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!

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!

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!

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!

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.

This is just me solving a Megaminx puzzle. Some of you may recall that I posted a vid somewhere of one guy solving this type of puzzle in less than two minutes. I’m not up to that skill yet, but I’m happy to do this in under ten minutes.

No, that’s not your sound cutting out! I edited the sound out because the birds in the room were going nuts with the click-clacking of the layers as I was turning them. Also, the video is fuzzy in some spots. I don’t know what to say about it except that it may be a YouTube issue. I encoded the video using H264 QuickTime compression, so the original is very high quality but, unfortunately, I can’t embed it here.

Enjoy!

So, this being the second time, I’m also happy to report that I was ‘blading for nearly an hour. I did put in a couple of rest breaks because my poor ankles are just not used to doing this kind of torture exercise. Two weeks ago was the first time and I only lasted thirty minutes. I want to do this regularly because of several things. One, I sit in front of a computer (or video game console) too much when I’m not at work. Two, I’m no longer a young guy (*sigh* looks in mirror at the odd love handles) being 35 years old and already diagnosed a while back with slight hypertension. Three, I’m proud of the fact that I’ve kept my gymnast’s form for so darn long… and I want to keep it for at least another 30 years!

The last point brings me to mention that I’ll also be exercising with Christine. She has gotten back to it on the recommendation of her doctor, since she was diagnosed with moderately high cholesterol. (She can’t wait for my levels to be tested!) I’ll be working on mild calisthenics, military pushups and crunchers while she uses the balance ball. Truth be told, I wouldn’t mind getting my own balance ball. It’s fun to use! (and crunchers are harder on it!)

I’m still exercising my mind with puzzles, too. I just ordered a new puzzle from Mefferts.com, called a Pyraminx. You can click the name for the Wiki entry on it; it’s a medium-difficulty puzzle (they list it as low difficulty) and it shouldn’t be hard at all for me. I just got it for the collection that I’ve got building on my desk’s filing cabinet! Mefferts is also making a puzzle called the Pyraminx Crystal, which is more of a Megaminx variant. I may order this one when supplies are ready to ship. But the thing that really blew my mind is when I discovered that someone actually created a higher-order Megaminx, aptly called a Gigaminx!! The guys who created their own versions may have plans to patent the design, but there are no production plans. Guess I’ll have to stick to the computer simulation. (You can try it by clicking here!) There’s also a Google video posted of someone solving the simulated Gigaminx!

Well, that’s all for now. I may write tomorrow, but I’m not sure what to write about. I’ve wanted to post another music review; there’s still a few new albums in my collection that I haven’t touched on yet. Or I could write about our good fortune with our tax-returns. We’ll see, won’t we? Cheers!

Jeff lost his sight as an infant due to retinoblastoma, a cancer of the retina. For the last several years, he fought a long and hard battle with cancer, which he lost yesterday evening. His wife survives him; she was sitting by his bedside. He also leaves behind their two children.

I have to thank my parents for exposing me to his music early on. For me personally, his influence in my musical life is as great as Stevie Ray Vaughan’s influence (with whom he shared some performances with, too!). I used to listen to his first two albums, See The Light and Hell To Pay, while living with them. I think now would be as good of a time as any to see about picking up those tracks again to kick out the jams!

Here’s my comment on this video on YouTube: We just lost an amazing musician. Jeff, the good man that he was and the talent that he possessed, will definitely be missed.

God’s roadhouse is in full swing, with the angels all a-rockin’!

Five things about me! I would have done more, but you’d have been bored to tears, I fear…

I forgot to add that puzzles can also teach kids the value of patience in problem solving. I should know; I was a pretty impatient kid until I started really getting into problem solving!

Another video blog entry… this time, I was trying out a beta feature, for editing, on YouTube. It didn’t work out, so I re-did the whole thing on iMovie. It really bites not having the correct processor speed for running both iMovie and a separate cam effects program. I wonder if anyone can point me to a free picture-in-picture plug-in for iMovie?