Lone Locust Productions

Month: November 2005

  • November Flickr Cram

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    It’s the end of the month and that means my flickr upload allotment will roll over on the first of December, so I’m cramming as many of the 300+ remaining photos from my Taiwan trip onto Flickr as I can tonight.

    With the new camera I’m generally getting about 5 photos per 1% allotment of space, so in December I’ll finish uploading all the remaining pictures, which will take about 69% of December’s allotment.

    Considering how few pictures I’m taking now that I’m back home and nothing is inspiring me to take photos of it, I shouldn’t have any need to do a New Year’s Eve cram.

    Incidentally, I’m not just posting my good pictures to flickr, I’m posting every photo I haven’t deleted outright. It’s my off-site backup, so to speak, so keep that in mind when you’re looking at the awful ones.

    My flickr photos page

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  • Venezia’s Pizza

    Venezia's Pizza

    Things are slowly returning to normal around the house, although the Christmas holidays tend to make everything a little out of the ordinary. Most people had a four-day weekend, but, of course, I didn’t as the State doesn’t close for the day after Thanksgiving. They might as well have, it was nearly abandoned.

    Anyway, it was the holiday weekend that lead me to try Venezia’s Pizza.

    Since my disappointing discovery that all the Round Table Pizzas in Taiwan appear to be gone, I’ve been meaning to go to Phoenix’s one remaining Round Table since we got back. We arranged to meet some friends who live in the area on that far and distant shore. (It’s just before you drop off the end of the planet or hit Albuquerque, whichever comes first.)

    Upon arrival, it was closed. Everything appeared normal inside, it was just closed. (I tried calling them this evening and the phone just rings off the hook. To quote virtually ever character in Star Wars, “I have a bad feeling about this.”)

    We altered our plans and didn’t have pizza until later than evening, far, far away on Pecos Rd at Venezia’s Pizza.

    Before I commit commentary on this pizza, let me just point out that I did not eat a proper control pizza and do not consider this to be an “official” Lone Locust review. We had the pizza as take-away and it was extra-large, two things that always diminish the quality of a pizza.

    For starters, it wasn’t fully cooked: No shock there, no one ever manages to get a 16“ pizza cooked through to the middle, that’s why I review smaller sizes.

    However, the rest of my opinion is favorable. It’s one of the few pizzas I’ve had in a long time that you could clearly tell in the taste that everything was freshly made in the restaurant. OK, I doubt they actually made the mozzarella in the store, but both the crust and particularly the sauce were fresh and didn’t come from Sysco Food Services.

    In that respect, I liked it, and will have to go back for a proper review soon.

    Venezia’s has three locations, all on the east side of the Phoenix metro area.

    The Extra large cheese pizza was $11.25. (Our usual pizza pricing comparison is based on the smallest pepperoni pizza per inch and would have been $0.08.)

    Preliminary conclusion: warrants further study

    [Revision 3/11/2006, Follow-Up Review]

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  • Meriam C. Cooper

    I bought the re-mastered DVDs of the original King Kong, Son of Kong and Mighty Joe Young tonight. That’s something I’ve been looking forward to ever since the announced Peter Jackson’s re-make of Kong.

    (Sometimes that’s the best part about re-makes, the originals finally get released on DVD! Although, in this case, I haven’t yet been disillusioned with the Jackson re-make. If there’s anyone out there that can make it right, it’s him.)

    In any case, I didn’t watch Kong, instead I went for the DVD extras. One of which is on Meriam C. Cooper, the man ultimately behind Kong’s existence.

    In Taiwan, I’d picked up a re-issue of the 1931 novelization of the film, and in the introduction they gave a brief synopsis of Cooper’s life – even from that brief overview, it was amazing.

    The documentary on his life was even more incredible. Sometimes there are people who’s lives you read about and it seems they’ve done more than one human could possible do and Cooper is one such.

    For example, here are just some of the highlights that come immediately to mind:

