tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55191622024-03-08T13:20:28.470-05:00blienPatrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-12614555053440354332008-02-20T14:25:00.002-05:002008-11-27T21:32:23.652-05:00Population density, Thai stylePatrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-79294788518298874892008-02-06T16:34:00.001-05:002008-03-11T11:20:11.176-04:00Car Design MissesThere's been a lot to admire in the field of automotive design the past few years. (Exhibits: Ferrari 599, Aston Martin Vantage, Alfa Romeo 8C) There's also been a lot of controversy. (Bangle, anyone?) For all the controversial designs, you couldn't really point to too many outright design misses. But two cars were recently introduced at the Chicago Auto Show that really miss the mark, in my Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-86548766140012496982007-12-12T07:32:00.000-05:002007-12-19T09:42:38.691-05:00Iron Chef FairfieldTook Miranda to a Breakfast with Santa event put on by the Parks and Rec Dept. last weekend. The middle school choir was singing carols, and I took Miranda up front to watch them sing.As we got up to go back to our table, I turned around and who did I see? Iron Chef Bobby Flay.I was pretty sure he didn't live in town, so I guess he was visiting a friend and they both came to the event to see the Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-44411587454708901042007-08-08T10:39:00.000-04:002007-08-08T10:48:28.348-04:00Serialism and TotsLileks continues to hit the funny bone:most attempts to turn your baby into a SuperGenius via instructional tapes or early exposure to Schoenberg (teaches them how to count to 12, at least) or in-utero projections of high renaissance art are folly, and reflect the insecurities of narcissitic [sic] parents who think that showing a kid Van Gogh when they’re six months old will help them get into Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-29172228751691513972007-06-21T10:14:00.000-04:002007-06-21T10:25:36.601-04:00Back to the Future, todayAnother tidbit from James Lileks today.Maybe it was something I realized last weekend, when posting that Back to the Future YouTube link - the movie, which I still think is a perfect little thing, was made in 1985. Marty was sent back to 1955. If they made the movie today, he’d go back to 1977. Think about that. 1977 would look like today, minus computers. Same clothes, same Pink Floyd Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-71868641916666405442007-05-15T12:37:00.000-04:002007-05-15T12:41:50.997-04:00Lileks Does Disney WorldI'd never heard of James Lileks before, but was referred to this Minnesotan journalist/blogger's first entry on his series about visiting Disney World with his family.Who hasn't been to Disney World? Who couldn't relate to this? Lileks has a nice, sardonic writing style, but this sequence convinced me to add James Lileks to me blog list:"The breakfast? The best hotel breakfast ever. They don’t Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-43187400194137514722007-04-26T10:08:00.000-04:002007-04-26T10:35:16.196-04:00New Specialized Servers from IBM and SunA short article in the New York Times technology section caught my eye today. The title in the Times is "Sun and I.B.M. to Offer New Class of High-End Servers," and I thought it would describe some new, run-of-the-mill server offerings from the tech giants that offered grid capability, more processing cores, hot-swappable blade configurations, etc. You know, the standard server enhancements thatPatrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-53846500767948968742006-12-14T10:10:00.000-05:002006-12-14T10:14:16.523-05:00Wendy works on a website: www.askdrjudy.comWendy designed a website for a doctor in Miranda's pediatric practice who specializes in pediatric endocrinology. The website support Dr. Judy Hochstadt's HELP program, which stands for Healthy Eating Lifestyle Program (alternatively, Healthy Eating Loses Pounds).It promises a "simple yet effective six-week nutrition and lifestyle management program, to realize goals of reversing childhood Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-78660657341020518922006-10-26T12:18:00.000-04:002006-12-07T01:05:49.515-05:00Easily create movies from photosI've been playing around with trackingshot.com, which provides an easy, automated way of creating movies (with soundtrack ) from photos. You simply upload a bunch of pictures and an MP3 file, and this site will automatically arrange the photos with transition effects and add the soundtrack.Apparently, the site will analyze the uploaded photos and music, and make a movie with cuts to the beat, Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-64985710272281012922006-09-29T16:06:00.000-04:002006-09-29T16:20:15.486-04:00Tongue-twisting CPU descriptionJust when you thought the PC desktop CPU field couldn't get more confusing, along comes this gem of a phrase that describes Intel's upcoming CPU, code-named "Kentsfield:""two dual-core Core 2 Duo die"Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-1151438403127438042006-06-27T21:41:00.000-04:002006-07-06T23:04:28.076-04:00San Diego in a Shelby GT-HThe original plan was to turn in the Ford Escape I had been driving on the company's dime for 3 days in exchange for a Mustang convertible -- that I would spring for -- for my remaining free time in San Diego.I had flown into town late Sunday night to attend a Gartner conference. While waiting for the lone counter agent to finish up with the customer in front of me, I looked around the Hertz Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-1140399373727196482006-02-19T20:36:00.000-05:002006-07-12T00:54:06.686-04:00Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana in FairfieldThe best pizza in the world is coming to within a mile of my house!Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana is widely regarded as the best pizza in the world. And after 80-some-odd years of operating establishments on Wooster Street in New Haven, CT, they are opening a new location mere minutes away from my house in Fairfield.Now, it was never any great hassle to travel 30 minutes up to New Haven for greatPatrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-1129654994565316312005-12-15T18:59:00.000-05:002006-02-04T22:10:39.986-05:00Mimi Wins Barrymore Award for Outstanding Set DesignAnd the Barry goes to...It's a couple of months old, but I did want to mention that my sister -- Mimi Lien -- won a Barrymore Award for Outstanding Set Design! Mimi won for her design for the Wilma Theater production of Outrage, in which she designed a "sprawling vertical set [that] looks like academe in collision with history."The Barrymores are like the Tonys, but focused on the Philadelphia Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-1126720065225765892005-09-14T12:18:00.000-04:002005-09-14T14:20:07.936-04:00House Project - Day ???: Tunnel<-LightKeeping to my recent bi-monthly update schedule, I thought I'd take the opportunity to write-up another entry about the status of our house remodeling project.In the last episode, the drywall had just been installed. Since then, as expected, a lot more has happened, and we're getting really close to being able to move in.The kitchen cabinets got installed, and they really look nice and crisp andPatrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-1121137190439483042005-07-11T22:42:00.000-04:002005-07-12T15:37:18.420-04:00House Project - Day 113 - DrywallIt's been a long while since the last house project update. Since then, a lot has happened in the house: plumbing and electrical rough-ins were completed and passed inspection. More doors and windows were installed. Our existing house did not have any insulation in the walls, so we took the opportunity to have insulation blown in during the remodeling. One place they didn't blow it into was the Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-1120009112612918052005-06-28T21:38:00.000-04:002005-06-28T21:38:32.660-04:00ONEPatrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-1116118095482626192005-05-15T15:30:00.000-04:002005-05-15T15:31:45.300-04:00House Project - Day 53 - Sheathing One week later, and the addition is almost fully framed and sheathed. The window plan is now fully evident from the exterior, at least for the new-built portion of the remodel. And there is now a more fully-developed sense of space on the interior.One of the critical areas that we've been wanting to take a look at has been the area in the kitchen-to-family transition space around the peninsula.Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-1115664720507124152005-05-09T19:00:00.000-04:002005-05-09T14:52:19.210-04:00House Project - Supplemental: New Furnace Back when they were laying the foundation, they also installed a new furnace. Our old furnace was an ancient model that looked like it was at least 50 years old. In addition to being inadequate to heat the expanded structure, it was also probably horribly inefficient.This new Weil-McLain unit comes universally recommended by many plumbers and heating experts, although if you squint at the Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-1115525169563100992005-05-07T23:00:00.000-04:002005-05-08T01:27:31.376-04:00House Project - Day 45: Framing After a lull of about 2-3 weeks during which weather and delayed town inspections resulted in a slow-down of work, things have finally picked back up. Since the last blog entry on April 9, the foundation floors have been poured, and the foundation backfilled. The excess dirt that was excavated was then used to grade-off the backyard.The delay by the town in the inspection of the foundation workPatrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-1113101885088333672005-04-09T22:30:00.000-04:002005-04-09T23:01:12.513-04:00House Project - Day 17: Foundation Walls FinishedThe masonry crew has essentially completed the buildup of the foundation walls. The exterior of the walls has been smoothed over by a layer of cement, and is awaiting the application of some sort of tar-based waterproofing agent before the backfill goes back in. That waterproofing agent can't be applied until the cement layer is completely dry, which won't be for another couple of days. Also, Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-1112813064949786022005-04-06T22:25:00.000-04:002005-04-06T22:33:04.253-04:00House Project - Day 14: Foundation Footings Poured, Basement Walls StartedWork on the house stalled over the weekend and into Monday as we waited for the town to inspect and approve the forms that were laid late last week for the foundation footings. Apparently, someone at the town thought the rains over the weekend would have turned our foundation pit into a muddy mess since our house is located among other properties that are within a flood plain, even though ours isPatrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-1112285912843557442005-03-31T15:45:00.000-05:002005-03-31T15:57:44.436-05:00House Project - Day 8: The real work beginsThe remodeling project began in earnest today with the arrival of a backhoe and dumpster, a demolition crew, and plumber.The plumber came by first at 7:30am, and disconnected the plumbing from the rear bump out. To do so, he also had to drain the radiator system. Around 8am, the backhoe showed up. They unloaded it from the flatbed in the street and drove it up the driveway. We had just recently Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-1112132804676978582005-03-29T16:32:00.000-05:002005-03-29T16:46:44.696-05:00House Project: Getting ready to rip and digOur contractor showed up today and pounded in some stakes. These will mark our property side lines, so that workers won't inadvertently trample on our neighbor's property. He also drove in stakes to mark the corners of the new addition.He also scheduled the plumber to come by this afternoon to disconnect the plumbing in the existing rear bump-out that must be demolished to make way for the Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-1111630268035603892005-03-23T20:29:00.000-05:002005-03-24T09:23:02.406-05:00House Project CommencesOur long-awaited, much-discussed, frequently-postponed house remodeling project has finally commenced! We signed the contract with our builder last week, and this past Monday we had asbestos abatement contractors remove the asbestos cement shingles from the exterior of our house.Doing so exposed some very nice, thick redwood siding, painted gray. It was also covered in sheets of tinfoil, which Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519162.post-1098465857360488652005-03-09T22:24:00.000-05:002005-03-10T00:35:31.776-05:00If Architects Had To Work Like Web Designers...If Architects Had To Work Like Web Designers... "Please design and build me a house. I am not quite sure of what I need, so you should use your discretion. My house should have somewhere between two and forty-five bedrooms. Just make sure the plans are such that the bedrooms can be easily added or deleted."Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13143442212466850658noreply@blogger.com1