#1: Yesterday, I received a phone call from a co worker and friend that I worked with for the first 2 months of my job. She called me to ask if I wanted to come back and work on a client with her in San Francisco. The opportunity would actually be to come work with her on a lot of her clients as the advisory staff who work on those clients all tend to move between them. They are a lot of advisory clients within the SF bay area. I was surprised to hear from her. It was really a fantastic opportunity and one that took a lot of thought and analysis. The clients that she has provide the opportunity for potential international travel to Germany, England, France and other countries. It is the opportunity to do real advisory work, including internal audit and data analytics opportunities that are potentially in the pipeline. It's exciting. I decided to take advantage of it, and will be moving most of my time to work exclusively for this partner and the team. It's very exciting and I'm looking forward to being able to work with this team. It'll mean more responsibility and potentialy some demanding projects. But that, my friends, is what I need out of my work.
#2: I recently had the opportunity to drive into San Francisco again. It reminds me of how beautiful and fantastic it is to live in the SF bay area. Living just 45 minutes south of a famous city, having a job, and being able to call this fantastic weather my home is yet another wonderful thing.
#3: I recently had the opportunity to apend the weekend with my wife at my parent's house. We were actually alone, as my parents had taken residence at the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas (in a 1400 sq. ft. suite, but that's another story) so we adopted their home and took care of Rubi for a couple days. We heated up the pool, went for a swim, laid out (Lindsay has the burns to prove it), ate at Tex Wasabi's. I got the smoked pork ribs, and Linds got the "hulk" sushi roll. Yup. Southern barbeque and sushi. It's Guy Fieri's restaurant, and it's wonderful. If you find yourself in Santa Rosa, check it out.
Just remember, if you have opportunities in this life, no matter how small (#2), how large (#1), or how fun (#3), take advantage of all of them. Life's wonderful. It's hard sometimes, but it will all make sense in the end.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Transformers 2: Revenge of the "Not-so-Lame"
Time for a movie review. And this is one that I've been looking forward to all summer. Well, even all year: Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. That's right. The blockbuster sequel to one of the more fun movies of a couple years ago has arrived and it stormed into theaters. It's riding very low on Rotten Tomatoes right now (20% Fresh), but what do the laymen think of the movie? Being one of those every day people, I'd like to throw in my two cents. I'm going to try to stay as spoiler free as possible.
The movie opens with a great battle, and then starts the plot forward with a few uttered words near the end of the battle. We find out that man and machine have a tenuous alliance but that not everyone is happy about that. The story then focuses on everyone's favorite fast-talking dude Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) and his trip out to college. Of course, his college is full of basically the most beautiful people ever in the world, but that is short lived as he loses his mind during one of the classes. That truly sets the story in motion as he charges across the world trying to figure out what the symbols in his head mean and why Megatron wants them. That's about as close to the plot as I can come. It's not overly complicated, but it does violate the "show not tell" policy that movies should adhere to during a lengthy exposition of what's going on. I'll break it down:
Plot: While not the movie's strong point, the plot is serviceable. We are talking about alien robots that come from a planet full of alien robots, after all. The plot serves to get the characters where they need to be, although I wish that the final action scene had taken place somewhere more impressive than where it was staged. I was a little sad about that. Likewise, I wish that they had spent just a touch more time to develop the story and why it's so important rather than wasting time on some lame jokes that were present all throughout the movie. Unfortunately, the comedy seems to be aimed at 13 year-olds. It's very juvenile, but I did find myself laughing at times. I'm afraid of what that says about me. Overall, The plot is definitely a weak point, so I say 5/10.
Acting: I don't think anyone is going to be blown away by the acting. They are playing exactly the roles that you expect them to play, and they are exactly the roles from the first one as well. Sam is the same fast-talking charmer, Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) is quite literally just there to be exploited. She runs a lot in slow motion, and her lips have to be fake. Agent Simmons (John Turturro) makes his return as Agent Simmons. I do wish that he wasn't played strictly for jokes. I think that he could be a reasonable character if he wasn't just there to take off his pants once or do some other ridiculous stuff. There's another guy, Sam's roommate, who played another annoying character just there for laughs, but honestly, I never expected Oscar-worth performances here. Overall, a 6/10 for acting because everyone does their job.
