Frostyland

Song of the Day

2008-06-01T21:20:00.000-07:00

Anyone remember this one? Ēbn-Ōzn's "AEIOU Sometimes Y" had heavy airplay in the early days of MTV. It was an interesting twist at the time - basically spoken word set against a modern beat. And I always loved the "feeling cavalier" part.

"So I was walking up Broadway you know
and there's this incredible looking Swedish girl having a
Cappuccino across the street from Lincoln Center,
I started talking to her you know
She said her name was Lola,
Her English wasn't too good you know
but we wound up spending
about 5 hours together just hanging out you know.
So We go back to my place - we get high
we get really into each other man.
It was love about to happen ... I'm serious.
And then all of a sudden she gets up and she says,
she says "Hey, I really gotta leave"
Damn!

A E I O U Sometimes Y

There are 178 parent languages on our planet with over 1000 dialects...
It's amazing we communicate at all.
Languages and dialects - with this one thing in common:
A E I O U Sometimes Y

So you know I was really flipped out you know and she asked me
if I'm angry or something
I said of course I'm angry man this isn't high school or anything
You know so I'm feeling really cavalier and I say ah
"Call me if you want to."
huh, yeah ... call me if you want to ...
So she rang me up and she says, "Hey! Do you wanna go out?"
Huh! Do I wanna go out ?!"

Song of the Day

2008-05-27T23:57:00.001-07:00

Ah yes, Billy Idol. I have a wonderful adolescent memory associated with this song, and I'm sure Mr. Idol would be proud. Ask me about it some time over a round of drinks ... on a warm summer night.

In the meantime, put on your best snarl, and start pumping that fist.

"I'm all out of hope
One more bad dream could bring a fall
When I'm far from home
Don't call me on the phone
To tell me you're alone
Its easy to deceive
Its easy to tease
But hard to get release

(Les yeux sans visage) Eyes without a face
(Les yeux sans visage) Eyes without a face
(Les yeux sans visage) Eyes without a face
Got no human grace your eyes without a face.

I spend so much time
Believing all the lies
To keep the dream alive
Now it makes me sad
It makes me mad at truth
For loving what was you

When you hear the music you make a dip
Into someone else's pocket then make a slip.
Steal a car and go to Las Vegas oh, the gigolo pool.
Hanging out by the state line,
Turning holy water into wine
Drinkin' it down
I'm on a bus on a psychedelic trip
Reading murder books tryin' to stay hip.
I'm thinkin' of you you're out there so
Say your prayers.
Say your prayers.
Say your prayers.

Now I close my eyes
And I wonder why
I don't despise
Now all I can do
Is love what was once
So alive and new
But its gone from your eyes
I'd better realize ..."

Picture of the Day

2008-05-27T23:43:00.001-07:00

Cherries! I start to eat a few, but before I know it the whole bowl is gone. Then I wistfully daydream of the next weekend, when I can make my pilgrimage to the farmer's market and indulge myself again.

Cherries .. they glow red with excitement as they murmur "Summer is coming, oh summer is coming ...'

Biggest Drawing in the World

2008-05-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

Artist Erik Nordenankar used a GPS tracking device and DHL to create a self portrait across the world. I haven't seen if this has actually been verified, but if it is true, it is truly an amazing feat. The power of artistic vision is something to behold.

Dear baby, if you are alive, please remember I love you very much.

2008-05-17T09:27:00.000-07:00

In the aftermath of the Wenchuan Earthquake, this was the message rescuers found on a dead mother's cell phone. There's really not much I can say after that.

The full story can be found here or here.

Song of the Day

2008-05-12T23:36:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the cheesy video - but it's the only one I can find for "Holy Lamb (Song for Harmonic Convergence)" by Yes. It is off their Big Generator album, which I have been playing all day long. Over and over again.

Even though it is a short and beautiful song, it packs a lot of power and inspiration. And it has one of the most amazing crescendos I have ever heard. As Jon Anderson puts it, it is a song about any belief that puts you at peace with yourself, others and nature. Enjoy!

"Holy lamb, see the world we started
Is it so low again?
Like a light that's lost upon the stage
So the more it shines, it goes away

Surely then, see the curtain rising to show us once again
All the magic of the earth and the skies
See the more we find
The more we realize

That every time, see the laws of nature keep telling us like a friend
Spirit of emotion dancing to the wind
High above, high above
So sure inspired again

I can tell a new story now
Can we see through this mask of uncertainty, surely now?
How can it be so hard when all there is to know
Don't be afraid of letting go
It takes a loving heart to see and show
This love for our own ecology

Hold the light! Hold the light!
Out of love we'll come a long long glorious way
At the start of every day a child begins to play
And all we need to know
Is that the future is a friend of yours and mine"

Song of the Day

2008-04-01T23:11:00.000-07:00

George Michael's "Freedom" always brings out the positive energy in me. I just gotta get up and dance. Another video with great visuals, and yeah the models are an obvious one. Besides that, the usage of shadows and elements (fire, smoke, mist, ice is implied) are subtle and well done. And the facial expressions of the models tell stories on their own.

