The Reader’s Digest Association ain’t what it used to be

Posted on January 12, 2010 by Joel

When I first changed my major in college back in 1997, I was desperate to find a good job in the technology space. I was starting from square numero uno, with no real world experience in IT, apart from a semester running the computer labs at Univ@ Albany for a semester (as part of a class), and while at a small college near my parents house in the spring of 1997. 

I attended summer classes at Pace University, registered at the Pace Co-op program office for internships, brushed up my resume, and interviewed one location after another. IBM’s TJ Watson center, Avon, and finally Reader’s Digest. Of all my choices, I accepted the position at RDA in their Help Desk initially doing analysis work for the first semester. After a regular help desk employee moved on, I jumped at the chance to take her place on the phones. I spent the next eight months providing level 1 support, including the occasional office visit.

It was an interesting experience, and I truly loved the people I worked with. Some really nice people over there, but RDA was just beginning to experience troubles.  That same year, I witnessed my first layoff, as one day, the halls were empty, and middle management was gone. The stock was in bad shape, and the old timers were grumbling about retirement.

By August 1997, they offered me any open internship position within the firm if I would stay, but I wanted to try another company, so I parted with a heavy heart, and moved to another intership with Kraft in their Coffees & Cereals division. People have come and gone, and I went to a few get-togethers of RDA staff in the late 90’s, but life went on for me after I graduated and started working full time.

I just read an article in the NY Times about RDA’s current woes, and it saddens me. The article, A Reader’s Digest That Grandma Never Dreamed Of, states that the company has moved out of the beautiful Pleasantville/Chappaqua campus. More people have been laid off, artwork sold, brands have suffered. I hope the management team is able to pull it together to save the company and the brand, even though it’s saddled with onerous debt.

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Adam & Eve on a raft & wreck ’em!

Posted on January 10, 2010 by Joel

Putting together the new play kitchen, and no plumber's crack in sight!

Kids being kids, they love to pretend to be superheroes or Vikings or anything fantastical you can imagine. Oddly enough, they also love to pretend to do mundane adult things like cooking and going to the DMV to renew their vehicle registration.  Frankly, I’ve never met any children who wanted to pretend to renew their vehicle registration, but I’m sure it must happen somewhere. Whenever our kids visit a children’s museum, we always see a mob scene at the play kitchen area.  I’m not sure what the deal is, but I suppose kids like to pretend to be grown-ups. My niece has a play kitchen, and all three kids love to pretend to cook eggs and boil potatoes.

For Christmas, my wife’s family got our kids the KidKraftplay Deluxe Let’s Cook play kitchen. It’s certainly been a while since Christmas, but I finally had a lengthy block of time to clear out some space and put it together early Sunday evening.  The instruction manual advised between 1 – 1.5 hours, but I knew that’s never accurate. From my experience, these projects often require you to tack on an additional 2 hours to any job. It took me close to four hours, as the kids constantly tried to “help” me. Still, I’ve realized that even though they aren’t actually helping, they need to feel like they are.

Josh and the new play kitchen assembled

The kitchen turned out rather nice, but I was a little surprised that no play food was included.  Luckily, my wife purchased some over a year ago from a KB Toys store that was closing up, and she held on them until she needed it. She’s good like that. Soon we’ll have to introduce the kids to diner lingo. That should be fun.

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Avatar (2009)

Posted on January 7, 2010 by Joel

I took the day off today, and met up with my friend Doug to see James Cameron’s big CGI epic Avatar.  Even better, we saw it in IMAX 3D. I’ve actually not seen any mainstream movies in 3D that have recently been released (the last being a kids “educational” 3D movie over at the Liberty Science Center last year.) I had time to watch some trailers for upcoming movies which were in 3D as well, and they looked great. Hey, maybe I should see more 3D movies.

The plot of Avatar plays out much like Dances with Wolves or The Last Samurai. From Wikipedia:

The film is set in the year 2154 on Pandora, a fictional Earth-like world in the Alpha Centauri planetary system. Humans are engaged in mining Pandora’s reserves of a precious mineral, while the Na’vi—a race of indigenous humanoids—resist the colonists’ expansion, which threatens the continued existence of the Na’vi and the Pandoran ecosystem. The film’s title refers to the genetically engineered bodies used by the film’s characters to interact with the Na’vi.

So, without giving any big secret away, while the humans may see the Na’vi as savages, they are actually a sentient alien race with ties to nature, which we don’t.  Throughout the movie, there are some definite Native American themes, as well as the injustices done to them.  Nature is good. Humans are thoughtless and crude. We should be one with the world.

Overall, although the movie is long (clocking in at 162 minutes), I felt it went pretty fast. While the themes are nothing new, the movie itself is gorgeous. I read online that the movie is 40% live-action, and 60% CGI. I did hear previously that James Cameron had the movie studio executives nervous with the high price tag ($280 milllon?), but since he’s approaching (or reached) the $1 billion mark in sales, I guess he’s laughing all the way to the bank on this one.