Action: There is some amazing action in this movie. There's a fight in the forest that everyone is talking about, and for good reason. The end action scene is good, if a bit incomprehensible. The opening act is pretty awesome as well. Seriously. Just remember the phrase "air drop". That moment is so incredibly cool. But I did find myself missing some action in the middle. After the fight scene in the forest, the action dies out for awhile. If there was a better developed plot, this wouldn't have been much of an issue. However, as discussed, that's a problem, so I did get bored for a bit in the middle. Overall, however, the action and special effects are to notch, 8/10.
Overall: This is far from a movie that I hated. While I won't laud over it because it has too many weak points, and about 40 minutes could have (and should have) been eliminated from the middle, I found it to be great escapist, summer entertainment. Things blew up. Characters were in peril. And ultimately, I really enjoy the action of the Transformers. I'm going to give it a final of 7/10 and tell you to go and see it, as long as you do it in a nice theater to take advantage of the good projection equipment and the large screen. I don't think you'll regret it.
Side Note: There are some kind of crazy stereotypes in this movie. And there's a lot of robo-leg humping. You've been warned.
What did you guys think?
The movie opens with a great battle, and then starts the plot forward with a few uttered words near the end of the battle. We find out that man and machine have a tenuous alliance but that not everyone is happy about that. The story then focuses on everyone's favorite fast-talking dude Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) and his trip out to college. Of course, his college is full of basically the most beautiful people ever in the world, but that is short lived as he loses his mind during one of the classes. That truly sets the story in motion as he charges across the world trying to figure out what the symbols in his head mean and why Megatron wants them. That's about as close to the plot as I can come. It's not overly complicated, but it does violate the "show not tell" policy that movies should adhere to during a lengthy exposition of what's going on. I'll break it down:
Plot: While not the movie's strong point, the plot is serviceable. We are talking about alien robots that come from a planet full of alien robots, after all. The plot serves to get the characters where they need to be, although I wish that the final action scene had taken place somewhere more impressive than where it was staged. I was a little sad about that. Likewise, I wish that they had spent just a touch more time to develop the story and why it's so important rather than wasting time on some lame jokes that were present all throughout the movie. Unfortunately, the comedy seems to be aimed at 13 year-olds. It's very juvenile, but I did find myself laughing at times. I'm afraid of what that says about me. Overall, The plot is definitely a weak point, so I say 5/10.
Acting: I don't think anyone is going to be blown away by the acting. They are playing exactly the roles that you expect them to play, and they are exactly the roles from the first one as well. Sam is the same fast-talking charmer, Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) is quite literally just there to be exploited. She runs a lot in slow motion, and her lips have to be fake. Agent Simmons (John Turturro) makes his return as Agent Simmons. I do wish that he wasn't played strictly for jokes. I think that he could be a reasonable character if he wasn't just there to take off his pants once or do some other ridiculous stuff. There's another guy, Sam's roommate, who played another annoying character just there for laughs, but honestly, I never expected Oscar-worth performances here. Overall, a 6/10 for acting because everyone does their job.
Action: There is some amazing action in this movie. There's a fight in the forest that everyone is talking about, and for good reason. The end action scene is good, if a bit incomprehensible. The opening act is pretty awesome as well. Seriously. Just remember the phrase "air drop". That moment is so incredibly cool. But I did find myself missing some action in the middle. After the fight scene in the forest, the action dies out for awhile. If there was a better developed plot, this wouldn't have been much of an issue. However, as discussed, that's a problem, so I did get bored for a bit in the middle. Overall, however, the action and special effects are to notch, 8/10.
Overall: This is far from a movie that I hated. While I won't laud over it because it has too many weak points, and about 40 minutes could have (and should have) been eliminated from the middle, I found it to be great escapist, summer entertainment. Things blew up. Characters were in peril. And ultimately, I really enjoy the action of the Transformers. I'm going to give it a final of 7/10 and tell you to go and see it, as long as you do it in a nice theater to take advantage of the good projection equipment and the large screen. I don't think you'll regret it.
Side Note: There are some kind of crazy stereotypes in this movie. And there's a lot of robo-leg humping. You've been warned.
What did you guys think?
Thursday, June 18, 2009
A Little Change
Hello world of bloggers.
