Forgive me, Interwebs, for I have sinned. It has been over a year since my last posting. Haha, yes it has been that long since the last update, but I’m doing fine. Consider this a highlight reel. Oh yes, my folks and I survived Hurricane Ike pretty well. Just a wee bit of fencing and roofing issues at the family home, and some backyard work. So, over the year I checked out several places in Austin and Houston, plus a couple during a DR (disaster recovery) trip to Bryan, Texas.

Houston
I enjoyed a great cowboy ribeye at Del Frisco’s in the Galleria, and excellent Indian fare and cocktails (including lassi) at Yatra downtown. Not too far away at The Grove I was introduced to the teres major cut of beef as well as their custom cocktails. I also got to enjoy the Houston Rodeo BBQ Cookoff. That was a fun afternoon and a lot of walking to enjoy the food and designs of the tents. Fung’s Kitchen had some good authentic meals. I did return to enjoy their dim sum, the braised chicken feet and squid curry are particularly wonderful. The new Chuy’s in Kingwood/Humble had decent food, but the service needs work. I didn’t like the pho at the new V Bistro in that area (Pho An 3 is much better), but their other entrees are great. Pho May, near 1960 and Ella, had great pho.

Austin
Aside from the usual excellent grilled steaks and concoctions at Casa Webb and Chateau Fellin, highlights included the wonderful butterfish at Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion, good Thai curries at Madam Mam’s, great dim sum selections at Shanghai, a delicious meat coma at Fogo De Chao, and great seafood but bad midnight champagne service (New Year’s) at McCormick and Schmicks. There was also a fairly new Asian plaza up north near Lamar and Braker, called Austin Chinatown Gate. I liked the Cantonese selections at First Chinese BBQ, also the seafood pancake and beef jabchae at Korean Grill. Caught a flick at the new Alamo Ritz, decent service despite seating issues. Cypress Grill had some good cajun, Halcyon offered a great late-night respite with their coffee infusions. Maudie’s had a very satisfying Tex-Mex brunch, and Maiko‘s Sunday sake special and appetizers capped a long weekend well. The food was uneven at Chinatown, my evaluation of their dim sum still hangs in the balance. But the bulgogi burger at Burger Tex was great. Lamberts had a good hanger steak, Jerusalem had good shawarmas and gyros, and Yume had wonderful fusion sushi selections, too bad they disappeared. I also got to catch the Video Games Live music concert at the Long Center. It was as great as before, and I think I preferred that venue to Jones Hall in Houston, at least for this concert. I loved the burgers at Five Guys and the Korean food and service at Chosun Galbi (just next to Shanghai). I must admit, the Belmont offered a good New Year’s meal, but yet again fell through in servicing their clientele for the witching hour. The Flying Saucer provided a fun diversion for our needs, more so in the case of a few.

Bryan
My favorite stop was actually a combo. Murphy’s Law is an Irish pub with a German restaurant adjoining. We enjoyed a pint at the pub one evening, then a dinner on the German side another night. The pub was quite comfy with some good beverage selections. The German side had great food. I enjoyed the schweinshaxe, very tender and savory, as well as the dumplings. I will be returning to sample some more from both sides, especially since I have yet to try the Irish food. Also had great chicken fried steak at River Bridge, and decent pizza from Mr G’s.

My cell phone was stolen in March (always put it back in your pocket), replaced quickly with the AT&T Tilt 8925. It’s decent, 3 megapixel with panorama, GPS, more internal memory, Windows Mobile 6.1, and I added a 8GB microSDHC (reliable higher capacities are hard to find). Runs smooth, only need to recycle the OS two or three times a week. In my truck I also use a power/audio splitter cable and a mic with call interrupt, so I can plug the 3.5mm audio into the car stereo’s aux input while the phone battery is recharging. Then I added a nice ground loop isolator from Crutchfield that cleans up noise very well. Basically the phone has replaced my little iPod shuffle for music on commutes, plus I can use the car stereo for phone calls so I don’t need a headset either. The music skips occasionally, probably from a mix of caching and road bumps, but I can live with that. I think in some areas of technology convergence over clutter is a good thing. I look forward to seeing how the Tegra and the Atom fare in the next couple years. In the short term I will replace the Tilt with the Fuze in spring 2009.

I read Steve Martin‘s Born Standing Up. Lots of great insights about comedy, mixed with a whirlwind sampling of his life. Not bad overall, though the whirlwind could have used a little more focus and pacing in the second half.

Over the spring and summer I added to my home theater: a Samsung HL61A750 (61″ led dlp hdtv) and a PS3 (the 80GB model that can also play PS2 titles). The PS3 was mostly to handle blu-ray media. I got a Toshiba HD-A35 for HD-DVD, though once its exclusive titles get relicensed to blu-ray it will just be a nice upscaling DVD player. All of this – plus my Wii and cable dvr box – now sits on a Sanus AFV48B stand. It was a solid upgrade of my shaky little 32″ generic stand. The Samsung is screaming gorgeous in the visuals, though range of view is limited, but that’s not an issue in a small bedroom. I ran DVE‘s HD Basics tests and surprisingly only had to make a couple small adjustments. I was eyeing Onkyo‘s 805 receiver and a couple sets of speakers, but I decided to wait until I move into a townhome. That will probably be in less than a year, depending on the real estate markets. For now I will settle for swimming in incredible hd imagery.