I would recommend watching this movie in IMAX 3D. It’s a beautiful-to-watch movie, and entertaining. Watch it. Dive deep into it. Don’t spill your popcorn.

Avatar (2009)

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We need a “Save Better Off Ted” campaign pronto

Posted on January 5, 2010 by Joel

Last month, I heard about a relatively new show called Better Off Ted on ABC. I forget exactly where I heard about it.  I think someone mentioned it was funny. I didn’t remember much in the way of ABC tv promos, but I searched for it, and watched a season 1 episode available on Hulu.

I am in love with this show, and frankly, I find it consistently better than The Office has been these days. This show has a fun ensemble cast, great writing, and is just a smart comedy. Meanwhile, ABC is apparently burning off episodes one after another, and not even bothering to market this show. I heard nothing about this show beforehand, so really, that kind of mistake is ABC’s fault.  What is with network television executives and their cliched stupid decisions? How can they get rid of good shows, and leave crap like According to Jim on the air since 2001?

If you search for news on Better Off Ted, you’ll find journalists and critics and regular Joe’s saying how great this show is, and that it is worth saving.

While it’s still available, watch the season 2 premiere “Love Blurts.” The company decides to dabble in eugenics by trying to hook up employees in order to save on health insurance.

I just started the first two mins of “The Great Repression” [also below] about sexual harassment, and it’s already great two mins in.

Watch the show.  Decide if you think this show is worth saving. Join the campaign with me! Facebook it! Tweet it! Email an idiot at ABC! Do something! Just don’t let dumb comedy win out.

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I’m enjoying Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Posted on January 3, 2010 by Joel

Back on Dec 19th, my friend Reeba got me Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (on recommendation by my dear wife) for a Secret Santa gift exchange. Since Dec 20th, I’ve been playing maybe an hour or so of Uncharted 2 on the Playstation 3, give or take. Some days, I play two or more hours, while some days I don’t play at all. 

Am I in college with free time to play hours a day? No. Do I have an HDTV to enjoy the fine graphic detail? No. In spite of it, I have to say that every game review is right on the money. This game is friggin’ amazing. It has to be one of best games I’ve ever played. The storyline is straight out of an action movie, the protagonist (Nathan Drake) is supremely identifiable, the acting is top-notch, the visuals are stunning, the story is entertaining, and the music is enjoyable. I love this game , because I am having so much fun with it.

Yes, you can get slightly frustrated at times, but not due to deficiencies in the game itself. There are some events and scenes where the goals can feel slighly impossible as you die over and over again. When you get past it, and you eventually will, you feel great. Furthermore, as you play, even though you are struggling, you are awestruck by what you’re trying to do — trying to outsmart the tank chasing you through a village, a firefight through the aforementioned village, fighting and maneuvering a moving train, or jumping from truck to truck in a convoy while battling soldiers shooting at you from other moving jeeps. The ancient puzzles to solve, as well as treasure hunting, and feats & trophies to accomplish and win make it all the better.

I gotta mention the train. In two consecutive chapters of the story, you jump onto a moving train, and must slowly make your way to the front of the train, in order to rescue a friend. You will fight soldiers within and on top of the train, using stealth, hand-to-hand combat, or a myriad of weapons you pick up from the foes you kill. Meanwhile, this train is travelling at full speed through absolutely stunning landscape that looks so realistic, you wish you could just sit on the train and watch the scenery. I’ve embedded a portion of the train chapter below (a rather harrowing portion of the story, let me tell you) from Youtube. Watch it full screen, and hit the HD button. It’s sweet.

I’ve now posted video and pictures here, but if you want to see more, check out the website above for the trailer with actual gameplay. You can click any of the photos here to see larger screenshots of the game in all it’s glory. It’s a phenomenal series, and Uncharted 2 is a great addition to any collection. There are just so many times while I’m playing that I just say to myself, “I can’t believe what I’m doing now.” When you play, you just feel like Indiana Jones.

Nums & Reeba, thank you so much!

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Dan Auerbach: Goin’ Home

Posted on January 2, 2010 by Joel

I’ve spent too long away from home
Did all the things I could have done
Gone are the days of endless thrills
I know I’m not the only one

So long, I’m goin’, goin’ home…

I saw the streets all ripe with jewels
Balconies and the laundry lines
They tried to make me welcome there
But their streets did not feel like mine

So long, I’m goin’, goin’ home…

I want the sun to hit my face
Through oak trees in the open lot
Forget about the things you want
Be thankful for what all you got

So long, I’m goin’, goin’ home…

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Adventureland (2009)

Posted on December 31, 2009 by Joel

As per Ipe New Year’s Eve tradition, my wife and I ignore all the regular hoopla, and settle in for a nice, personal evening. This NYE, we celebrated it with drinking wine and watching Adventureland, a 2009 film written and directed by Greg Mottola (yes, of Superbad fame.)