As you may have noticed, I made some small changes here to my blog. I decided that a new color scheme was in order, and a new, faster loading picture above. So, I hope that you all enjoy that. Other than the cosmetic changes here on the site, I plan on being the same old Matthew, and filling your mind with more and more information that may be useless in your daily lives.
Recently, me and my wife have been enjoying each other's company. We've been going back and forth a lot to the Central Valley in California, and the weather is finally starting to turn around here. San Jose has been pretty cold, but today we finally got back up over 80 degrees and things are only supposed to get better. I guess that summer really will start. So, that's exciting to hear.
We moved a 55 inch TV (thanks mom and pop!) into our just-under-800 square foot apartment. I think that's a pretty good square foot to TV size ratio. It's a lot of fun. We got the HD tuner from Comcast, and now enjoy the extra clarity. At least, I think it's fun.
Recently I've had some severe gadget envy. With the release of the Palm Pre and te new iPhone 3GS and some brand new MacBook Pros and the like having been unleashed on the world, I find myself wanting something fun and shiny to play with. However, it's not in the cards. And that's perfectly all right. I just hope that someone around me will pick something up so that I can play with it and satisfy that internal desire for some shiny geek gadgetry. It's all fascinating and wonderful. Reading about it is one thing; maybe one day I'll get to play with all of the fun gadgets.
To give an A's update: They started winning some games, and then decided that wasn't fun anymore. So they've dropped most of the their last 8 games. It's been sad to watch. For some reason our bullpen just can't seem to hold it down. Our offense has been sputtering, but far more effective than earlier in the season. It's sad to watch, but I will be an A's fan through thick or thin. If you are in the East Bay, I suggest a game. They are fun, and baseball is a wonderful night to get away from everything else. Linds and I are going to the game on Friday (June 26th) with my parents. It's a fireworks game, and we'll be in the 2nd row by the opposing bullpen. It should be a TON of fun. Look for some pictures soon.
I have so much more to say regarding politics, technology, movies, and so many other things. But I think that I should just keep those inside for right now. I find that updates about hanging out with my wife gets the best traffic anyway. :)
Look forward to some more commentary from me soon.
As you may have noticed, I made some small changes here to my blog. I decided that a new color scheme was in order, and a new, faster loading picture above. So, I hope that you all enjoy that. Other than the cosmetic changes here on the site, I plan on being the same old Matthew, and filling your mind with more and more information that may be useless in your daily lives.
Recently, me and my wife have been enjoying each other's company. We've been going back and forth a lot to the Central Valley in California, and the weather is finally starting to turn around here. San Jose has been pretty cold, but today we finally got back up over 80 degrees and things are only supposed to get better. I guess that summer really will start. So, that's exciting to hear.
We moved a 55 inch TV (thanks mom and pop!) into our just-under-800 square foot apartment. I think that's a pretty good square foot to TV size ratio. It's a lot of fun. We got the HD tuner from Comcast, and now enjoy the extra clarity. At least, I think it's fun.
Recently I've had some severe gadget envy. With the release of the Palm Pre and te new iPhone 3GS and some brand new MacBook Pros and the like having been unleashed on the world, I find myself wanting something fun and shiny to play with. However, it's not in the cards. And that's perfectly all right. I just hope that someone around me will pick something up so that I can play with it and satisfy that internal desire for some shiny geek gadgetry. It's all fascinating and wonderful. Reading about it is one thing; maybe one day I'll get to play with all of the fun gadgets.
To give an A's update: They started winning some games, and then decided that wasn't fun anymore. So they've dropped most of the their last 8 games. It's been sad to watch. For some reason our bullpen just can't seem to hold it down. Our offense has been sputtering, but far more effective than earlier in the season. It's sad to watch, but I will be an A's fan through thick or thin. If you are in the East Bay, I suggest a game. They are fun, and baseball is a wonderful night to get away from everything else. Linds and I are going to the game on Friday (June 26th) with my parents. It's a fireworks game, and we'll be in the 2nd row by the opposing bullpen. It should be a TON of fun. Look for some pictures soon.
