wunderkraut

Dragon Girl

2012-01-14T23:53:00.000-05:00

Hardly any movie ever lives up to the book it is based on, especially if you really liked the book. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo does. It is perfect. Rooney Mara is perfect. She beat out Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johannsen. I liked her chemistry with Daniel Craig. Overall the casting was brilliant. David Fincher is the mood master. I'm very excited for the next two movies in the series.

Dragon Girl is building on some serious momentum arts and entertainment-wise -- to me, anyway. The past few months featured The Wire, Mad Men, The Hunger Games, Unbroken, Wasting Light... Brilliant stuff all around.

Let's keep it going with Mad Men Season 5 launching in March!

It's snowing!

2011-12-28T09:53:00.001-05:00

... inside my garage door opener. Wah wah.

Mad Men

2011-12-27T23:05:00.001-05:00

Mad Men is spectacular. In anticipation of the season 5 launch this March (and my recent passion for rye based drinks) I re-watched the season 1 pilot and the finale. Both are sheer perfection. It's been a good TV year for me between Mad Men and the Wire. Helped me get over the time I wasted on this pathetic thing called LOST. Creators and writers should be held accountable for their end product. Abrams, Lindelof, big fat fail! Ok I'll shut up now.

Why life today is soo much cooler than ten years ago

2011-12-14T11:31:00.000-05:00

OK, the header is a little overpromising. What I meant to say is, every once in a while I learn something new that just amazes me. Like this:

There are now people out there whom you can hire to be your video game bodyguard. Call of Duty mercenaries for eight bucks a half hour. For the price of admission you get one of the guys that typically kick your ass in online play. They'll run around with you, take bullets, and take out the occasional enemy you missed, ever conscious of your stats of course. They also give you hints over chat, and show you the cool sniping spots.

That is just awesome.

FUUUUUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-08-07T20:19:00.001-04:00

WHY
DID
I
NOT
GO?!?!?!??!????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But of course I only thought that for a split second. Then I finished changing the diaper, administered the 3am feeding, and went back to sleep with a zen-like smile on my face, happy for my darling baby... cuz she deserves it.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKKK MEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Fokilroy

2011-07-13T09:49:00.001-04:00

Vigor, dedication, and tenacity, oh bring betterment to this golf swing of mine. A Ricky Fowler and Rory McIlroy swing it shall be. One-third Ricky and two-thirds Rory be the recipe. Known it shall be hence as... The Fokilroy.

Fokilroy!

I shall shout your name on the tee box. Fokilroy!

Rory, Rory, Halleluja

2011-07-04T22:17:00.001-04:00

U.S. Open at Congressional on Friday. What initially seemed like a work chore, turned into a pretty incredible experience. Armed with a rundown of who's who by the Seedling, I was at least going to have something to say. 6:30am Gaithersburg bus parking lot, a well oiled machine I have to say. Marched through the gates at 7:00, quick brekkie, and off to the sixth hole, waiting for Rory, right across the water hazard by the green, front row. First group comes through... A guy named Gonzales stands out, not because of his play, but because he looks like a Metallica roadie. Then an hour later Rory comes round the bend, along with Phil, the old warhorse stomping down the fairway. Rory birdies, records are being smashed. 30 feet away, he looks composed, relaxed, almost like some dude who wandered on the course. Not having ever been much into professional golf before (kind of a stuffy, white and nonathletic set ... and Tiger) this is new for me: the breed of young, confident, humble, yet supremely skilled players out there... Makes me think that the current generation of kids in general seems to be just years ahead compared to us (or me anyway) when we were that age. We tag along with Rory for a fee holes but it gets too crowded so we move to the first hole where Fowler and Mahan are feeing off. Later to the 15th to see Day, Els and Funk. It's awesome how freely you can move around. 4pm, Rory double bogies the 18th (a nasty hole, 523 yard Par 4, downhill fairway to a peninsula-like green, yikes), three Heinekens later, I call it a day. Would have liked to see Bubba bomb one out there, but alas, time to get on the bus and take a nap. Speculation about whether Rory can keep it together is rampant, turns out he's just fine. More than that, he finishes something like 8 up. Can't wait to see more of him, Day and Fowler in the months ahead...

This was posted using the new Blogger+ and my tiny iPhone keyboard... That's why it took me 2 weeks.

Growing Up

2011-06-16T19:55:00.001-04:00

Whenever you stop thinking about just yourself and start thinking about others, that's when you've grown up. I've met four year old grownups. And then there are some who will never grow up, no matter how old they get.

The Miraculous Improvement of J.L.W.

2011-05-11T16:32:00.000-04:00

Today is a good day.