And in case you are curious, here's the list of the models in the video:

ABC3D: Incredible Pop-up Alphabet Book

2008-03-28T23:06:00.000-07:00

I meant to blog about this last week (yeah right!) but my life has suddenly gotten very busy. And that's a good thing.

via Drawn!

Song of the Day

2008-03-28T22:48:00.000-07:00

Generally I don't like using videos for the Song of the Day, but the video for Covenant's "Bullet" has such wonderful and interesting visuals that it more than warrants it this time. Enjoy!

"time is like a bullet from behind
I run for cover just like you
time is like a liquid in my hands
I swim for dry land just like you

time is like a blanket on my face
I try to be here just like you
time is just a fiction of our minds
I will survive and so will you

we are the only ones right now that are celebrating
and we are joining hands right now
we are the only ones right now that are suffocating
we are the dying ones right now

as the water grinds the stone
we rise and fall
as our ashes turn to dust
we shine like stars

kisses on the dancefloor in my past
I need some comfort just like you
beating like a bass drum time goes by
I want the last dance just like you

drowning in the flood of morning light
I'm only human just like you
do you hear the city waking up
I will survive and so will you

we are the ones the only ones
we are the ones the dying ones
we are the ones the only ones
we are the ones and we are joining hands
we are the only ones right now that are celebrating

as the water grinds the stone
we rise and fall
as our ashes turn to dust
we shine like stars"

Additional Info:

Image of the Day: White Blossom Center

2008-03-20T18:54:00.001-07:00

A close up of a white blossom's center. Taken in the San Francisco Financial District.

Runnin' With The Beatles

2008-03-13T15:58:00.000-07:00

I love musical mashups like this this one, and seeing David Lee Roth juxtaposed with The Beatles is humorous in itself. Scream more Dave!

Twitter in Plain English

2008-03-06T15:04:00.000-08:00

This short video does a great job explaining the micro-blogging service Twitter.

"Because real life happens between blog posts and email."

via The Common Craft show.

Song of the Day

2008-03-03T23:49:00.000-08:00

The Barenaked Ladies are a bunch of rocking, fun loving Canadians. If you ever get a chance, go see them live. They put on an amazing show. They are very funny and very talented. Their amazing voices sound much better live - recordings just can't capture that power and range. When I saw them live, Steve Page had the hairs on the back of neck standing when he let loose. "Holy crap" I exclaimed as the shivers ran through me. The dude can sing.

Today's Song of the Day is "Call and Answer" from their album Stunt. It's a gently melody with very powerful lyrics about a frustrated romance. Love can be patient, but enough is enough.

Additional Info:

The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello

2008-03-03T23:11:00.000-08:00

I had seen the trailer for The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello back in 2005 when it was nominated for an Academy Award. The imagery and animation style were burned on my conscious. However I did manage to forget the title. I've been wracking my brains and searching for the last few months, when I stumbled upon it while reading an animation article. Yes! Only the trailer is on YouTube, but I managed to find the whole film on Google Video. It's 26 minutes long, but it is quite an amazing story.

Image of the Day: Curves of a Lily

2008-03-02T00:02:00.001-08:00

Lily Curves
Originally uploaded by tony:oeb:frosty

She glowed seductively in the afternoon light. Simple but elegant, the smoothness of the petals drew me in like a whirlpool.

Dinner: Seared Steak Salad

2008-03-01T23:54:00.001-08:00

Seared Steak Salad
Originally uploaded by tony:oeb:frosty

Friday nights dinner was this salad. Pretty simple to make but the results are wonderful.

Season steak and bring up to room temperature. Wash the salad. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat up olive oil in a pan to medium high. Douse steak with olive oil and then place in pan. Sear on one side for a couple of minutes, then flip and repeat. Place pan in oven for 12 minutes for medium rare. While the steak is finishing chop up some peppers, green onions and avocado. Rinse cherry tomatoes. Pull steak from oven (remember it's hot!) and remove steak and let rest. Return pan to high heat on stove and deglaze with red wine. Add chopped garlic and shallots and reduce. Return to the steak and slice in thin strips. Check reduction and if ready remove from heat. Start assembling the plates beginning with the layer of salad. Add other elements as desired. Add cream to the reduction and season to taste. Drizzle over the completed salad. Pour yourself a nice glass of wine and enjoy!