    • Joined US Naval Academy (pre-WW I) but was forced to resign because of his belief that planes would someday destroy ships
    • Enlisted and flew a bomber in WW I
    • Was shot down in enemy territory. The plane was on fire, his copilot was shot through the neck, his hands burned to the point where he couldn’t hold the stick. he managed to open the throttle wide, dive the plane, controlling it only with his elbow and knees. The power dive put out the fire and he managed to land the plane (again with only elbows and knees) and he and the copilot got out. He spent the last of the war in a German prisoner hospital.
    • After the war he joined an group of American pilots fighting the Soviets who were trying to take Poland. He was again shot down, and spent months in a Soviet concentration camp in Russia
    • Escaped the Soviets in a daring overland escape (Including having to overpower and slit the throat of a Russian soldier
    • Went into natural documentaries and spent years living in Africa, Persia and Siam living with the natives
    • Had a falling out with the studios when he made the film, the Four Feathers and quit
    • Became a director at Pan-American airlines
    • Was brought back to RKO by David O. Selznik in an effort to shape up the studio which was going bankrupt.
    • During this time he managed to get his pet project, King Kong, made (That’s another story)
    • Was the leading “visionary” or advocate of the Technicolor process which he thought would revolutionize the film industry but most others didn’t believe in
    • When WWII started to break out, Cooper was too old for the military, so he joined the Flying Tigers in China, and not only was he their Chief-Of-Staff, but flew in the lead bomber on all their missions.
    • The Flying Tigers ultimately got incorporated back into the US Military and at the end of the war he had attained the rank of Brigadier General
    • Came back to Hollywood determined to make films to show the American spirit in an effort to counter Soviet propaganda films. He teamed with the legendary John Ford and together made some of Ford’s greatest films
    • He was shown and then pushed and promoted the Cinerama process, a three-screen, wraparound process that literally immersed the audiences in the screens. (My father has told me about seeing a Cinerama film, it was apparently quite impressive, but failed to catch on.)

    And if that wasn’t enough, in that time he managed to get married and raise three children, which, when you think about it, represents for most people the sum total of their lives, not just an afterthought in a list of amazing accomplishments.

    Amazing man, amazing life.

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  • If One is Good, Two Must Be Better

    If I’ve not mentioned it, although I call my wife Irene, her actual given name is “Chu-Wan”, romanized from the original Chinese using the Wade-Giles romanization system.

    Someone born in China today with the same name would have it spelled “Zhuwan” using the Pinyin romanization system.

    The fact is, when spoken in Chinese, to my ear at least, the first sound in her name is a wholly foreign and unnatural sound that an English speaker just isn’t trained to say. It’s somewhere between “Ch”, “Zh” and “Jh” although rather slightly more towards “Zh” in most cases.

    An interesting things is that when my wife is speaking Chinese, or others are speaking to her or about her, he name sounds much more like “Zhuwan.” On the other hand, if she’s speaking English, she pronounces her name more like “Chu-Wan” (phonetically, “Chew Wahn”). It is an interesting example of how when speaking different languages, the same words’ pronunciations can get altered by the words around them.

    In any case, that’s just background to the actual story.

    This evening, Irene was teaching Michelle about names. We’re at that stage where we’re trying to get Michelle to understand that, just like her, we have names other than “mommy” and “daddy.”

    Upon explaining to Michelle that her name was really Chu-Wan, Michelle announced (and continued for the rest of the evening) that she was “Chew Two.”

    I’m reasonably sure Irene didn’t find it as hysterically funny as I did.

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  • Apple Predictions

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    ‘Tis the season for guessing what’s coming at Macworld Expo in January.

    Despite the fact that I just bought an iBook (and love it) I’m intrigued by the rumors that Apple will be refreshing the iBooks first with Intel processors. I wouldn’t be the first to jump ship to get one, but it will be interesting to see how things shake out.

    Meanwhile, here’s my prediction, not necessarily for Macworld Expo, though.

    Looking at the Front Row software and remote that recently came out with the new iMacs I’m struck by how obviously it’s designed for a TV and how obviously it doesn’t seem to do that.

    As has been pointed out by many others, (and fully agreed to by me) people don’t generally want their computer desk right next to their main TV, and second, people don’t want to buy a second computer just to do TV stuff.

    Surely Apple knows this, and since they have enough difficulty getting the first Mac into a household, initiating a program to try to get non-Mac households to bring in a TV only computer seems folly.

    What I’d like to see, and keeping consistent with Apple’s existing products, will be something like their Airport AirTunes/iTunes arrangement.

    What if Apple adopted 802.11N (Doesn’t seem too unlikely, does it?) and built an Airport hub device, like the Airtunes hub that connects and shares with Front Row? At 200mbps you could stream the iTunes videos and the iPhoto/iTunes stuff too.

    This arrangement would eliminate confusing and unsightly wiring to connect computer and home entertainment system and would be consistent with existing Apple products. it would, of course, also help solve the problem of computer/TV proximity.

    Carrying it a step further, what if the Airport station (For want of an official Apple name, I shall call it “Airport Xtreme Turbo”) could accept signals from the Apple remote and relay them back to the originating computer?

    Wouldn’t that be cool?

    Of course, it wouldn’t be HDTV, but then iTunes videos aren’t anyway.

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  • Time and Cacti?


    Today was my 41st birthday.

    It was pretty much like any other day, except for being taken out to eat and having pie. This one just wasn’t a milestone birthday.