It is Tuesday, May 10. M and I start the day at 4am; we're getting serious about finding a name for our new offspring. After a couple of cloned baby name websites we end up at the Social Security Administration's page. Surprisingly good data and information. We're looking up the letter J, M says she likes names that start with J. After a little bit of browsing we look at Jonah, and shortly thereafter agree on Jonas. A couple of quick quality control measures later... say it with last name, say it together with Alex's name, shout it, whisper it...done! Jonas Liam is the final verdict. Negotiations concluded.

We head over to the ICU for the 5am feeding, giddy. The poor guy is still pretty much in the same miserable condition as two days ago. His breathing barely regular, CPAP tubes stuck up his nose and attached to his cheeks via velcro stickers, another feeding tube down his throat, an assortment of colorful wires springing from various body parts. But his nurse Samantha reassures us that he's doing great. Today he'll be continuing his transition from IV fluids to breastmilk. We start with 2ccs of mama's finest. And the metamorphosis begins.

At 11am M get's to hold him for a half hour, pure bliss.

At 5pm we come back to find that his breathing tubes have miraculously disappeared, he's drawing in the air calmly and confidently. He's got his eyes open, even flashes one of these drunken baby smiles at my rendition of "ABC".

At 7pm his feeding dosage has gone to 7cc up from 2cc, it later goes to 12cc. His skin tone is now a healthy rosy glow. M gets to shampoo his head. He's fluffy and fragrant.

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T12:56:00.002-04:00

It was all very quick. Contractions at 8am. Full blown labor at 3pm. Fully dilated at 4pm. Birth at precisely 4:20. I kid you not. Hopefully not a sign of things to come...

Considering all the stuff that was going on -- water breaking at 32 weeks, big rush right before birth, epidural that didn't work, lots of people in the room, NICU inevitable -- the second time around was a lot easier for me than the first time. M was a trooper, baby came out mad as hell after only two pushes, everything calm after that. We were in good hands. Thank you Dr. Apgar and everyone else there.

I was surprised at how big he was, didn't expect that. 5 lbs 1 oz, 17.75 inches. Reminded me of Alex right away, just a skinnier, furrier version. Got to sit on mommy's belly for a minute and then off to the NICU. Hard to see him there in his space pod all wired up. But it's all good. He's well and mommy too, that's what matters.

Every Day Counts

2011-05-07T15:39:00.000-04:00

Wednesday 5:05 pm, my phone rings. I've missed four calls from Michelle within a couple of minutes. Crap. I call her, she's distraught, just left work, her water broke, called doctor, on way to hospital, the baby is only 32 weeks, what are we doing with Alex. Everything after that is a blur. I pick up Alex at daycare, these guys are great, one of the teachers rides to the house with me, Mom kisses Alex bye and we're off to the hospital. Michelle is plugged in, nurse says not looking so good, lot of water, steroid shot goes in for baby lung development, have to keep him in the oven for at least two more days, ideally three weeks. More shots, antibiotics, and things begin to settle down a little. Parents arrive around midnight, Alex is sleeping. We're all ready for a rest.

Thursday things are looking up. The leaking is now but a trickle, contractions are slower too. Texts and emails are coming in, we're seen by various doctors. The picture emerges that we'll be more or less living in the hospital for the next three weeks, no matter what... hopefully bed rest, with Michelle on the monitors and me on the bench, worst case NICU which is automatic for any baby younger than 35 weeks.

Daunting at first, but more and more manageable, nice to have the extra family time, kind of an adventure. Visitors are trickling in. Alex is enjoying his playtime with lolo, nurses fawning over him, buttons to push. But he misses his mama. We're fortunate for all the support, near and far, we're thankful to be in competent hands.

Today is day four, and the fact that we're still in this room is a blessing. Four days of baby development, enough time for the steroids to kick in, and the word is the longer you stay the longer you stay. Seems like we're over the worst. Confinement is hard on Michelle. "I want to go to Home Depot with you guys." That says it all. We had IHOP for breakfast. Now it's naptime.

And that's why you always leave a note!

2011-05-02T15:36:00.000-04:00

Finally saw 127 hours last night. It's the ultimate "that's why you always leave a note!" ... see Arrested Development:

Good movie. I wanna go hiking already!

Last Snowball of the Season

2011-02-06T17:14:00.003-05:00

Jack and the Beanstalk...

2010-09-23T09:46:00.000-04:00

What is wrong with kids books?? They're supposed to teach morality. So I just got Alex the Best Bedtime Stories from Amazon yesterday... bound in leather. This morning he woke up at 5:45 again, I lost the coin toss with M, so lacking any other ideas I got the book out and picked a story: Jack and the Beanstalk. That shit is fucked up! Our broke hero cons his way into the Giant's house playing on the wife's sympathies, steals the Sack of Gold, blows the cash immediately with his clueless mom, is broke again, goes back to con them out of the Hen that lays the Golden Eggs, gets bored with being rich, goes back a third time to steal the Magic Harp for entertainment, and whacks the Giant to top it all off. WTF???

Alex & Trevor brawling at daycare

2010-09-22T22:31:00.000-04:00

Perfect Day in DC

2010-09-14T10:31:00.001-04:00

the color is orange

2010-07-18T10:48:00.001-04:00

Harakiri

2010-07-06T09:10:00.003-04:00

This movie was great. I have no idea how it ended up in our Nexflix queue. I like the anti-establishment theme... the Samurai code of honor is corrupt! Very un-Japanese. Gripping mood throughout.

4 out of 5 ninja stars.

Alex!!!

2010-06-30T07:47:00.002-04:00

"Trending Now" on Yahoo this morning

2010-06-24T08:46:00.002-04:00

1. Jennifer Aniston
2. Adolf Hitler
3. Kim Kardashian

What the...?!?

Mr. Mama

2010-06-12T12:01:00.003-04:00

With M in Tampa at her conference, it was time for me to step up this week and play Mr. Mom. I had my apprehensions I have to admit. A lot of what ifs in my head, and no magic boobie. But I don't mind a little challenge every once in a while...

The first one was the flight back from Tampa. Was upgraded, and the cabin was full of grumpy looking business types. The guy next to me took off immediately and took another seat to "give us some more room". Whatever. I understand him. Three years ago that guy was me. Flight was pretty good overall. Alex freaked out only once, but I managed to feed him some United breakfast grapes and put him to sleep. Flight attendants were helpful.

The three days that followed in DC were awesome. I was tired as hell. I had to go to work. But Alex was great. Went to daycare without a fuss. Took the bottle milk at night, even though I know he hates it (I had to trick him and put him to sleep first and take the pacifier out the last second and swap it with the bottle). Went for walks (our little pre-bed neighborhood stroll routine). Went for some Chinese food in the hood ("he so cute"). Laughing, smiling, exploring the house, splashing in the baby pool, all the same as if Mommy were around. I feel like I know him better now. Thanks Alex, we'll do it again. Can't wait to go camping with you.

Mom is back now, of course Alex was beside himself with smiles. Now the poor fella is down with a 103 fever and a nasty case of food, hand & mouth disease. Thank god that didn't happen when I was by myself...

Bathtime, Easter and First Haircut

2010-04-05T21:20:00.002-04:00

D-Day

2010-01-07T10:47:00.004-05:00

D=Daycare. Monday was Alex's first day. It was crazy hard leaving him there - more for mommy than for me, but still. And the whole day you keep thinking: is he ok? he's so young, only four months, is he ready for this? are they taking good care of him? do they let him cry? and so on and so forth...

But it'll be good for him to be around other kids, right? At least that's what I'm telling myself to feel a little less guilty... At least all the other kids seemed to be really excited to be there.

When we got there, he really dug the ExerSaucer, we're going to have to get one of these. Let the accumulation of crazy toys begin. Ha, and we thought we'd be different...

Fall

2009-10-12T21:23:00.002-04:00

Pics!

2009-09-09T14:11:00.001-04:00

At home with Alex

2009-09-07T17:40:00.007-04:00

M and I came home from the hospital on Saturday. So far so good. Aside from the to-be-expected lack of sleep, we're slowly getting used to the cycle of feeding, burping, changing, and starting over. Alex doesn't feel like sleeping much longer than one or two hours at a time. Hopefully that'll get a little more soon. But it's all worth it. We get so excited when he coos or shows a hint of a smile or strikes a pose. And he smells so good!

Carmen is surprisingly tolerant as well, running for cover only during the loudest of cries. She does have kind of a new chagrined look about her though. Like "Really, you think that was a good idea"? She'll get over it.

We've had a little trouble with an incompatibility between M's and his blood type, so we've had to go into the hospital every day for blood tests, to make sure his slightly yellow hue doesn't change to full blown jaundice. So far his billirubin (?) count has been high but stable; today it went down to a little bit more more normal level. We'll know more after the pediatrician visit tomorrow.

M is doing well overall. The many blood tests have been hard on her (me too!), and I think she's starting to suffer from a little post-partum stress. But we'll be ok. M's mom will be around for the next two weeks; she's an enormous help. An we're getting a constant flow of the nicest emails, facebook comments, and calls... thank you guys!

