Posted by Barron • Creativity • Photography • Living • Austin • Travel • Comments • Permalink

I’ve been pretty busy lately, these past two days I have been at the Hyatt downtown taking photos for a User Group for work. On Sunday, however, we went out to Fredericksburg and visited Wild Seed Farms. they have a nice butterfly house, and lots and lots of flowers to take photos of. It’s a great place to try out a new lens! (Unfortunately, I was just using my old lenses) Anyways, here’s a pic, and you can see a few more on my Flickr photostream.

Posted by Barron • Miscellaneous • Comments • Permalink

This past weekend we traded in our ‘99 Sentra for a new Prius. We love the new car! It is amazing. The touchscreen display is so useful. Not only does it have the GPS map, but you control the hands-free bluetooth phone settings there, climate control, and audio. Besides those features, there is also a maintenance record, where you can input your oil changes or basically any notes you want using the onscreen keyboard. And when you shift to reverse, the screen show the rear view camera screen. There is also a readout that shows you the current powerflow (if the gas engine, electric motor, or a combination of both is being used) and charging status. It also keeps a record of the current and recent mpg. Speaking of mpg, we took a drive out to Marble Falls, and our avg mpg was right around 50mpg.

We opted for the dvd-navi system, and it is very well done. It has voice-guidance, and automatic routing. Plus, it has tons of POI’s (points of interest) loaded in, including gas stations, atm’s, hotels, parks, emergency services, etc. Also, the restaurants are broken down into cuisine type. So you can search on Japanese, Thai, Italian etc. When the icons show on the map, you can touch them and the restaurant info comes up, including telephone #. Then you can touch the telephone icon, and the car uses your bluetooth phone to call the restaurant. It is pretty slick. I’m glad we got the dvd-navi, and would recommend it to anyone.

To me, it’s interesting that the convergence of computer and car is making the leap into the passenger area. We have had computer chips controlling mechanical portions for a while now, but with the Prius, you really see it interfacing directly with us. The Prius uses a power button instead of a traditional turning of the key. When you hit that button, you don’t hear an engine turning over, but the displays light up, and it indicates that it is “ready”. Then you just shift it to D or R, and you are off. This is strange at first, because it is running off the electric motor and it is very quiet, almost silent. Later when you need more power, the gas motor kicks in, which is seamless and also very quiet.

The key unit is interesting. To start up the car, you don’t need to put a key into the ignition. It can still be in your pocket or purse, and you can start the car right up. And when you approach the car, it senses if the key unit is near (within a few feet) and when you pull on the door handle, the sensors on it will unlock the door instantly. It’s amazing. Pretty soon I can see cars being tied to not only the key unit, but actual people via some kind of bio-recognition. I would think that is only a few years away.

On a sad note, we traded in our ‘99 Sentra, which was Mariko’s first car. Bay was actually pretty sad to see it go. He cried a little bit the night before, and then at the dealership he kept saying that he didn’t like the new car. But he was so excited to crawl around in it the first time, and he had a huge smile on his face, then remembered how he “didn’t like the new car” and put a fake frown on.

Posted by Barron • Personal • Random Thoughts • Comments • Permalink

Kia’s “The Power to Surprise” has got to be the worst tagline, especially for a car company. Are the cars surprisingly good? Do Kia’s surprise pedestrians or bicyclists more than other vehicles when you pull out in front of them? Are we supposed to be surprised that Kia’s haven’t gone the way of the Yugo already? I would think you’d want your car to be thought of as reliable, stable, consistent, and predictable. You want to know exactly what your car is going to do when you step on the gas, or push hard on the brakes. That’s not a time when you want to be surprised.

Posted by Barron • Living • Food • Shopping • Comments • Permalink

I am addicted to Saltines. I can usually go through one of those bags in a single sitting, and a box of four will be gone in two days. Unfortunately, our Costco stopped carrying Premium saltines. But luckily, Target has their Market Pantry brand of saltines, which are at least as good as Premium. Plus, they are only $.97. They used to be $.87 a box, but the price went up recently.

Yesterday at Costco, while searching in vain for saltines yet again, I came across the mega-pack of Ritz crackers. I hadn’t had Ritz in a while, so I thought I would try them. Ritz are good crackers. But they are definitely not as “grindable” as saltines. They are a bit too rich and oily. I think they need to have something to compliment their taste, maybe a dip or cheese. Saltines, on the other hand, are more of a “eat them til there aren’t any more left” type of snack to me. I would have thought the opposite, that Ritz would be the cracker more suited to mass consumption, but to me, that would have to go to the venerable Saltine.

Maybe I should branch out and look for other snacks? I really don’t like anything that has powdered flavoring on it, though. I guess I will just have to have an open mind while I peruse the cracker section at the supermarket next time I go.

Posted by Barron • Personal • I Like it! • Comments • Permalink

Obama on American energy consumption: “All of us are going to have to change our habits. We are a wasteful culture.” It’s so refreshing to hear a politician tell it like it is.

Posted by Barron • Creativity • Film and Video • Personal • I Like it! • Comments • Permalink

After a few months of this dvd sitting on the enterainment center, I popped it in the player and watched it. I haven’t seen a Tarantino movie since Jackie Brown, and I really don’t know why I waited so long to see Kill Bill. I love this movie. I loved Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown. Kill Bill is over-the-top violent, with amazing action sequences, lots of dismemberments, and even a bitchin’ anime sequence. Plus the soundtrack is super! Uma Thurman is perfect for the role, and I really loved the character Hattori Hanzo by Sonny Chiba. I was wondering why Tarantino chose that name for the character, but the dvd’s special feature explained it. (I used to watch that show about Hattori Hanzo on KSCI in Los Angeles just like Tarantino did)

My only complaint was the casting of Lucy Liu. I’m not sure why, but I really can’t stand her in any movie. She’s not great at all. Acting, charm, presence… totally lacking! The funny part is, I like her when I see her in real-life interviews and stuff, but in an acting role, I just don’t get her. Plus, she looks lame in kimono. I wish Tarantino would have cast Nakama Yukie of Gokusen fame in that role. Go Go Yubari was pretty great, though! The Japan scenes (most of this movie) were fantastic. My favorite scene was when The Bride and Hattori Hanzo were talking at the bar.

I have Kill Bill Vol. 2 next up in my Netflix queue, and I can’t wait to finally see Bill himself.