Flicks
I’ll be brief, considering the count. Hitman had nice action, but could have been more substantial. Ratatouille was beautifully funny and warm, Patton really grabbed the role and ran with it. District B13 was a tight kinetic action flick. The Golden Compass was a lush epic with an enjoyable ensemble. National Treasure 2 was fun but felt a little wooden. Ocean’s 13 was a better sequel, lots of smart heist and con action, basically the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach, but with a wink to close out the series. Alien Vs Predator: Requiem was pretty bad. A couple nice action bits, and we get to see the Predator homeworld, otherwise a trite small-town invasion cliche, certainly not as good as its predecessor. I Am Legend was a substantial adaptation, a good dive into Neville‘s psyche, a bit of deus ex machina to end act two, nicely realized overall. I avoid politics, so I’ll only say that I enjoyed Charlie Wilson’s War in terms of great storytelling and casting. I finally saw the entire Fast Times At Ridgemont High, I guess I can understand the cult appeal though I didn’t realize it was more of a cautionary tale. 28 Weeks Later was a good sequel, nice atmosphere and stark visuals to maintain the creepiness. Sideways was a good adult relationship piece, a great ensemble at work. Cloverfield was probably the best use of shakycam “reality” shooting I’ve seen, a great effects flick. Dragon Wars (D-War) had good effects and tried very hard, but ultimately didn’t work out well for me. Casshern was a visual treat but the story failed. We Own The Night was so heavy it sort of fell into itself. Reno 911 Miami was great humor if you appreciate the series. 30 Days Of Night was a nicely structured and atmospheric vampire film. 3:10 To Yuma was a good prisoner gauntlet piece, though I haven’t seen the original to know if it’s a good remake. Iron Man was a great meld of comic-book story, great cast, action and effects, a fun adventure overall. Blades Of Glory had lots of quirky humor, great use of the leads. Redbelt was heavy but cathartic. The Great Happiness Place was an insightful doco, nice setup. Prince Caspian was a more adventurous and better constructed continuation. Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull was longer than its name, lots of good adventuring and nostalgia but a hokey climax. The Brave One had great character work. The Darjeeling Limited stretched a bit but had a lot of personal nostalgia for me. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story was excellent parody, lots of highlights. Kung Fu Panda was another funny parody, great use of Jack Black. Wall-E was brilliant, lots of polish and a funny look at social and scientific evolution. The Incredible Hulk was very different than Ang Lee‘s Hulk, more of a smash-and-bash comic book showcase, enjoyable in that sense. Wanted was great in the stunt department, story was decent. Hancock was an interesting look at the brokedown superhero, though a bit hokey near the end. Hellboy 2 was a bigger sequel, more fantastic creatures and a fun ride overall. 10000 B.C. had a nicely realized environment, rudimentary plot and some fun action. Eastern Promises was a solid Russian mafia piece, Viggo is excellent as usual, Naomi held her ground too. The Simpsons Movie felt like a long episode, but funny throughout. The Dark Knight was easily one of the best this year, great acting all around, wonderful atmosphere. The X Files: I Want To Believe was solid, not as otherworldly as the previous film, and good work by Billy Connolly playing against type. The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor was a okay closer though a bit cheesy at times. Maria Bello pulled off a hard transition well. Star Wars: The Clone Wars was a cool way to show more stories from that universe, though the dialogue and characters was a bit hokey, and the farting baby was a little too kiddie-oriented. The Bank Job was a solid true British heist flick, with a nice dose of inernational intrigue. Quantum Of Solace picked up right where Casino Royale left off, and carried the same style and gritty feel. It felt just a tad more dense since they were packing a lot in a short timeframe, but a great ride nonetheless. Shoot ‘Em Up is a weird parody, very over-the-top, nutty characters, dialogue and action. I liked most of it, but it’s not for everyone.

I got a new graphics card, an ENGTX260 from Asus. Mainly because the 200 series is a decent leap forward for Nvidia architecture. It’s been pretty fluid so far, it should be able to handle everything for a few years.

Music
Over The Rhine‘s Trumpet Child was a tour de force, straying into many modes and moods, remaining a regular on my commutes. Aimee Mann‘s @#%&*! Smilers was pretty good too, though a couple tracks feel a bit generic. Teitur‘s The Singer had a few gems but the rest of it falters. Asura‘s Life^{^2} was just brilliant, rhythmic ambient. I picked up the re-release Gas 0095 to get a better feel for the earlier stages of electronica. Most of it was cool though there was a bit of experimentation that could’ve used some polish. Coldplay‘s Viva La Vida was a great release, with a little branching out that does have polish. Morrissey‘s Ringleader Of The Tormentors was mostly uneven, but “Life Is A Pigsty” was golden. Manilow‘s The Complete Collection And Then Some was indeed exhaustive, but there were really just a handful that I enjoy. The Very Best Of from the Eagles had a lot more enjoyable tracks I had not heard before, and Bob Segers‘ Greatest Hits Vols I and II also had many classics. Dido finally broke the last few years of silence. Safe Trip Home had her signature mellowness, but it also felt more mature, a solid release.

Games
Picked up WiiPlay on an Austin trip, some fun variety for casual partying. I was much happier that they added Cybernator to the virtual console, it’s a great bit of nostalgia and still fun to play. I tried Rock Band at a friend’s place, it’s fun for groups, offered more options to those tired of guitars. Warhammer Online is my new focus, I even joined a guild after years of soloing. My shadow warrior slinks about on the Azazel server. I pop into 2142 now and then. The 1.50 patch included an updated Wake Island, which is okay, and Operation: Shingle, a sniper’s dream and a good successor to Tunis. It’s almost a blend of Tunis and Cerbere really, but on a huge scale. The Gib is still my home, but nowadays I look for servers doing a Gib/Shingle combo. I dived into Titan Quest for a bit, and took a few ships out for a safe tour of Eve‘s slick new updates. The certificate system is a major addition to skilling. I enjoy a bit of Mario Kart Wii and tried out the Wii Fit. On the PS3 both Metal Gear Solid 4 and Bionic Commando Rearmed are waiting in the wings.

The times…The times…

December 28, 2008December 28, 2008