Movies

OldBoy: The ultimate movie about revenge. Definitly a few moments of classic Japanese violence, but mostly incredibly well shot and acted, with twists that just rock.
Buddy: Great Norwegian film about normal life. Has sappy moments, but overal it's just funny, and not just because of the moon language they're speaking... Full of hotties too...
The Aristocrats: In theaters now - strange, but funny. A good movie to see with JC.

Soon to be watched:
Together
Ikiru
Silverado

Books

Recent reads:
Lance Armstrong's War: good stuff about what it really takes to win in professional cycling. