I watched Atonement, starring James McAvoy and Keira Knightley. While I thought it started off slow, I thought it was an excellent movie by the end. Good direction, good cinematography, excellent acting. Well done. It was nominated for a Best Picture in 2007. I don’t think it’s quite “Best Picture” material, but it was certainly very good.
Atonement (2007)
The carnage continues. Concerned about the imminent loss of our four remaining fish, I hit the local Petco during my lunch hour. I called Doug, and he walked me through purchasing a pH/ammonia/nitrite/nitrate testing kit, and this stuff called Stress Zyme to battle nitrites. When I got home tonight, I found two little guppies were lying on the bottom of the tank. Two fish left, and one of the remaining guppies was swimming vertical, and slowing sinking backwards to the bottom.
I did the testing, and turns out the nitrites were at 5ppm, which is very high. It appears that I’m overfeeding the fish, and the uneaten food is polluting the aquarium. With Doug’s guidance on the phone, I emptied 5 gallons of water out, replaced it with new water, cleaned the tank, and added Stress Zyme. Our two little survivors are zipping along, and surprisingly appear healthier and happier. This weekend if we have time, I’m going to pick up some live plants and snails, and a little decorative aquarium doohickies. The plants and snails will do some cleaning organically, and a sunken battleship will spice up the tank.
Anyone looking for a fabulous flat-panel tv? The Samsung LN52A550 is on sale, and I’ve been told by an actual set owner that it is a quality product. In addition, looks like the economic downturn is creating gluts in HDTV inventories, forcing retailers to initiate price drops.Yee haw.
The teaser trailer for Terminator Salvation has been released, starring Christian Bale.
We lost the other molly (spelling?) today. Now we’re down to just four of the guppies. What the heck? I called my friend Doug for a consultation. He recommended that I pick up some additional supplies from the pet store — ammonia testing kit, pH kit, etc. There’s a Petco on the way to the office in PA, so I’m going to stop by on my lunch hour. This is getting serious.
We lost another fish this morning — the blue molly. Found him/her on the bottom of the tank. What’s the deal? I thought fish were easy upkeep? Keep the water clean, feed them once a day, throw a hamster in for a few minutes for excitement, and that was it? Hmmmm. I have a mystery on my hands. We’re down to just 4 little guppies left, and the gold molly, but he’s been acting weird. I may have another fatality on my hands, I suspect.
I didn’t have dinner the night before, or breakfast, so out and about in the Philadelphia suburbs for lunch today, I spied a Burger King. I opted for the Indy Double Whopper. I don’t see it on the online menu, so maybe it’s a limited time and location offer. The new Indy double whopper is stacked with two beef patties, crispy bacon, pepper jack cheese and blackened cajun mayo. I did a double-take at the drive-thru menu. Blackened cajun mayo? How the hell do you blacken mayo? After eating it, I thought I was going to actually die. Two patties, bacon, and cheese. It was tasty, but too much food, man.
Saturday night, Anju, Sunny, and Sophia came over to visit. We tried out this Latin restaurant nearby for the first time. Pretty decent, and very nice empañadas.
On a beautiful-yet-hot Sunday in July, we packed the car, and drove to a BBQ that our friends Pradeep and Heidi were hosting. We also celebrated our friend Plexy’s upcoming birthday, since we had everyone together. I’m glad we had a nice opportunity to get out and hang out with friends. We think we spend way too much time at home washing and folding laundry these days. 
Afterward, we made a trip to New York to see my parents for a little while. My mother packed us all this food, but I’m not complaining. I love my Mom’s cooking!
I used to read Cracked magazine regularly while growing up at the town library. Cracked is now online. Two funny articles:
I’m back in Philadelphia all this week. Fun. Stuff.
I almost forgot to mention, but you know how I have a tendency to forget important things. Congratulations to Leena & Sanjay on the arrival of their son Jacob two weeks ago. I really have to call to see how life is for them now that they are back to changing diapers!
I don’t know how I missed it. Well, sure I do — I’ve been busy with work and family life to keep track of major announcements in the gaming industry, but Blizzard announced the upcoming release of Diablo 3. Diablo 3! Oh, if only I had a fast enough PC to play it. And the free time that would be required. I never purchased or played Diablo 2, and the reviews were mediocre, if memory serves me. The sequel’s gameplay strategy was summed up as, “Click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click. Reload game.” The video/picture quality and screen detail made it feel very authentic too. See the sample screen captures posted below [warning: very large.]
