Grindhouse Overload

Grindhouse at the comic book store
Originally uploaded by Mirka23.

Yesterday someone asked me if I'm going to see Grindhouse. I said I felt like I had already been totally overexposed to it, so probably not. It seems like they're promoting it on every show on every channel. Not just with ads. Every show I watch seems to be leading into commercials with little snippets of Quentin Tarantino talking about the film and sneak peak clips that I've already seen.

Then, today, I was out and I went by the comic book store only to discover that there was a huge crowd outside and I couldn't get in to shop. Of course, it was a signing for Grindhouse! At first I was pissed because I didn't want to have to leave and come back later. But then someone told me it was almost over. So I hung out for a minute and the celebs came out and each got into their separate black SUVs. That caused some excitement among the crowd, and by chance I was actually in a good position to take some crappy pictures of Quentin Tarantino, Rose McGowan and Rosario Dawson with my cellphone, so it was kind of fun afterall.

I guess I have to admit, as sick as I am of hearing about Grindhouse, I do love the fact that NYC is the kind of place where you can stumble across something like this when you're just out walking around on a Saturday afternoon. Celebrity spotting is fun, as long as they don't interrupt my shopping plans.

New Whole Foods

This morning before work I stopped by the new Whole Foods that just opened a few blocks from my apartment. It had only be open for an hour, and everything was bright and shiny.

It was pretty empty, but I have a feeling the crowds will be forming soon.

I got a pumpkin muffin for breakfast.

Vox vs Blogger Continued: Vox... eh.

Vox seemed really easy and handy at first. After a couple weeks the charm has worn off. It looks busy. The things that they make easy to do are things I can work around (or do without). And the things it can't do (though they know about them) are really just too frustrating.

Blogger's looking pretty good. Got some other things to try too.

Ted Russell Kamp

My old school pal, Ted, is in town to play a show at the Rodeo Bar tomorrow. So tonight we had dinner and caught up. This is the first time we've seen each other in...damn, 15 years? We both felt that, although we had grown up (somewhat), we were also both very much the same. Pretty cool to see old friends after so long.

Today I got a check from a certain entertainment company for certain work that I did for a certain comedy group last month. I can't say any more about that, but I think it's pretty funny that, in theory, I am now a paid comedian. Not the kind of thing I would ever imagine myself being. The check is for such a small amount, I'm considering keeping it as a momento!

Tim Gunn sighting!

My sister, Wendy, and I saw Tim Gunn when we were going to an ATM near Parsons. His ATM wasn't working, so he left. But before he did, he announced, "There's no cash in that one." He sounded so Tim Gunn-like!

Flickr: Now with more Collections!!

Tonight I noticed a new feature of flickr - you can now make collections of sets. As an organization junkie, I can't tell you how happy this makes me!

To celebrate, here's a recent photo from my flickr photostream. The Red Dragon is from the comic Bone, by Jeff Smith, and Kurt Cobain is my favorite unlikely action figure.

Blogger vs. Vox

So, I'm test driving two blog platforms at once. Is that wrong? So far, what I've found is that:

• They're both pretty easy to set up and edit.
• Both support moblogging (although, setting it up on blogger was so counter-intuitive, I almost didn't do it).
• Blogger lets me add lists of links ("blogroll"), but Vox doesn't have that capability yet (!!)
• Vox lets me directly integrate my flickr account. Not sure yet how useful that will be, but since posting photos to flickr is my primary online obsession, I have a feeling that will be pretty key.

Let's do this thing

Or not. This is a test to see if I really want to do this. It's not like I don't already spend way too many hours a day working and recreating on the Internet.

Here's what happened. I was reading an article and came across the phrase "Uncanny Valley." I find this idea fascinting. Basically, it's a theory that says that the more humanoid and life-like a robot or other non-human thing is, the more positive our reaction will be to it. Up to a point. And then there's a sudden and dramatic drop and the reaction turns to repulsion. The theory can be applied to inanimate things - like a stuffed animal - or ambulatory non-mechanical things - like zombies. There's even a chart!



Anyway, I was talking to someone about it and I said "If I had a blog, I'd post about this." He suggeted I start one. So, we'll see. Just because I'm doing this doesn't mean I'm really doing this.