It's About Time...

Well, I am back. I know I have totally not been keeping my blog up. Bad me. I took a couple of months off this summar and found it very relaxing. School has started back up and I am getting back to my old routine. Maybe this will include a blog every once and a while. We shall see.

There was a couple of interesting things I wanted to point out:

iPod Touch: Could the world get any cooler? I am seriously considering getting one. (Actually, I can't decided which of the iPod family to get). The fact that it has WiFi is a huge "neat-o" factor - plus direct downloads from the iTunes store (I just love iTunes). But the iPod video does have tons more storage space. Choices, choices...

SYNC My Ride: A joint venture between Ford and Microsoft that allows people to connect their phone or digital music player to the car. The system includes voice-activation and other interest features. The SYNC is available on 7 Ford, 3 Mercury, and 2 Lincoln models. Ford Motor Company did choose excellent models to include the features - like the Focus and Fusion - which apeal to a younger more digital crowd.

What have I been up to? Not much. Started my research. Over the summar I watched a lot of older movies staring the very interesting and before her time Katharine Hepburn. She was quiet an interesting actress.

I also spend a lot of time reading. I read the recently published Kathy Reichs book "Bones to Ashes" - excellent, absolutely excellent. I have also started reading three additional series: Nancy Martin's The Blackbird Sisters Mysteries, Kate White's Bailey Weggins mystery series, and Susan Kandel's Cece Caruso mystery series. All of which I highly recommend.

The books by Nancy Martin are about three sisters (although mostly focus on the one sister Nora). The books are an entertaining who-done-it that is fairly complex especially when the character Mick gets involved. Some actually have a pretty surprising conclusion. Nora wears great designer vintage clothes from her grandmothers closet (which adds interesting side plots to the stories). Totally worth checking out. Each book has some very funny parts.

Kate White's books are focused on the magazine writer Bailey Weggins who always accidently gets involved in murder cases through either her job or her friends. They too are complex but are done a little more like traditional mysteries since the main character goes about things very logically (like any good investigative reporter). I like the pace of these books and how many characters don't always turn out the way you thought they would.

The books by Susan Kandel are a bit different. Cece Caruso (the main character) writes biographies about famous mystery authors. The book is packed with true information about the current biography Cece is working on. Again, complex plots but a little less traditional mystery style. Any of the books with a bases in an author you read or are familiar with makes for additional interested. Vintage clothes are also mentioned a bit in the plot.

Come to think of it all of the series mentioned above (Kathy Reichs, Nancy Martin, Kate White, and Susan Kandel) are all about woman who are single (some get engaged several books in). Hmmm...well isn't that weird. I swear it wasn't intentional.

This week is the start of the new season for three excellent tv shows: Bones (check out the new look to the website), Boston Legal, and Stargate Atlantis. I am so looking forward to next week!

Well, I better get back to my research and reading. I do a lot of reading these days. Thanks for stopping by. Hope everyone is doing well. Enjoy the last days of summar and the early days of fall!

TV, Book, Etc

"Kudos on the childrearing. Let me know how the therapy goes." - Shawn (Psych)

This week is the final episode of Stargate SG-1 - <>. Such a good show. I look forward to the DVD movie in the fall. Anyway, I will so be watching Stargate SG-1 on Friday. Actually, they are running Stargate SG-1 episodes all this week if you are looking for good tv.

Which reminds me that the next Sanctuary episode is available. You can see it for free at Sanctuary Fans. Graphics are wonderful - even in low res. If you are looking for the lastest news on the show check out the blog written by Damian Kindler. You should so check out the promo for episode 4 - isn't that player super cool?

I recently finished Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes. The plot has an excellent twisted in the middle. It took a few chapters to figure out what was going on. Excellent read with plenty of funny parts.

Doesn't the new Disney/Pixar movie Ratatouille look really funny? Not to mention how great the computer graphics look? If you are an iTunes user you can see some interesting stuff about the movie via the podcast. Plus, there is an excellent 9 minute sneak peek. Anyway, the Ratatouille website has a lot of great stuff to look at and explore. There is even a pinball game.

Well, I better get back to work. The class I am taking is starting to finish up. There is only this week and next week left. I am looking forward to my vacation :) Not that I am going anyway, I am just not taking classes.

Thanks for stopping by and reading!

Still Having Fun

"I want to commission a scientific study of how news travels in this building!" - Harriet (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip)

Current music obsession: "Have a Little Faith In Me" by John Hiatt

I recently watched the latest episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Great episode. Yes, it did contribute to my current music obsession. If you have missed the recent episodes you can watch them online here. By the way that is such a great feature.

This week is the second to last episode of Stargate SG-1 on Sci-Fi channel. There are several interesting interviews, etc in the Grand Finale Countdown section.

Wanted to point out this article: "Ancient Rome Is Rebuilt Digitally". Cool ain't it.

Saw a link to this article: "Buy A Loft, Get A Land Rover" on Digg. I felt obligated to point out that Royal Oak and Detroit are not the same city. It is near Detroit (and is considered a part of the metro-Detroit area) but is not actually Detroit which would be why it is called Royal Oak. Let's just move on shall we?

Since we are on the subject of Michigan, you might be interested in reading about the comic strip Frazz and the author Jef Mallett on Wikipedia. You can read the strip itself here. Often there are some interesing (and funny) little Michigan tidbits in the comics. I like the characters and the drawing style.

Of course, I have to mention that Safari is now available on Windows (as announced that the WWDC 2007)! Wow. Excellent. Made my day. I love the Safari web browser.

Thanks for stopping by and reading!

I'm Getting Old...

"I think friends should always encourage friends to get their heads examined." - Alan (Boston Legal)

I recently celebrated my birthday. It was quiet fun - I went shopping. I think I have purchased 4 pairs of shoes in the last couple of weeks. As you may remember I love shoes. However, I did have to face the fact that I have gotten another year older. Of course, I am not really feeling all that much older. (I guess I will have to give it a few years).

Current song obsession: "Walking in Memphis" by Marc Cohn: Honestly I can't really explain why I like this song so much. I just do. It has very interesting lyrics actually. But I think the thing that really gets me is the fact that song is the heavy piano parts. It is simple while being complex and elegant.

Not much else to report (hence the lack of blogs). Well, until next time...

Interesting news articles:
"Researchers Find 2,100 Year-Old Melon"

"Algorithm could help chipmakers work with tangles of nanotubes"

"Hitachi Ships Quarter-terabyte Laptop Hard Drive"