blog.jameshom.com

Reading List Thus Far

Finished up The Golden Ocean by Patrick O'Brian. I had to wait until the audiobook of Post Captain, Aubrey/Maturin Book 2, came in at the library, and so this "precursor novel" was available. And, like the Amazon review said, it was a great way to pass the time until the next Aubre/Maturin book.

O'Brian takes more time here to explain the strange naval terms and processes that are thrown around so casually in the main series.

I did get to see the DVD version of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World finally. Crowe makes a great Aubrey--probably the perfect casting choice. I had pictured Maturin as an older man, maybe not Anthony Hopkins but close, and so Bettany was a change from expectations but now works well, esp. picturing them in their younger years, courting women and all that, in Post Captain.

Currently reading: Post Captain. Back to the series...

Chuck Norris Random Fact Generator

I've been playing with the Chuck Norris Random Fact Generator. Kind of a Comedy Central-meets-Hot or Not? site, it cranks out a random Chuck fact with every click.

Most are just crap (and you can rate them so), but there are a few gems, like:

Chuck Norris once roundhouse kicked the earth, thus creating the hole in the ozone layer.

and

Every night at 8:00, a truck pulls up to Chuck Norris' house. In the truck are a bunch of orphans. For the next half-hour, Chuck Norris practices roundhouse kicks on the orphans while "It's a Hard Knock Life" plays in the background. At the end of the session, the orphans say "Thank you, Mr. Norris." in perfect unison, then march into the truck in silence.

I always thought Norris' fave kick was the hook or spinning back kick, but then again, "roundhouse" sounds funnier.

And then there's all the Chuck Norris nostalgia merchandise now:

I gotta get me one of these shirts.

In the meantime, I guess I'll just have to settle for one of the Top 5 Chuck Norris Movies.

Steve Jobs' Keynotes: Behind the Curtain

Fascinating piece in The Guardian on the work that goes into a Steve Jobs keynote presentation. I remember hearing stories about Jobs when I worked at Apple, but never saw the man himself in person.

I remember my first presentation at a big corporate show, and the coach the company hired to ensure us geeks would do ok up on the podium. Like I never thought it would be ok to stick your hand in your pocket when doing a big preso. Or that the size of your gestures had to be proportionate to the size of the room and audience. Kind of common sense now, but it was news to me back then.