Wanted

I ran into the comic Wanted, which was written by Mark Millar (author of the Ultimates). This comic was turned into a movie this year (which I hadn't known). The movie didn't have the superhero background, apparently.

This comic demonstrates a wickedly warped sense of humor, if you're into such things.

Jaya

I had lunch with some friends at this Malay restaurant. The food is quite authentic (my friend Elaine is from Singapore), and it was very tasty. Definitely worth a trip!

Obama vs. McCain

Lots of news about last night's debate, unsurprisingly. We turned it off after a while: it was just annoying to listen to. It was highly depressing/amusing to listen to both candidates duck Jim Lehrer's pointed question about how they would be constrained by the bailout. Obama was not a smooth debater, and we thought McCain was much smoother and more confident (although his comments were not very substantive). We mostly watched the post-debate analysis on PBS, which was more fun than the debate itself.

Secret History of the American Empire

If you haven't read John Perkins' first book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, it's worth a read. It confirms all the theories of a big conspiracy to maintain American economic power. I didn't finish this book, mostly because it is too depressing: it is hard to evaluate the truth of every claim in the book, but it certainly has the ring of truth.

Heroes

Usually I find it hard to stop watching an episode of any semi-interesting TV show. Which means that the premiere of Season 3 of Heroes was not even semi-interesting. Season 2 sucked, and Season 3 looks like it will be worse. Oh well, at least I'll be wasting less time watching television!

Jhegaala

Stephen Brust's books are like candy: they are quick to read and entertaining, with a nice aftertaste. This latest book in the series (in publication order, not in chronological story-telling order) is similar to all of his other Vlad Taltos books: so, if you liked the earlier books, you will enjoy reading this one. I enjoyed it.

Subway flood protection

Artistic yet functional. Nice!

Jay Lepreau

I think I'm still in shock over the news that Jay has passed away. For those of you that didn't know him, Jay was a professor at the University of Utah that I worked with. I didn't know that he had been sick, and apparently even those who knew were shocked at the suddenness of his passing.

The obituary captures my remembrances of Jay well. Rest in peace.

Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton

Outstanding satire: Tina Fey captures Sarah Palin exactly!

At one point this year I thought I could vote for McCain, but this was the last straw: he has shown that he cares about nothing but his own desire to be President of the US. His claim that he puts country first is either completely false or shows that he is completely deluded: Sarah Palin is certainly not qualified to be the President.

Shortcomings

This is a cute little comic that centers around some really dysfunctional people. The central character is the most dysfunctional, and he cannot handle being Asian-American in Berkeley. I didn't find the characters that compelling, but the writing was pretty good.

The Wire, Season 2

We finished watching the second season of The Wire. Wow, such great writing and acting! This show is some of the best television that we have ever seen, but it does paint a bleak portrait of modern inner-city America.

Art of the Royal Court

The last major exhibit we saw at the Met was of "pietre dure": carving in hardstone. Treasures from Europe that one never sees (including a national treasure from Russia): it was unbelievably sumptuous. If you are into beautiful things, you should go see this exhibit.

Tara Donovan at the Met

We walked through this installation, which was cool to see. Not as cool as the photos on the Met's web site, though.

Jeff Koons on the Roof (of the Met)

An amusing exhibition, but it was so sunny that I was blinded by the contrast between the Met's roof and the inside of the museum. The dog was cute!

Turner at the Met

Wonderful exhibit. We saw this at the National Gallery in 2007, and also walked through it briefly when it opened at the Met a few months ago. We had to go take a stroll through it before it closed: what is utterly amazing is how Turner's late works anticipated the Impressionists by 50 years. In addition, Turner's ability to make oils look like watercolors was just stunning.

US Open

 

It's become a semi-tradition (OK, only this year and last year) for me to go to a US Open match with my friend Paul. This year we got to see an exhibition match between Todd Martin and Michael Chang, and then a quarterfinal match between Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic. Andy blew it: he was on the verge of taking Djokovic to a fifth set, and double faulted twice at 30-30 while serving for the fourth set. And on the last point, he went for a drop shot from the baseline! Cojones, but not wise.

Hilarity at the RNC

The RNC speeches have been hilarious tonight. Linda Lingle, the governor of Hawaii, is making fun of the fact that Alaska is 250 times larger than Delaware (Joe Biden's state). This is coming from the governor of Hawaii??!!! No offense to my Hawaiian friends.

Chrome!

A new web browser from Google. It seems pretty zippy, at least for the web sites that I've tried. Cool!