Extreme Packaging

This Was Such a No Brainer

This Was Such a No Brainer.

Can't believe it took so long to think of it.

Ice That Looks Like Map of US

Top 10 ways Mei Gardens is trying to achieve Negative Ambiance

Is Negative Ambiance possible? Whether it is or not, based on our recent experience, Mei Gardens is trying hard to achieve it.

Here is my top 10 list:

Top 10 ways Mei Gardens is trying to achieve Negative Ambiance

1. Reheated egg rolls.

2. Main course served to 2 people at 2 different times.

3. Snow pea prep area one table over, diagonally.

4. Dirty empty cake plate one table over, across.

5. Clear view of bathroom from table.

6. Peeling and badly patched wallpaper near said bathroom.

7. My pi’s knife taken away while he was still eating.

8. Tacky jewish music playing in background.

9. No mints, just mint crumbs in an otherwise empty bowl.

10. Lousy fortunes.

What is it about Edison and Gas Main Explosions?

A building blew up on route 27 near Plainfield Avenue at 4:30 am this morning.

When we came by in the evening, the rubble was still smoking.



The building next door.


Notice how the blinds melted.


I am really slipping. I didn't go over to interview the news guy like I should have.

My Old Camera Is Broken But Now Takes Wonderful Pictures

My old camera is broken. Has been broken for a while. However, now that it is broken it takes the most wonderful pictures. My backyard never looked this good in real life.

My kalanchoe at work is blooming!

Avatar's Strong Anti-Smoking Message

I haven't heard much about in it the news, but Avatar has one of the strongest Anti-Smoking messages I have seen in a long time.

First there is the MPAA Rating warning:

Avatar is rated PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking.

And then what happens in the movie.

Really, they couldn't have made it any clearer:

You smoke, you die.

The Cow Cat Making Itself at Home

As seen by the shed this morning.

Continuing the Silly Glasses Pictures Posts

Thanks Eliana and Gene, we had a great time at the New Year's Eve party.

And I'm not just saying that because I won a round of Scattergories and a prize!

You know I mean it because we stayed up WAY past midnight!

Avatar 3D Imax! The Sequel! The Plot!

As far as the Avatar plot, ... well you are probably not going to see this movie just for the plot.

Actually, it wasn't bad (Pincus complement)... it just was so familiar.

According to the web - In 1994, director James Cameron wrote a 114-page script for Avatar. Cameron said his inspiration was "every single science fiction book I read as a kid".

It certainly contained elements of every science fiction story I have ever read, as a kid, and more recently, as a much older kid.

I may have a spoiler here so if you haven't seen the movie yet, you may not want to continue reading.

So which books / short stories might Mr. Cameron have borrowed some plot lines from?

Off the top of my head, the credits could have included:

Desertion by Clifford D. Simak - "Colonizing" Jupiter, human minds in native alien life form bodies. Written in 1944 (!), read by me later than that, earlier than 1994.

Various John Varley short stories - bio-engineering for inhospitable atmospheres

Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card - neural network of trees.

Various stuff by Anne McCaffry - sentient planets, riding dragons.

Raising the Stones by Sheri S. Tepper - sentient planets, environmentalism.

Caretaker Series by David Klass - Greedy Big Business/Evil Corporations that pollute the environment!

Etc… Etc… Etc…

At least the plot doesn’t include time travel or parallel universes ie Schrödinger’s Cat references.

Avatar 3D Imax! Special Effects! Side Effects!

We saw Avatar 3D Imax over the weekend. (Motz shabbos as part of the Vacation At Home program).


The movie was fantastic. The computer graphics live up to the hype. Another level of movie spectacle has definitely been reached.

What I had forgotten about, however, is the nausea inducing properties of Imax.

Imax 3D is definitely the way to see this movie, but they should give out Dramamine along with the 3D glasses. Maybe it would have been better if we sat further back?

I got so caught up in the movie that at times I almost forgot how sick I felt, and I managed not to throw up on the people in front of me, but going out for pizza after the movie was certainly not an option.

Lumpy had to leave the theatre for a few minutes at one point, and I shut my eyes during the credits, which we stayed for in their entirely (as per the family custom), or I would have lost it.

As far as my review of the plot... Stay tuned for Avatar 3D Imax! The Sequel! coming to a blog post near you, later this week!