I do have a soft spot in my heart for Blizzard games like the Starcraft/Warcraft/Diablo franchises. Excellent gameplay, great music, fun stories. I remember many a late night I was playing the original Diablo at home, with the spooky music, and the even spookier screaming-in-agony voices you would hear in the background. It was only a game, but you had to think twice before turning the corner, or wondering what was waiting for you behind the door.
This morning, I took Joshua to his Saturday morning gym class. Afterwards, we all met up with my sister and her husband to visit our pastor at the church in preparations for the baptism next month. We later got lunch at a diner in Princeton, where I finally had a decent pastrami sandwich in NJ. Now, if they could just stuff more pastrami in the actual sandwich, I’d be happy.
Speaking of food, a London restaurant was serving up Thursday what it hopes will be confirmed as the world’s hottest curry, with even the chef admitting it is “too extreme” to keep on the menu. Vivek Singh at The Cinnamon Club grabbed some of the hottest chilli peppers known to man to create the Bollywood Burner, a lamb-based dish with a fierce kick. The curry is so hot that diners are asked to sign a disclaimer confirming they are aware of the risks involved before daring to eat it.
It reminds me of the time in April 2006 when I was on a business trip to Toronto, CA, and I had spicy chicken vindaloo and naan for dinner one night. The vindaloo was so spicy, I spent the entire dinner dipping my naan into the curry, eating it, then drinking water to cool my mouth down. Gosh, that was a good dinner.
Tonight, the entire Ipe family went to see a Trenton Thunder vs. the Binghampton Mets minor league baseball game over at Trenton’s Waterfront Park. Her company purchased group tickets, and we went as well. I have to say this was my first minor league game, and it was pretty decent. It’s certainly a different feel — smaller stadium, cheaper food, more silly games between innings to entertain the crowd. I liked how the stadium itself is smaller. The seats are always good, and it’s easier to get the kids (and yourself) food and snacks.
Same crowds attending the major league games — I’m watching the game, but noticing guys on their Blackberries or iPhones, people leaving in the 6th inning (even though Trenton and Binghampton were tied 1-1.) It’s that whole question of whether people are watching the game, or hanging out and btw there are some people doing stuff on the field. We didn’t even get to stay to watch the end to find out who won. Josh and Lily were both tired by 10pm, and weren’t going to make it to the end. Ah well, it was nice to get out on a Friday night. See the updated July 2008 photos.
I do love Star Wars. Here are two great Star Wars-related clips:
The first is a Spike TV commercial promoting their Star Wars movie marathons. [Thanks Kanishk for sharing.]
The 2nd clip is from the upcoming LucasArts game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed game that gives me another reason to buy an Xbox 360.
Last night after work, I picked up the kids, and we came home to find one of our guppies floating upside down. Our first casualty. Without letting Joshua notice, I scooped the little guy out, and flushed it down the toilet. Doug was right — don’t start naming the fish. We haven’t named them, so hopefully Josh won’t notice that there are now only 7 fish in the tank, not 8. I’ve unofficially named one “Scuba Steve”, as he’s always chillin’ on the aquarium floor like he died or something. I figure he’s not all that bright.
I’m working from home today so that I can get my car fixed…. again. This time, it’s the driver’s side window. It’s been acting up the past two months, and won’t always close. Last Wednesday, I was at Wendy’s for lunch, and I opened the window to get my meal. Leaving the drive-thru, the window won’t close all the way. I was supposed to take it this week to the mechanic, but I haven’t had time with my travels to Philadelphia. I’ve used my wife’s car, and she’s driving mine with the window open (she parks in an indoor garage.) In the evenings, I put up trash bags to cover the open window. Earlier this week, I heard that my father-in-law came outside to inspect my car while my wife and kids were at their house one evening. He allegedly shook his head, and recommended that we donate the car to good will. Does no one have faith in this car to make it another mile?
The new iPhone releases today. I won’t get it, since I’m doing so well with my Blackberry Curve. The Curve has to be the best phone I’ve ever owned. Slim, smart, and excellent quality all around. I do like the iPhone, but I already have the iPod Touch, and I’ve read how the iPhones require charging once a day. Hmmm, that’s not fun. Maybe I’ll get an iPhone in the future, but not anytime soon. I’m good right now.
