Winter Tires

Finally got some new winter tires and steel rims for the Prelude. Let me tell you, summer tires + snow = wheeeeee! But there is a difference between "This is fun" and "I'm going to kill myself". Tough time to get winter tires though... Michelin has had some sort of strike recently so finding Michelin X-Ice tires (my first choice) was impossible in the short-term. After some looking around, I finally found a place that sold Bridgestone Blizzaks and could install them quickly.

Bridgestone Blizzaks



I don't think I've ever driven on pure winter tires before (always all-seasons). These tires are awesome! The grip I have is crazy. No more fun power-slides for me. :-(

Welcome to Ugly Christmas Lights.com!

How can you not like a website called Ugly Christmas Lights.com?

Check it out - some really funny/crazy pics...

Dilbert on Video Compression

Good old Dilbert. For those of you who don't understand video compression (and therefore don't know what I do these days), here is the "Marketing" explanation:

Dilbert - Video Compression

Seems so simple, doesn't it?

Christmas Tree

Last weekend we picked up our Christmas tree. For the first time we decided to try a "cut your own tree" place called "Benjamin's Tree Farm". Well, the good news was that it was not too cold, and it wasn't snowing. The bad news was that it was wet & muddy, and we had to walk about 15 minutes to get to a place where there were decent trees. The hard part was dragging it back.... UGH! They gave us a plastic barrel cut in half with a rope attached to use as a sled. Ya, right. The thing was next to useless. By the time we got back to the cash, I was exhausted, Sarah was crying, and Leah's arm was about to fall off from carrying Abby. It did save us quite a bit of money though, and we got a pretty big tree. We'll see if we do the same thing next year. Leah says we will laugh about this sometime soon. I'm still waiting... ;-)

Sarah ready to go find a Christmas tree (notice the purse)



Finished cutting down our Christmas tree



Decorating the tree (anyone want to guess how many balls Sarah broke?)

Apple Launches ITunes Music Store in Canada (now with more updates!)

Cool! Might have to spend a few bucks sometime soon on some tunes...

Yahoo! News - Apple Launches ITunes Music Store in Canada

UPDATE - bought my first song from iTunes Canada today... Great way to get indivual songs you like without spending the $$ for the whole album... Now I'll have to try moving the purchased track over to my home PC and burning a CD. Muahahaha...

UPDATE #2 - So after purchasing my first song, I emailed it to my home PC and was able to 'authorize' that PC to play the song (you can authorize up to 5 pc's to play the song). I haven't seen the purchase yet on my visa bill, but it looks like the $0.99 included tax... At only $9.99 for a complete album (regardless of if it has > 10 tracks) and the ability to burn a CD using iTunes, I may never buy another CD again... A - cheaper. B - never need to worry about losing the CD since you have the "originals" to burn it again. Now if they ever make an iPod integrated car dock/stereo...

I can see how buying songs can easily become addictive when it is so easy (and you don't notice the charges right away). For a cheaper solution, there is AllOfMP3, but I am too chicken to give my Visa number to some russian website.

ROTK:EE Trailer Released

Here is a link to a great six-minute trailer for the Lord of the Rings: The Return Of The King, Extended Edition

We get to see some snippets of the final confrontation between Gandalf and Saruman, as well as some other intriguing scenes that will add a lot of depth to the final movie. The Extended Edition will add an additional 50 minutes to the film, bring the total for the Extended trilogy to 11 hours and 20 minutes... yow.

Firefox extension - WeatherFox

Really cool extension for Firefox - WeatherFox

Get international weather forecasts from weather.com, and display it in any toolbar or statusbar with this highly customizable extension.

Abby picture

Abby is getting bigger and bigger. Won't be long until she and Sarah join forces against us. :-)

Abby in chair

MBFOB - episode 2

Hmmm - The 2nd episode of "My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss" kinda stunk. No where near as good as the 1st episode... According to the ratings, it is not doing well either, only drawing 4.4 million viewers its first episode. So it may not be around for long... As long as we find out if the 'real' boss was a monkey...

Our Angels

My new favourite picture of all time.

Our Angels

My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss

My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss on FOX is probably the funniest show on TV right now. Total rip-off of Trump's "The Apprentice", but waaaaay more evil. For example, at the first board-room elimination, the first guy is told that he is too short, and that only tall people will succeed in life (WOOHOO) but the second guy is fired for wearing too expensive a suit. Leah and I were cracking up. Watch it...

10x10 / 100 Words and Pictures that Define the Time

Interesting concept. Should be interesting to see how well this will work...

"10x10 is ever-changing, ever-growing, quietly observing the ways in which we live. It records our wars and crises, our triumphs and tragedies, our mistakes and milestones. When we make history, or at least the headlines, 10x10 takes note and remembers.

Each hour is presented as a picture postcard window, composed of 100 different frames, each of which holds the image of a single moment in time. Clicking on a single frame allows us to peer a bit deeper into the story that lies behind the image. In this way, we can dart in and out of the news, understanding both the individual stories and the ways in which they relate to each other.

