i <3 Google

Google, the master of the universe, provides links to FedEx, UPS, etc., to track packages in gmail! Based on emails that I receive, it links directly to the package tracking status. Unbelievable. I wish Google were a man... we would wed and be happy ever after. i <3 google.

Can't concentrate

Tons to do but I can't buckle down and do it. Instead, I'm looking at different iPod nano armbands, and blogging about it. What's wrong with me?

I think part of it has to do with the gigantore birthday lunch I had with Connie today. We had 2.5 courses + amuse bouche + those little chocolates and macaroons at the end (Connie and I split the last course, hence the .5, and thank goodness we did because there's only so much sweetbread one can enjoy in one sitting) at Jean-Georges, only a few blocks from my office. We took lunch from 12-2 p.m., and by the time I got back to my desk I couldn't concentrate for the life of me. It is now 4:22 p.m. and I haven't done much work (if any).

Re. the Nano, I am thinking about the 4GB iPod Nano in black. Since my main perogative is get an mp3 player for the gym, it's best to go with one with flash memory. Since I don't have that many songs, I won't need anything bigger than 4 gigs. Plus, a small size is critical to me because of my obsession with downsizing everything. The only thing holding me back from purchasing at this second is that the Nano doesn't have a radio - I can buy the radio add-on, but how uncouth that is. How does one spell "uncouth?" Anyway, I think I'll do it before this weekend ends; right now I'm searching for the right armband. Oh, and I can get free engraving on the back. Since I lost my iPod Mini, I thought an appropriate engraving would entail something along the lines of "If found, please return to.." But, I now realize that more likely than me losing it, the hotel staff probably stole it. In which case, I think the engraving should really read more along the lines of: "FUCK OFF." What do you think should be engraved on it?

N.Y. Auto Show 2006

Pictured are some highlights from this year's N.Y. Auto Show. I went with Shanty, Annie, Biju and Arjun on Saturday, April 15. It was fantastic; last time I went was in '99, where I fell in love with my first car: BMW z8. And the Aston Martin Vanquish S. Boys? What boys - look at all the cars!

More photos on my kodak gallery - inquire within.

Mitsubishi Concept-CT- hybrid. Cameras in place of the side mirrors, and in-wheel electric motors:
BMW M6. Let me reiterate: M6

Dodge Challenger - Dodge's response to Ford's return of the retro Mustang:

Lexus LS600hL - hybrid sedan, 2008. Luxury like I hadn't imagined - shiatsu massage backseats with footrest, beverage cooler in console, self-parking:

Acura's exhibit - was by far the best - educational and very cool; depiction of the transmission system:

Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren - 617 horsies, baby:

I was happy.

Tom's Garden

A little piece of New York: Taken on 38th St. and 10th-ish, near the Jacob Javitz Center. Makes me smile.

Movie Review: Jarhead

"D.I. Fitch: What the fuck are you even doing here?
Anthony 'Swoff' Swofford: Sir, I got lost on the way to college, sir."

Jarhead is a movie about what it means to be desperate, to be far from home, to be a marine in the gulf war (or any war). The main character, Swoff (Jake Gyllenhaal), is a 20 year old recruit who has no better options than to join the Corps. Staff Sgt. Sykes (Jamie Foxx), is the all-too-cool leader of STA, an elite eight-person sniper team of diehards, goofballs and characters, of which Swoff is a member. The movie revolves around the daily lives, aspirations and hardships of the STA team during the gulf war.

The movie was a good watch - but not groundbreaking as it could have been. There were a few memorable scenes, some very funny moments, and some nice cinematography (burning oil fields in the desert). However, there lacked a finesse which could have made it a more memorable film - for example, there were a few scenes that should have been more real but seemed like it was part of a big joke (such as when Swoff loses it and threatens an innocuous fellow private at rifle-point). All in all though, Gyllenhaal is polished in his performance- from his craze to fire his rifle to his yearning for and growing suspicion of his hottie girlfriend back home.

A noteworthy performance was by actor Peter Sarsgaard, who plays a believable good-older brother type role. I usually am turned off by those types of roles, but Sarsgaard played it subtley enough. Nice.

Don't have much more to say about Jarhead, except that my favorite marine has verified that much of it is depicted at least close to what is realistic.

t.o.

Slow down

Howie, in response to your comment on my last post, please see one of the comments from my first post - where the authenticity of my moleskine notebook was questioned. In refute, I quickly went out and purchased one, turned to the middle of the book, wrote in it as if I've had it all along, and took a picture. No, that is a lie. You know me; I wouldn't waste $14.50 on a book I don't plan on using ever again. I did however, take a photo of my moleskine, as the exec. on my project walked by, asking what on earth I was doing. "Taking a picture of my notebook that says 'Hey, Internet!' on it. Uh..." Come on, what else was I going to say, "Documenting requirements in a little black book & really documenting them by taking a picture!"

The story behind my moleskine goes all the way back to April-ish 2005 when I was on a project out in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul, for my friends who don't know the names of towns outside of Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and the other two). I spent a weekend there but before my friend arrived (aforementioned friend, this sentence is a test to see if you still read my blog - if you don't, you are a biotch; if you do, I was just kidding about the biotch thing, BFF!), I rushed all around town after work, shopping, watching a movie ("Mysterious Skin"), eating, etc. etc.

One of my stops was at a Border's book store, where I was looking for my next read. I decided on Toni Morrison's Sula (if anyone wants to borrow it), and went to pay when I saw the all-being Moleskine, begging me to purchase it, which of course I did. Right after, I rushed around looking for a suitable restaurant, and when I found one, took out my book and started to read frantically. Then it hit me - exhaustion. And, the inevitable question that followed - why on earth was I rushing? Here I was, alone, on a Thursday night, in Minneapolis. WHERE WAS I GOING WITH SUCH URGENCY AND AGGRESSION?? So I took out my moleskine to write down my first entry- completeing it with the following sentence right before a plate of hot Thai basil chicken arrived in front of me: Slow down.