning (You can also head to Hulu.com and view the whole enchilada, with the option for fullscreen!). The first part of the pilot is, like I said, a good story but mainly expository. The second part has some good action and did a bit of further character development. Some of the cast are very intriguing: I loved Dr. Magnus, and Amanda Tapping did a great job with that character. The real pleasure was watching Christopher Heyerdahl play the main heavy, John Druitt. His character is just awesomely twisted abounding with maniacal intelligence. The only weakness is Dr. Will Zimmerman, but hopefully that character will be fleshed out more with the next episodes.

Well, this is the first time I’ve reviewed a TV show. Let me know how you, the reader, liked what I did here, and also if you liked my show recommendation! Cheers!

As you may have noticed, I didn’t write very much at all for the last several weeks. This was mainly due to added stress at work (read: inventory time, again!) and being engrossed in some things to take my mind off the other things that have been either depressing or bugging the heck out of me.

Where do I start? I guess we’ll start with our jobs. Aside from the added craziness at my work, things have gone well. During the big push for inventory readiness, I received a good annual review and a raise for my efforts. Actually, it was great with all high marks and maximum raise, which I’m used to getting. Still, I can’t shake the feeling sometimes that I’m not always taken seriously. One of my co-workers made a good point, though; we’re all not taken seriously, even when some of us have tons of experience. It’s just management mentality. That’s probably why I’m only comfortable being a supervisor at most. I can be an effective manager for a project, just don’t ask me to be one for a long-term basis! Still, I always have room to grow. Otherwise, like I said, things are going pretty smooth. On my wife’s side of things, she’s gotten some big-time recognition for her efforts at her job. In fact, she recently got a level promotion with a sizable raise. All in all, things are looking up for us on that subject and also financially as well.

Home life is not so exciting. The only thing that’s really kept us going here are our individual interests… and the birds, of course. Lately, things went into a decline with the health, and subsequent death, of our budgerigar Kiwi (see last post). However, a couple of friends came over last evening for a Doctor Who marathon and pizza night, and that did very well in dulling the pain from our loss. My camera is STILL in the shop! I brought it back in to Best Buy a day after pickup because it was exhibiting the same problems. They did call me today to let me know that it’s ready; I’m bringing batteries and a memory card so I can test it out right there in front of them. If it still doesn’t work, I’m demanding a refund and/or replacement. I’m getting short on patience for ineptitude. Other than those things, at least our health overall is doing fine, so we really can’t complain.

On the hobby front, I’ve been waiting on two puzzles that I ordered from different companies. One is the V-Cube 7 from Verdes Innovations. That one actually came for me on July 3rd, and I made an unboxing and demonstration video of it that day. Here’s the video:

I’ve done about ten or so solves with it and I’m very impressed and satisfied. It’s a little more challenging that a Rubik’s Professor cube, but that’s mainly talking about time consumption. The real challenge for me is to bring my time down to 20 minutes, then 15 and then eventually to ten minutes. I’ll be happy with 15 minutes, really, since I’m not much of a “speedcuber”. I really should try, though! Oh, and the other puzzle that I’m waiting on is the Pyraminx Crystal from Mefferts.com. It should be arriving later this month. I can’t wait; it should present a bigger challenge than the V-Cube, due to the design and function. I’m already planning the next puzzles for my collection later this year. I’d like to get the V-Cube 6; even though it’s a lower order than the 7×7 cube, even-number cubes are inherently harder to solve due to mathematical parity issues. Also, I wouldn’t mind an Eastsheen 2×2 cube, to replace the Rubik’s Ice Cube that’s in a state of shaky repair.

Well, I’ve just expended a lot of thought into this entry. Thanks for reading and being patient with my absence. Cheers!

An animated short by Dony Permedi.

I saw this on YouTube while on a search for animated short films. It seems cute at first, but towards the end you get to realize that the character is doing something monumental in scope. I say monumental, but it’s not what one would typically think.

It was also a very thought-provoking film. What would you sacrifice in order to achieve a lifelong dream? If there is a goal that is worth so much to you, on such a personal level, would you be willing to give your life?

Definitely something to think about.