10x10 runs with no human intervention, autonomously observing what a handful of leading international news sources are saying and showing. 10x10 makes no comment on news media bias, or lack thereof. It has no politics, nor any secret agenda; it simply shows what it finds."

10x10 / 100 Words and Pictures that Define the Time

Snow flurries??

First snow of the season... And its only the beginning of November? What have we done?? You know, its 16 degrees C (60F) in San Jose right now... sigh....

Tea Party

Sarah and Abby had a tea party this weekend. Pretty funny. Don't even try to refuse. ;-)

Time for a tea party

GROW

From PC Magazine:

"Grow is probably the strangest, albeit most intriguing, game we've seen. Just start dragging the assorted materials (everything but the kitchen sink) into the red circle at the center and watch it grow. The object, as it becomes clear, is to add the materials in the correct order. This game can be won, but you'll need a lot of downtime at work to do so."

GROW

I played with it for a while last night... Very intriguing, to say the least. I finally did indeed win (it didn't take *that* long).

HULK'S DIARY THAT IS ON THE INTERNET

Great blog by the Hulk himself. The old ones in the Archives are a riot. HULK SMASH!

HULK'S DIARY THAT IS ON THE INTERNET

EE Times -Consumer as king: A benign tyrant?

Interesting article about the consumer electronics industry, and how fast new gadgets are becoming aquired by the mass market...

EE Times -Consumer as king: A benign tyrant?

Happy Halloween!!

Halloween fun was had by all. Sarah dressed up as a ladybug, and went to most of the houses on our street (maybe 8) collecting candy. She had the "Trick or Treat" prefected (although it sounded more like "Tickor tweet" :-) ). Abby was the Great Pumpkin. Our neighbours have (hopefully) started the great idea of not only giving out candy to the kids, but also beer to the parents taking the kids out. Next year I'll be standing beside the girls - them with a loot bag, me with an empty 12-pack. heheh

Smiling pumpkin



Frowning pumpkin?



Is there a pumpkin on that ladybug?

Big Galoot Wines

Finally got around to making a label & logo for the "Big Galoot Winery". On the advice of the guy at my local wine store, I just bought Avery labels (much cheaper than blank "wine" labels) and printed them off. The logo is a picture of Nauga I took a while ago with the background removed, then superimposed on a picture of wine grapes I found onthe web. I put the result through a filter to make it look like brush strokes, then added the text. Big Galoot Wines - coming soon to a store near you! ;-)

Big Galoot Wines

LSI Logic builds on video expertise | The Record.com

Here is an article in the Kitchener/Waterloo newspaper about our team. Note that the person mentioned who "relocated from headquarters" is me! :-)

LSI Logic builds on video expertise | The Record.com

Oktoberfest 2004

Here is us with the mascot of Oktoberfest, Onkel Hans. Sarah was not too sure about the big orange guy...

If you look in the background, you can see Miss Oktoberfest sitting there enjoying the festivities.

Jim, Sarah, and Onkel Hans

New pics of the girls

What cuties



Sarah and Abby

LSI Logic Product Showcase

If you've wondered what we do at LSI, here is a product showcase of all the consumer devices you can get with LSI chips(s) inside...

LSI Logic Corporation - Product Showcase

Oh so pretty...

So here's the story... Leah was upstairs with Abby, and Sarah was downstairs. After a few minutes Leah thought that things were a little too quiet downstairs. From upstairs, Leah could hear Sarah say "Lipstick, Mommy, lipstick!" Leah runs downstairs to see this face...

Never leave a little girl alone in close proximity to lipstick...



Sarah got into Leah purse and took out her lipstick to wear (liberally) like a big girl. Oh boy...

My new computer

Click on the image to make it bigger, and read the caption. Pretty funny.

My new computer



I like the "Captain's wheel". What the heck would that be used for? Scrolling?? "Hard to port, Matey!! Now pull the giant level twice to select". hehehehe

A little tap-dancing anyone?

Click the image below for a little dance from the Bear.

Dancing queen

Posted by Jim

Paper Cheetah

Came across this website while browsing the Canon site. I guess Canon sees it as a good way to waste all your ink so you have to buy more. hahaha. Anyhoo, they have *tons* of really cool paper projects.

Canon 3D Papercraft

The Cheetah looked cool, so I thought I'd give it a try. Here are the results:

[ And Debbie said it couldn't be done... (long story) :-) ]

Grrr

Posted by Jim

Stalking his prey



Going back to the jungle



"Chester" (the Cheetah) is about 6 inches tall, and close to a foot long. Pretty good size for a paper cheetah! It took a few hours to do, but the directions are pretty simple to follow. Some projects look easier to do than others.

Have fun!!

Marcie & Chad's Wedding

Here is a picture slideshow from Marcie & Chad's wedding.

Marcie & Chad's Wedding

(Note - works much better in Internet Explorer)

Weekend Wedding

Hi all,

Well, the wedding in NY was a success. Everything went great, and Sarah had no problems putting on her dress and being a good flower girl. Although she wouldn't wear her "nice" shoes, and instead wore her flashing princess sandals. Oh well, whatever works, eh? :-)

Getting ready



Wedding party



Wedding party (close)

Phil Douglis's Photo Galleries at pbase.com

Came across this excellent site/photo galleries that he calls "an interactive learning device in expressive travel photography". Donna/Dad/Tim you guys will find this very cool.