I have so much more to say regarding politics, technology, movies, and so many other things. But I think that I should just keep those inside for right now. I find that updates about hanging out with my wife gets the best traffic anyway. :)
Look forward to some more commentary from me soon.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
I Have to Say It
So, this is going to be another political post. I just have it on my mind, and I need to vent slightly. I'd like to add as a disclaimer that I have not done significant research into this subject. I read the US News and Business news a few times a day on my Blackberry (using a fantastic program called Viigo, which I highly recommend for all blackberry users out there) and glean most of my information from the articles that appear from Reuters. I may be wrong on a few points, but I just have to talk about it because it's driving me nuts.
Quite some time ago, I wrote a post about the health care problem in the US. It was an interesting one for me to write, as it's a situation I'm close to having a father who has worked for Kaiser Permanente his entire life. However, as Obama is in office, he has made it clear that next few months are "crucial" for his healthcare reform plans. He wants to push some things through Congress before their recess for summer that happens in August. Part of this is to push through plans for health care which could include, among other things, taxing employer provided health care. True, he has said that he doesn't want to do that, however an article that I read recently remarked that the Senator writing the bill has said that it was likely to happen to help to cover the costs of the health care reform.
I ask this question earnestly: Why do we believe, when we already have a broken Medicare and Medicaid system, when our economy is in the pits and our government has already spent trillions of nonexistent money to help it to recover, and that they are already taking so many taxes from us, that we should allow the government to have more money to run a health care system? Is our system perfect? No. Is it expensive? Yes. But is the solution for our bureaucratic and compartmentalized government to take more money from us to provide an undoubtedly complex and expensive system of health care? I do not believe so.
I am genuinely confused at our belief that our government, who has made a debacle of health care in the small programs that they have, can run a full fledged health care system in the United States. Some argue that they are the only ones who could take a loss on health care and keep it running, but for how long? Eventually, they will take more money from us to fund more programs. Eventually, they will need to make money somewhere. Will they be able to buy the latest and greatest technology without it? It will cost us breakthroughs, and probably lives. The reality is that we need a program that encourages health. A program that encourages you to be healthy and not abuse the system. Something that can reinvest profits and keep themselves afloat. We don't need more bloated government programs. We need ideas that will truly work.
I'm just confused as to why we believe that this is a good idea at this point. Insight?
Quite some time ago, I wrote a post about the health care problem in the US. It was an interesting one for me to write, as it's a situation I'm close to having a father who has worked for Kaiser Permanente his entire life. However, as Obama is in office, he has made it clear that next few months are "crucial" for his healthcare reform plans. He wants to push some things through Congress before their recess for summer that happens in August. Part of this is to push through plans for health care which could include, among other things, taxing employer provided health care. True, he has said that he doesn't want to do that, however an article that I read recently remarked that the Senator writing the bill has said that it was likely to happen to help to cover the costs of the health care reform.
I ask this question earnestly: Why do we believe, when we already have a broken Medicare and Medicaid system, when our economy is in the pits and our government has already spent trillions of nonexistent money to help it to recover, and that they are already taking so many taxes from us, that we should allow the government to have more money to run a health care system? Is our system perfect? No. Is it expensive? Yes. But is the solution for our bureaucratic and compartmentalized government to take more money from us to provide an undoubtedly complex and expensive system of health care? I do not believe so.
I am genuinely confused at our belief that our government, who has made a debacle of health care in the small programs that they have, can run a full fledged health care system in the United States. Some argue that they are the only ones who could take a loss on health care and keep it running, but for how long? Eventually, they will take more money from us to fund more programs. Eventually, they will need to make money somewhere. Will they be able to buy the latest and greatest technology without it? It will cost us breakthroughs, and probably lives. The reality is that we need a program that encourages health. A program that encourages you to be healthy and not abuse the system. Something that can reinvest profits and keep themselves afloat. We don't need more bloated government programs. We need ideas that will truly work.
I'm just confused as to why we believe that this is a good idea at this point. Insight?
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Memorial Day and Sister-in-Law’s Graduation
Hello the whole entire world. So, I’ve been the worst blogger as of late. It’s been supremely busy, and I’ve been quite exhausted doing all of the different things that we’ve had going on in our lives. While it might not seem like much from the pictures that are about to get posted, it’s been busy. But enjoy the pictures anyway:
Me and Linds at her parent’s house before the graduation.
Me and Linds’ cousin at the graduation.