    Michelle was very happy about it being my birthday. Actually, she just wanted pie.

    Why the picture of the cactus?

    We went hiking in Dreamy Draw today and I took this picture while playing around with the camera. I just like it.


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  • Chick-Fil-A Lays an Egg

    One of my favorite places to eat chicken is Chick-Fil-A. Generally, my only real complaint with them is that they’re run by fanatics and so they’re closed on Sundays. I think Sunday is a prime chicken-eating day, but it’s their revenue to loose, I suppose.

    However, today, they’ve probably lost a customer.

    Ever year, for the past several years, my wife and I have purchased the annual Chick-Fil-A calendar. At $5 it has contained coupons that we use far in excess of the cost.

    Tonight was our first trip to Chick-Fil-A since our return from Taiwan. The new 2006 calendars are out and we purchased one knowing that we always get our value out of it. When we got it back to our seats, we realized it’s crap this year.

    8 out of the 12 months the only thing you get is a drink. 7 of those are with purchase of something else.

    The other 4 months are mostly side items, half of those again are with purchase of something else.

    Compare that to last year:

    • Free Sandwich
    • Free Bowl of Soup
    • Free Chicken Nuggets
    • Free Bottle of water with purchase of sandwich (that’s a naff one)
    • Free Kids meal with purchase of combo
    • Free drink with purchase of chicken wrap (naff)
    • Free sandwich with purchase of fruit and drink
    • Free salad with purchase of drink
    • Free biscuit or free chicken salad sandwich
    • Free chicken strips with purchase of fries
    • Free ice cream or brownie
    • Free large coke

    Not all of those are winners, but 6 of them are free without purchase of anything else, most of the other 6 are free items with purchase of lesser value item.

    In the past it’s been a great deal, but this one is just nearly worthless. So, minutes after buying it we took it back up front, but the minion up front wouldn’t allow us to return it, and he essentially barred us from talking to a manager about the situation.

    Now if I’d gotten a crap sandwich from them, I’d damned well expect them to refund my money. I don’t see this as any different.

    Actually, it is different, because the minion working up front thought he knew best how to deal with customers, now the manager and corporate management are getting a direct letter from me and have lost a long-time customer.

    Smooth move, Joey at Metrocenter, perhaps a job at an egg testing place would be better suited for you.

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  • Phoenix Metro Light Rail

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    The whole family awoke Friday morning sometime around 3:30AM. Since none of us were sleepy and we were all hungry, we headed off to the nearest IHOP for breakfast.

    On the way, we passed Park Central Mall and in the parking lot was an example of one of Phoenix’s new light rail cars. I was interested in getting a look, so when the sun started to come up later I came back to get some pictures.

    I’m a firm believer that Phoenix desperately needs an improved public transit system. The buses are just too slow and cumbersome to get anywhere. By bus it takes an hour to get to my office, which is only 8 miles away, or a speedy 8mph.

    I blame the general failure of that on the layout and extensive size of the greater Phoenix area, which makes any system difficult to reach everywhere. A system like the light rail cannot conceivably start out reaching everything and so only key areas can be addressed – the question is: Does Phoenix have key areas? Even if it doesn’t, with a little luck and perseverance, clusters will probably form near the stations. That’s what usually happens.

    Personally, I wanted to see a proper transit system, subway or elevated trains, but as a second-best, light rail will have to do.

    Anyway, the cars are kind of interesting, but I really hate the clichéd name “Metro” and I’m not too keen on the art deco style logo they’ve come up with.

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  • New Cybermen


    The BBC has posted this picture of the new Cybermen on the upcoming series of Doctor Who.

    Could be worse…


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  • Jet Lag

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    I really don’t understand jet lag.

    Oh, I understand the principle behind it, just not “logic” of how it works.

    For example, since our return, I wake up at 3 to 4 in the morning, that’s 6 -7 PM in Taipei. Not me usual “wake-up’ time.
    Come around 1PM, I’m suddenly falling asleep again (that’s 4 AM Taipei time, and significantly later than then I would be going to bed)
    After a few hours, I’m wide awake again (OK, that coincides roughly with morning in Taipei)
    But then i crash again at 9:00PM (noon, Taipei)

    Rather than just being ‘off’ 15 hours, I seem to be cycling through short periods of wakefulness and sleep. Hopefully it will get straightened out soon.

    I had lots of paper to go through, so it wasn’t a problem that I was in the office before 5:00AM this morning, but I don’t want to do it everyday.

    Luckily, Friday is a holiday, making this a two-day week for me, then I’ve got 3 more days to “recover”

    The kids are all messed up, too. That doesn’t help.

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