Also quite entertaining are the many curious new items in our household such as as "Baby Wipes: Sensitive Skin". Really, is there another kind? Like turpentine-strength for the leather-skinned baby that craps tar? More investigations to follow.

Anyway. Back to work. I think there's a diaper that needs changing.

Hurray :-D

Vampires!

2009-08-21T21:55:00.005-04:00

They're back! True Blood. Twilight. Made me remember the first vampire movie I ever saw when still a young lad in Germany.

Dance of the Vampires!

Fond memories, but I have no idea what it would be like watching it today... Hopefully not like watching Short Circuit after 15 years. I couldn't bear the disappointment. Then again, it's Polanski...can't be all bad. But so was The Ninth Gate. But wait, I liked that!

Hmm. Maybe the Seed should see it first and tell me how it is. Just to be safe.

Who eats this??

2009-04-07T16:50:00.001-04:00

Gigungo samwich at Safeway, aptly named the "All-American". The Red Bull is for comparison.

C4

2009-03-12T10:19:00.001-04:00

Watch more videos of CoD4

Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades

2009-02-20T07:52:00.002-05:00

By James M. Kilts
CEO and President,
The Gillette Company
February 18

Would someone tell me how this happened? We were the fucking vanguard of shaving in this country. The Gillette Mach3 was the razor to own. Then the other guy came out with a three-blade razor. Were we scared? Hell, no. Because we hit back with a little thing called the Mach3Turbo. That's three blades and an aloe strip. For moisture. But you know what happened next? Shut up, I'm telling you what happened—the bastards went to four blades. Now we're standing around with our cocks in our hands, selling three blades and a strip. Moisture or no, suddenly we're the chumps. Well, fuck it. We're going to five blades.

Sure, we could go to four blades next, like the competition. That seems like the logical thing to do. After all, three worked out pretty well, and four is the next number after three. So let's play it safe. Let's make a thicker aloe strip and call it the Mach3SuperTurbo. Why innovate when we can follow? Oh, I know why: Because we're a business, that's why!

You think it's crazy? It is crazy. But I don't give a shit. From now on, we're the ones who have the edge in the multi-blade game. Are they the best a man can get? Fuck, no. Gillette is the best a man can get.

What part of this don't you understand? If two blades is good, and three blades is better, obviously five blades would make us the best fucking razor that ever existed. Comprende? We didn't claw our way to the top of the razor game by clinging to the two-blade industry standard. We got here by taking chances. Well, five blades is the biggest chance of all.

Here's the report from Engineering. Someone put it in the bathroom: I want to wipe my ass with it. They don't tell me what to invent—I tell them. And I'm telling them to stick two more blades in there. I don't care how. Make the blades so thin they're invisible. Put some on the handle. I don't care if they have to cram the fifth blade in perpendicular to the other four, just do it!

You're taking the "safety" part of "safety razor" too literally, grandma. Cut the strings and soar. Let's hit it. Let's roll. This is our chance to make razor history. Let's dream big. All you have to do is say that five blades can happen, and it will happen. If you aren't on board, then fuck you. And if you're on the board, then fuck you and your father. Hey, if I'm the only one who'll take risks, I'm sure as hell happy to hog all the glory when the five-blade razor becomes the shaving tool for the U.S. of "this is how we shave now" A.

People said we couldn't go to three. It'll cost a fortune to manufacture, they said. Well, we did it. Now some egghead in a lab is screaming "Five's crazy?" Well, perhaps he'd be more comfortable in the labs at Norelco, working on fucking electrics. Rotary blades, my white ass!

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe we should just ride in Bic's wake and make pens. Ha! Not on your fucking life! The day I shadow a penny-ante outfit like Bic is the day I leave the razor game for good, and that won't happen until the day I die!

The market? Listen, we make the market. All we have to do is put her out there with a little jingle. It's as easy as, "Hey, shaving with anything less than five blades is like scraping your beard off with a dull hatchet." Or "You'll be so smooth, I could snort lines off of your chin." Try "Your neck is going to be so friggin' soft, someone's gonna walk up and tie a goddamn Cub Scout kerchief under it."

I know what you're thinking now: What'll people say? Mew mew mew. Oh, no, what will people say?! Grow the fuck up. When you're on top, people talk. That's the price you pay for being on top. Which Gillette is, always has been, and forever shall be, Amen, five blades, sweet Jesus in heaven.

Stop. I just had a stroke of genius. Are you ready? Open your mouth, baby birds, cause Mama's about to drop you one sweet, fat nightcrawler. Here she comes: Put another aloe strip on that fucker, too. That's right. Five blades, two strips, and make the second one lather. You heard me—the second strip lathers. It's a whole new way to think about shaving. Don't question it. Don't say a word. Just key the music, and call the chorus girls, because we're on the edge—the razor's edge—and I feel like dancing.