Sun setting over the graduation during the ceremony.
Chelsea was happy to be done. Can you tell?
Chase, Lindsay and Chelsea.
We went up to my grandpa’s house. He’s 89, and looking good!
Lindsay’s latest cake. She’s really quite amazing.
Anyway, these are just some of the adventures. I don’t really have too much else to say these days. However, I love my life, and so does my wife. It’s really been a lot of fun and we’ve been really enjoying our lives together. We have been married for more than 6 months now, and things just keep getting better. I don’t think I could have been more lucky.
That's all for now. You know where to leave the comments. And please do. I'd like to know that you are visiting.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Mother's Day
Hey guys.
I've been trying to think of some things that need to get posted, and couple things did come to mind. Most importantly, seeing as Sunday is Mother's day, I decided that I would get my wife some stuff that she would need as she continues to develop her talents as a cake decorator. She is very naturally talented, so we went out and bought her a nice cake turntable for her (future) Mother's day present. It's going to help her become an even more amazing cake decorator.
As for the rest of what's been going on, I'll include some more pictures. Check out the life.
The cake that Lindsay made as practice. I told you she was good.
Me and Linds at her Grandparent's house for Easter.
The kids doing some Easter egg hunting. She found one hiding in the old stove outside.
My beautiful wife. I absolutely love this picture.
Me and my dad at the A's game. I got a nice sunburn. But the A's won. And we saw Giambi's first (and only, so far) homer of the year. The A's have been down for a little bit right now, however, don't sleep on them in the end.
That's all for now. You know where to comment.
I've been trying to think of some things that need to get posted, and couple things did come to mind. Most importantly, seeing as Sunday is Mother's day, I decided that I would get my wife some stuff that she would need as she continues to develop her talents as a cake decorator. She is very naturally talented, so we went out and bought her a nice cake turntable for her (future) Mother's day present. It's going to help her become an even more amazing cake decorator.
As for the rest of what's been going on, I'll include some more pictures. Check out the life.
The cake that Lindsay made as practice. I told you she was good.
Me and Linds at her Grandparent's house for Easter.
The kids doing some Easter egg hunting. She found one hiding in the old stove outside.
My beautiful wife. I absolutely love this picture.
Me and my dad at the A's game. I got a nice sunburn. But the A's won. And we saw Giambi's first (and only, so far) homer of the year. The A's have been down for a little bit right now, however, don't sleep on them in the end.That's all for now. You know where to comment.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Fun Life
So, I've been meaning to get up here and post some stuff on my blog. So let me give you a couple quick bursts of information, with more detail to come in later posts (I'll get back to regular posting, I promise):
I'm going to be posting more.
Till next time.
- My wife and mother got together and did some extremely high qualilty catering for a wedding. They made petit fors, strawberry flowers and some other goodies. The food was amazing, and the lady was very impressed. My mom hopes to spend more time in catering, so please let us know if you'd like to talk to her about potential work for any event that you may be having soon. We have the pictures and recommendations to prove it. Not only that, but the prices are reasonable. Seriously.
- Lindsay and I have a wonderful Friday night activity: Willow Glen Frozen Yogurt Company. It's down the street from our home, and it's amazing and cheap. It only takes cash, but if you live in San Jose, you owe it to yourself. Their wow cow (one different flavor a day) has only 9 calories per ounce. Love.
- A project that I was working on at work was extremely well received and the CFO of the company is excited about what I produced. No more details than that, but I was/am well pleased.
- I recently went on a diet, the flat belly diet. I did it before, during the summer last year, and lost 22 pounds in a mere 6 weeks. It was very effective, and I went down by 6 inches on my pants and stomach. Since I've gone back up in weight, I need to take care of myself. So I am.
- Matt Holliday hit a towering home run today. Bout time. His first of the year, and I'm sure first of many to come. My dad and I went to a game on this past Saturday, got Holliday jerseys, and sat fifth row on the ground from right field. It was an awesome game. Giambi hit his first homer of the year and the A's stomped all over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. It was so, so much fun. Baseball season is in full swing, and while the A's haven't been the best so far, things are starting to look up for them.
- We want a dog. But still don't know if that'll happen. But we'll keep you guys informed.
I'm going to be posting more.
Till next time.
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