The move takes place in 1987, and is about a recent college grad Jim (Jesse Eisenberg.)  He was to go to Columbia for graduate school, but needs to raise money over the summer, so he begins working at the Adventureland amusement park in his hometown of Pittsburgh, PA. While working the summer, he meets various people working the park, bonds, and experiences an interesting summer. He also meets Emily (Kristen Stewart of Twilight fame), and falls for her. You know, one of those deals. Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig also star in this movie, but they are only supporting cast members.

This was a pretty good movie. It’s similar to many other movies in this vein, but it was still an interesting movie to watch.  I liked the direction, the acting was rather excellent by non-famous actors/actresses, and it was entertaining. Best of all? I loved the 80’s soundtrack.  According to the Wikipedia entry, 41 songs were licensed for use.  The original film soundtrack on iTunes doesn’t have all the songs, but I will have to check out the rest. Here’s the listing of songs [from Wikipedia]:

Adventureland – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
# Title Writer(s) Length
1. “Satellite of Love”   Lou Reed 3:39
2. “Modern Love”   David Bowie 3:56
3. “I’m in Love with a Girl”   Big Star 1:47
4. “Just Like Heaven”   The Cure 3:31
5. “Rock Me Amadeus”   Falco 3:18
6. “Don’t Change”   INXS 4:26
7. “Your Love”   The Outfield 3:42
8. “Don’t Dream It’s Over”   Crowded House 3:54
9. “Looking for a Kiss”   New York Dolls 3:18
10. “Don’t Want to Know if You Are Lonely”   Hüsker Dü 3:30
11. “Unsatisfied”   The Replacements 4:00
12. “Pale Blue Eyes”   The Velvet Underground 5:28
13. “Farewell Adventureland”   Yo La Tengo 3:40
14. “Adventureland Theme Song”   Brian Kenney & Ian Berkowitz 0:33

Additional songs

A selection of the songs not included on the soundtrack album:

  • “Here She Comes Now” by The Velvet Underground (plays during the opening credits)
  • “Breaking the Law” by Judas Priest
  • “Taste of Cindy” (acoustic version) by The Jesus and Mary Chain
  • “Limelight” by Rush
  • “Bastards of Young” by The Replacements (opening sequence)
  • “Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake
  • “Blister in the Sun” by Violent Femmes (used in the trailer)
  • “Tops” by The Rolling Stones
  • “So It Goes” by Nick Lowe
  • “Let the Music Play” by Shannon
  • “Point of No Return” by Exposé
  • “Obsession” by Animotion
  • “Dance Hall Days” by Wang Chung
  • “I Want Action” by Poison

And that makes 42 movies for Joel in the year 2009. It’s a wrap!

Adventureland (2009)

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My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006)

Posted on December 30, 2009 by Joel

I watched movie 41 of the year 2009 on cable TV — My Super Ex-Girlfriend. It’s a terrible 2006 movie starring Luke Wilson (before he was shilling for AT&T) and Uma Thurman (who I mistakenly thought could do no wrong.) The movie also stars Anna Faris and Rainn Wilson.

Oh, did I say terrible? Did I let the cat out of the back? Whoops, my mistake.  The movie is terrible. The premise of the movie is that Luke Wilson starts dating Uma’s character, but she has a secret identity of….. G-Girl! “G-Girl” is a heroine who can fly, invulnerable, etc. However, Uma’s character is fruit loops, Luke breaks up with her, and the story is all about what would happen if your crazy ex-girlfriend used her super powers to get revenge on you. You know, like throwing your car into orbit.

Yeah, I kid you not.  The movie was dumb. Forced laughs, and nobody was interesting. Rainn Wilson’s character was a jerk, but not even an interesting jerk.  I can’t believe I liked Anna Faris better in her Wayan Bros. farce movies. And this was directed by none other than Ivan Reitman. Dammit, man, he directed Ghostbusters. Sad.

Don’t waste your time on this movie on TV.

My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006)

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Up in the Air (2009)

Posted on December 29, 2009 by Joel

Much like last year, this is last week of the year is pure vacation for us, so we’re spending it together watching movies, hanging out, and running errands. Today, we had lunch at Big Fish in Princeton, and then went to see Up in the Air. It’s a newly released movie that’s getting great reviews, so I made the suggestion we go see it. Wow, what a great idea.

Directed by Jason Reitman (son of Ivan Reitman), this was certainly one of the best movies I’ve seen all year. George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a man who works for a firm that has him travelling around the country laying off people for various companies. He’s isolated from a relationship standpoint, and relishes the accumulation of frequent flier and loyalty program points.  The story itself is about himself opening up, and involves two other people as well in his life.

The music was great, the direction was great, the story was great, and the acting was fantastic.  As a traveller, I secretly enjoyed watching him pack, and knowing the ropes of getting through security and such with efficiency.  Loved it.

Up in the Air (2009)

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Mom and Baby Die During Labor, Revived

Posted on December 29, 2009 by Joel

This is pretty amazing.  A pregnant mother in Colorado went into labor, but she and the baby seemingly died.  Later after the baby was born via C-section, she revived.  Furthermore, the doctors were able to revive the baby too. Crazy.

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