How to Sleeveface

2008-02-27T23:09:00.000-08:00

Carrying on from an earlier post of mine, here's a clever video teaching us how to sleeveface. For those of you who want more, there's a Facebook group, a dedicated blog and also a Flickr group photo pool.

Smoke on the Water, Japanese Style

2008-02-27T13:24:00.000-08:00

"From the 250th anniversary celebration of the Great Fire of Edo (Edo is
the traditional name of Tokyo) … one of many, but the most
destructive, held along with the Great Eruption of Fuji-san 300th
Anniversary. This is the Kabuki-za orchestra and readers along with
part of the Suntory Hall Orchestra, which occasionally features the
Crown Prince on viola (but not in this one)."

From Japan Probe via Tim Bray on Twitter.

Sony BRAVIA Commercials

2008-02-27T00:11:00.000-08:00

The Sony BRAVIA commercials simply put, rock. What's more amazing is that they are real - there's no 3D animation. They're beautiful and they are fun. Their latest one, "Play-Doh" is no exception.

My daughters absolutely love these commercials. I'll be working in the office and they will run in and jump in my lap and demand "Balls" and "Paint." I pull them up and play them full screen (I highly recommend heading to the Sony BRAVIA site and downloading the hi-res versions) on the 24 inch monitor and turn up the volume. We'll sit here and watch them over and over and over again. I'm guessing "Play-Doh" will now be added to that rotation. And you know what, I really don't mind. Because I love them as well.

I just found another commercial titled "Pyramid." This one isn't linked from the main site so I'm not sure if it's official or not. Still it's pretty cool.

Memory: Gaming on the Commodore 64

2008-02-26T23:37:00.000-08:00

Growing up as kids, we usually had the latest gaming gadget. Like the Atari 2600. Then the computers started to come out. Our first computer was the Timex Sinclair 1000. It was pretty limited, and it was slow. My dad tried playing chess on the advanced level and each move took hours. It really didn't have much in the way of games.

But then my dad brought home the Commodore 64. Oh my! The graphics were amazing. And the games ... oh the games were wonderful. Then Archon was released and distributed by a small company named Electronic Arts. I remembered being dazzled by the artwork (I even used it for an art project at school) and the packaging. Basically it was battle chess, and it was leaps and bounds better than anything else we had played. It raised the level of our expectations for any future games. My friend had a 64 as well, and he had a modem. I remember logging into a BBS and playing a dungeon game. We played for hours.

I still fondly remember Archon as my first great gaming experience. Too bad I no longer have that art project.

I Fought the Internet, and the Internet Won

2008-02-25T23:39:00.000-08:00

I have been defeated by the Internet. That and my stupidity and not paying attention to details. I am teh n00b :(

So I decided to change my password today. That went well. I copied down the new password in my handy dandy secure app. Cool. I get home, and I can't login. I try again. Nope. I try again and again. Nope and No. Hmmmm ... Fine I must have made a typo. Twice. So I hit I Forgot My Password link and wait. The email doesn't show up where I expected it to. Ruh roh waggy. I try Reset Password. No Email. Waggy, we have a problem. A Big Problem.

It turns out that my secondary email was my old work email. You know the place I got laid off from over a year ago. Yeah ... Waggy, no Scooby Snacks joy for me!

Dinner: Seared Ahi Tuna

2008-02-24T23:14:00.001-08:00

Seared Ahi Tuna
Originally uploaded by tony:oeb:frosty

After reading Thin Guy's post, I decided to give it a whirl. My wife had her doubts, telling me that Ahi Tuna was hard to cook and was usually too dry. I shrugged and said "we'll see."

For the marinade, I skipped the Wasabi and the Shichimi Togarashi since I didn't have any. Instead I added sea salt, fresh pepper and sesame oil. The tuna marinated overnight in a Tupperware container.

To cook, I pulled out my All-Clad and put it on high heat, adding olive oil to the pan. When the oil started to ripple, I placed the tuna in the pan. Commence searing - a couple of minutes is fine. The marinade will burn (turn your fan on!) but that's not a big deal. Flip over with some tongs and finish the other side. Remove the tuna and deglaze the pan with wine - I always have a cheap red or white on hand for this. A quick wipe and onto the second piece. Repeat. Deglaze again and make sure to get all the burnt marinade off. This will save you a lot of time and effort when cleaning the pan later.

