Christine over at Big Pink Cookie just made my day -- she had a link to a video of the Will Ferrell "Switch" ad for Apple! Cool!

Karoo music finds S. African acclaim. I think this is very cool. I spent some time in the Karoo two years ago and I loved it, even though I saw only a small portion. Imagine a semi-arid land of buttes, hills, gulleys, cactus-type plants, red rocks, sheep, huge sky -- kinda like northern New Mexico or Wyoming in a way. Except with wild baboons. Ugh, I can't do it justice. Trust me, it is cool.

I wasn't feeling too great today (headache, etc) and came home from work and took a nap. Felt much better, so I went out and saw a preview showing of Austin Powers in Goldmember. Succinct review? Funny, lots of potty humor (too much?), a few surprises, overall felt weaker than the first two.
Interesting appearances: Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs in the band Ming Tea and the backpacks on the Japanese twins were created by Paul Frank.

Why is the huge 'development' in Maple Grove called "Arbor Lakes"? The land has been razed to raw gravel pits and there is nothing remotely resembling an arbor as far as the eye can see. In fact, what the eye can see is glob after glob of retail chain establishments... putting a fancy name on it does not make it so.

Over at björk.com they say a few new DVDs and CDs will be released soon! Wow - I've been eagerly awaiting a DVD of the Sugarcubes and it looks like August 1st is the release date! August 10th is the Royal Opera House DVD and then in September we get two new CDs. Super!

The 2-disc DVD of Amelie came out last Tuesday and is currently on sale at Target for $17.99 -- the cheapest place I've found. Don't know how long it will last at this price, but maybe you should grab one in the next day or two.

A parody of the Apple Switch ads: F*ck your Macintosh Lifestyle (link via scripting.com)
I'm still looking for Will Ferrell's actual ad... anyone seen it out there?

Found this on Daypop the other day and forgot to post it here: 100 Albums You Should Remove From Your Collection. Funny, yet sometimes very accurate.

The other thing noted on Daypop was True Porn Clerk Stories, which is both sad and funny at the same time, while being a very interesting peek into this world.

Finally! I've been asking and begging the local grocers to carry more lactose-free products (specifically ice creams of various brands) and today I discovered that the Lund's near work now has Breyer's Lactose-Free Vanilla ice cream! yee-ha! 99% lactose free and all natural ingredients. yum. Although, to be honest, I do now prefer the taste of Soy Dream Organic Ice Creams. Super yum!!

While we're on a computer-related theme here lately, has anybody else noticed that the iTunes 3 update that was released yesterday can export data in XML? Now, what do we do with it? I imagine some app using AppleScript (or perl/php) to grab said data, manipulate it and jack it out to my website. Yes? Anyone?

Amazon Lite is a most excellent implementation of Amazon's new web services. Bravo! (Link via Scripting.com). Now we need this added to Watson and the new Sherlock.

Tomorrow's keynote presentation from MacWorld NY will be viewable live via satellite over at Murphy Hall on the U of MN campus. The show begins at 8:00am. See you there!
Alternately, you could go down to the Apple store at the Mall of America and watch it there. They will open doors at about 7:45am.

In a surprise move today, Apple released QuickTime 6 for public download! Whoohoo! I can't wait to start using/making MP4 and AAC files. This surprise release may be in response to Micro$oft's Apple-bashing in the press earlier today. As Nelson says: "Ha ha!"

Aha! I figured out who/what has been knicking all my blueberries before I can get them myself. My primary suspect was a bird but then I thought perhaps a rabbit... Neither of those -- two little chipmunks! I witnessed them this morning climbing into the bush, up the branches and out towards the ends (a delicate balancing act), and snatching the riper berries into their mouths before climbing down and scampering off to their secret stash site. They are just light enough that the thin branches support them and they wiggle their tails carefully as counter-balances. I may have to try and capture them on video.

I'm sure this will blogged all over the place, but I love it: Homer says hack your DVD player.

MacWorld NY is next Wednesday and as usual the rumor mills are flinging feasibility like farmers fertilizing their fields. Whew, that was a while coming out. Anyway, on Monday it was to be a nice upgrade of machines. Yesterday it was to be only minor tweaks. Today is ranting and gnashing-of-teeth day by the Mac addicts. Some say new machines won't surface until mid-August. You know what? I can wait that long -- I've waited since 1998 with my then-stellar beige G3 and over the years I've added a dual firewire/usb card, an ultra ATA drive controller card, maxed out the memory AND put in a G4/400 cpu upgrade. I also run OS X full time. I just can't put any more hardware (or money) into this great little box.
Repeat to myself: "I have self control. I can wait. It will be worth it. Don't look at the rumor sites. DON'T LOOK AT TH..." oops, I peeked.

It is particularly disappointing to be at work, ready to have lunch of grilled turkey burgers (big and tasty) and realize that your freshly sliced tomato is at home in the refrigerator. But it is oh-so-satisfying to struggle through the day, arrive home, and then eat said turkey burger with said tomato. Mmmmm... yes.

Looks like the African continent will follow in the Europeans' path with the creation of the African Union, with a central bank, court, eventually a currency and a security force. This will be extremely tough, I think, but they already had the Organisation of African Unity, so they've got some experience behind them.

"There will be no fighting in the war room!"
Yup, I finally viewed Kubrick's dark comedy and I enjoyed it much. Thanks to those who prodded and suggested. Sellers was great, Scott was great, it was just overall pretty darn good. I'm sure I'll have more thoughts on the movie after mulling it over for a few days, but at least I am no longer in the running as the last person on earth to see this film. I will, however, remain in the race for "Titanic" and "Gump," mostly just out of spite.

This has become my clear conflict -- I really love to read things and regularly get distracted reading even more when I intended to actually write something. I guess I should be glad it isn't something like smoking. Reading, as far as I know, is not detrimental to my health.

I didn't go watch any fireworks last night, which is fine by me, although I usually do check them out from someplace in the area. Instead, a nice bbq with friends and a cheesy 60's spy movie - "In Like Flint" with James Coburn (which, btw, is not as good as "Our Man Flint" in my opinion). Today is back to work as I didn't take the day off like so many other people... blah... I should've.

Cleaner vehicles may soon be required by law in California. I think this is an overdue and awesome bill and I hope it passes. We have got to do more long-term thinking in this country so we have something left in 50 years. The technology is available and we have the power to dictate its use. Auto manufacturers just don't want to be the first and only as they perceive that they'll lose profits. Get over it. People will still buy cars/trucks/etc and car companies will still make money. Duh.

... I don't have a life: a 16-hour work day. Yes, for real. Ugh. Not really worth it. Very exhausted. Must sleep now. Lychees were tasty...

Steve Fossett, millionaire adventurer (that would look good on a business card, eh?), has completed his solo around-the-world trek in a hot air balloon. Wow. Way to go, Steve.

Aw, yeah! Awesome! The Super Target out on Hwy 101 in Minnetonka has lychee fruit!! Whoohoo! I bought a bunch just now but I am apprehensive about the ripeness. I've never seen fresh lychee around these parts and the ones I found out in NY were not that nice. I'll post results and a picture later...

Like Tess, I'm gonna do the Two for Tuesday thing mainly as a Trackback test (don't worry if you don't know what Trackback is) of MovableType. I don't usually go in for these online polls or personality tests, but what the heck.
1. All time favorite band/singer : Bjork (if I have to pick just one)
2. What is my feel-good song : Anything with a fast and/or funky beat or catchy riff (right now Brassy's "Work It Out" and Ursula 1000's "Kinda Kinky"). I don't have just one as I like so much music and it changes from time to time.