Charlatan

2008-09-21T10:11:00.002-04:00

WIKIPEDIA: A charlatan (DR. RONG SHEN) is a person practising quackery (ACUPUNCTURE) or some similar confidence trick in order to obtain money ($150) or advantage via some form of pretence (STICKING NEEDLES IN YOUR NOSE) or deception (RUNNING ELECTRIC CURRENT THROUGH THE NEEDLES IN YOUR NOSE). Synonyms for "charlatan" include "mountebank", "shyster", and "quack".

Clarification: It did not work. And I really wanted it to. Acupuncture did not fix my allergies or whatever's fucking up my nose. After a week of clear nose, I got three weeks of worse than before. I'm sniffling as I'm writing this.

Wow! It's New York!

2008-08-27T15:10:00.004-04:00

Toooo muuuuch!

2008-08-25T19:24:00.002-04:00

Virgin Fest 2008

2008-08-16T11:08:00.016-04:00

Sun, drinks, chicken souvlaki, and Foo Fighters. It's a perfect day.

Pimlico is a confusing place.

Didn't bother us. We got waaaaasted!

Especially that guy in the background.

This one too.

Yep.

She had to be restrained.

An important day...

2008-08-10T19:27:00.003-04:00

Saturday was Green Card day. Yay!

We appropriately celebrated the event with a Big Mac.

No words are necessary.

2008-07-28T20:20:00.002-04:00

Ah, Summer =)

2008-07-24T21:41:00.001-04:00

Sigh...

2008-07-10T13:24:00.000-04:00

Europe Slideshow Part 2 from One Little Seedling on Vimeo.

Thank you Seed and Blueryder. Sniff.

Strange Friday

2008-03-28T18:57:00.012-04:00

It's Friday night. I’m waiting for Itunes to finish importing a John Mayer album. The CD drive is humming, and I decide to look up him on Wikipedia. It says he has a blog on his website, so I click on the link. On the first page is an entry he has just written yesterday, from Japan, during his third week of travel there.

http://www.johnmayer.com/blog#2272

I don't really know much about the guy other than he's an awesome guitarist and he dated Jessica Simpson at some point. So by the time I'm at the bottom of the page, I’m stunned that his post is so thoughtful. It's making sense to me. So much that I’m a little confused, actually. And compelled to sit down and write this... right now!

The idea of recording my thoughts in a blog has been haunting me for a while. I've had quite a bit of encouragement from friends, but somehow the impetus has been missing, and the thread to tie all my random thoughts together. I've been wondering a lot what I would write about, who the hell would want to read it, whether I would expose myself to criticism or ridicule. I thought, it would probably be safe to write about interesting impersonal stuff, unique events or news, maybe even insights from my daily life that the ordinary onlooker would never guess, and provocations for others to share theirs. So I cautiously started collecting ideas, just in case I wanted to suddenly go for it. But I just couldn't get over my terror of opening up and being judged somehow. So why post now? Let's see...

The last couple of years have been amazing for me. I'm getting married in a couple of weeks, and I know that I've never been so happy in my life. No doubt the biggest part of this is having found my other half, so to speak. But other things are good too. So recently I’ve been asking myself, what's different? Where is all this good stuff coming from, why am I now so happy, and why wasn't I in the past?

There are probably a lot of reasons why, and I can never know them all. But here’s a theory: I grew up with a pretty traditional German worldview. That isn't necessarily bad, but it suggests a certain striving for control, being safe, winning, being right, being respected. At the same time, like any human being, you want to be liked. What that means is, inevitably, in relations with other people, and often without knowing, you put up a facade, because you spend a great deal of energy worrying. You’re quiet when you really want to express yourself. You’re on guard when you‘d rather share your opinions and emotions. Probably not a path that always leads to happiness.

What I've been starting to grasp ((veeeery sloooowly)) over the past couple of years - and, to a great deal, because of the awesome people I have in my life - is, simply, that you have to be who you are. The good parts and the bad. And that you can‘t really control much after all. Well, minus the flatulence perhaps... It's ok. There's no requirement to be special. There's no ultimate judge out there. At least not one that is more important than you leading a happy life. And that was something I probably knew in the back of my head, but it took the nagging discomfort of the idea of blogging, and Mr. Mayer’s post to put it into words, and myself into action.

The idea is to shed the armor. "Be vulnerable but stay away from where it hurts." How can good things find you, if you're hiding? So. Here it is. I'm putting myself out there, I'm jumping in.

Promising lighter and shorter content to come.