For the dipping sauce I quickly whisked together some shoyu, honey, sesame oil and Aji Mirin. I then added some scallions.

I spend a few minutes plating the dishes and set the table. Plating goes a long way in setting the mood, and making the food visually appetizing. It's really not that much effort, but it goes a long way.

I pour my wife and I a nice Chardonnay, and await the judgment. I'm sweaty from the cooking and a little tense. She approves! She actually likes it. Yeah! Mission accomplished.

Thanks again to Thin Guy for the inspiration.

Note: Today I got from from the grocery store about 5:00pm. I was able to get dinner on the table by 5:45pm. Dinner included roasted asparagus and a nice salad (heirloom tomatoes, avocado, sweet peppers) So this really is a quick and delicious recipe.

A Memory: Meeting Thomas Dolby

2008-02-24T01:00:00.000-08:00

I had just started working at JavaSoft. I had a meeting and arrived at the conference room a little early to find the previous meeting just letting out. I wandered in and noticed a man packing up a Mac by himself. The executives weren't paying any attention to him and left. Something seemed familiar about this man. Then it hit me. It was Thomas Dolby. I looked around and found that we were the only two people in the room. So I wandered over and opened with a tentative "Mr. Dolby?" He looked up at me, "Yes?" "Um hi ... Dude I love your music!" I blurted out. He smiled and seemed pleased that someone recognized him. "What are you doing here?" I asked. It turns out he was working on a musical plugin for Mozilla, and was seeing if there was any synergy with Java. I believe this was the beginning of Beatnik, Inc. We pleasantly chatted for a bit, and I found out he was living in the Bay Area. That's why he had swung by Cupertino to arrange the meeting. Finally he apologized, and told me that he had to run off to another meeting meeting, else he would love to keep talking.

A few years before, I was at E3 in Los Angeles. I was wandering around the floor with a friend of mine checking out the booths and the sights. E3 was still pretty crazy back then. We came across a booth that people waiting in a long line. It was the Rocket Science booth, and they were giving away tshirts. I asked a random fellow "what are you waiting in line for?" and he replied "some dude is signing shirts." Puzzled I walked to the front to see who it was. It was Thomas Dolby, but no one seemed to realize this. I turned to my friend and said "get in line." "Do you who know who that is?" I excitedly asked my friend. He shook his head. "Dude! Come on! It's Thomas Dolby!" Blank look. I sighed "You know, 'Blinded Me with Science'?" "Oh!"

So we waited in line and finally it was our turn. My friend wanted to drop to his knees and start the whole "We Are Not Worthy!" routine, but I threatened to kill him if he did. He rolled his eyes and mumbled "whatever." Dolby seemed pretty bored, and no one was talking to him. So I strolled up and asked "So, how come 'My Brain Is Like a Sieve' is not on your 'Best Of' album. He blinked and looked at me, then said "You know, that is an excellent question." He then introduced me to his manager who was standing next to him. And then he started chatting to me. My friend told Dolby of his "Not Worthy" plan and he smiled "that would have been funny!" My friend shot me a dirty look. It all seemed a bit surreal at the time ...

So there. I've met Thomas Dolby. Twice. I'm sure he doesn't remember, but they are great memories for me.

Song of the Day

2008-02-24T00:21:00.000-08:00

"Not an Addict" by K's Choice is a painful, tortured song about well, yes, addiction. It's full of emotion and longing. It offers us a glimpse into why drugs are so appealing, and also their treacherous downfall. I love the contradictions in this song, and Sarah Betten's voice is perfect for making us feel the ache and conflict.

"Breathe it in and breathe it out
And pass it on, it's almost out
We're so creative, so much more
We're high above but on the floor

It's not a habit, it's cool, I feel alive
If you don't have it you're on the other side

The deeper you stick it in your vein
The deeper the thoughts, there's no more pain
I'm in heaven, I'm a god
I'm everywhere, I feel so hot

It's not a habit, it's cool, I feel alive
If you don't have it you're on the other side
I'm not an addict (maybe that's a lie)

It's over now, I'm cold, alone
I'm just a person on my own
Nothing means a thing to me
(Nothing means a thing to me)

It's not a habit, it's cool, I feel alive
If you don't have it you're on the other side
I'm not an addict (maybe that's a lie)

Free me, leave me
Watch me as I'm going down
Free me, see me
Look at me, I'm falling and I'm falling."

Additional Info:

iBand

2008-02-20T13:21:00.000-08:00

It's amazing what you can do with a couple of iPhones and a Nintendo DS. Like this jam session. I'm looking forward to their future work.