Phil Douglis's Photo Galleries at pbase.com

The Toronto Man Show

Ooh ooh! I *really* want to go to this....

The Toronto Man Show

The animated GIFs are great: "BEER! SPORTS! GEAR! FISHING! WRESTLING!" Who could ask for more??

More Birthday Pics from Saturday

Tooting her own horn


The cake



New bike

The Return of the King - Platinum Series - Special Extended Edition DVD

Available Tuesday December 14th. Aren't you all glad I made you wait (again)?? :-)

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Platinum Series - Special Extended Edition DVD at Video Universe

Here is a list of the new or extended scenes (note - if you want to be surprised, don't go here):

ROTK New scenes

Cooking For Engineers

Some good recipes... I thought it would be "geekier" though. :-)

Cooking For Engineers

E-mail Addresses It Would Be Really Annoying to Give Out Over the Phone.

Bahahaha... These lists always crack me up.

McSweeney's Internet Tendency: E-mail Addresses It Would Be Really Annoying to Give Out Over the Phone.

Misc. Pictures

Here are some recent pictures...

Me and the girls. How high can I stack them?


Abby smiling and swinging


Sarah at the park

Sarah's 2nd Birthday

Had a small birthday party for Sarah last night. Fun & cake was had by all.

Blowing out the candles


Blowing into a horn



Abby getting into the spirit



Opening presents

Sarah's Birthday

Sarah is 2 today! Hard to believe she has only been around for the past 2 years - seems like forever. We'll have a little something for her tonight, but we'll wait for the "big" party on Saturday.

Ready for my new bike!!

We started off just making sure the helmet fit ok, but then Sarah wouldn't let us take it off for the next hour. Maybe we should let her wear this safety equipment all the time, and she'll stop getting so many bruises... ;-)


Posted by Jim


Posted by Jim

Sisters

Our two little cuties...


Posted by Jim

Abby smiles

Abby finally gave us some big smiles this morning and let us capture them on "film". :-)

Abby smiling 1

Posted by Jim

Abby smiling 2

Posted by Jim

Abby smiling 3

Posted by Jim

"Great" Nanny and Abby

Nanny Chapman finally got to meet Abby. Abby cuddled right up and went to sleep.

"Great" Nanny and Abby

Posted by Jim

"Guys - open your eyes for a picture already!!"

Guy and Sefi

Posted by Jim

Swimming at Grammie & Papa's

Yay! Sarah was finally excited to go swimming... Hopefully this will carry over into swimming lessons... We shall see! :-)

Sarah jumping

Posted by Jim

World Population Clock

Hmmm - saw this and got kinda creeped out. Time to thin the herd? :-)

World Population Clock

Wait - didn't I go to Concordia???

Hmm - wondering if I can sue McGill for misrepresentation... Ok, ok, I *was* drinking beer in front of a McGill flag, but thats all! I swear!! ;-)

photos | McGill Alumni Association of Northern California

Notice how there are no pictures of me sitting with them during the game. They were in the nose-bleeds, while Tim got me ice-level tickets. Awesome tix. Tim rules.

Pic from our seat

Hall of Technical Documentation Weirdness

If you have some spare time, check these out. Too funny...

Hall of Technical Documentation Weirdness

Daddy and Sarah reading the morning paper

Daddy and Sarah reading the morning paper

Posted by Jim

Rachel's bug collection

Rachie and her "Charlies"

Posted by Jim

Kissy-face from Sarah

Posted by Jim

Cheese!

Posted by Jim

Study: Premature Boys Have Worse Brain Damage

Hmmm - I was premature, wasn't I?? Explains quite a few things, eh? :-)

Yahoo! News - Study: Premature Boys Have Worse Brain Damage

Sarah saying hello

,dms,sa b b vcf ghgjh'/

Yahoo! News - Early 'Seinfeld' Episodes Coming to DVD

Here ya go Deb:

Yahoo! News - Early 'Seinfeld' Episodes Coming to DVD

Trip to the park

Last weekend's trip to the park.

Sarah loved watching the ducks, but once again didn't want to get anywhere near the water... :-( One of these days she'll come around (I hope!)



Saying hello to the Llamas



Posted by Leah & Jim

Who says computers stink? Oh - they do...

The line about what hackers could do with this "technology" made me crack up. Hmm - smells like cheese...

Kaori Web: Internet Smell-O-Vision

Jim

"My Yahoo" RSS reader for updates

For those of you that use "My Yahoo" as a homepage, you can add a content module called "RSS Headlines" to view the current headlines of this blog on your main page. That way you can easily see when new content is added. Kinda cool. I'll have to see if Sympatico/MSN has something similar...

The site feed url to use is "http://chapmans.blogspot.com/atom.xml".

Off now for lunch. Meeting the girls at the mall. Shop shop shop! :-)

Jim

Sleeping beauty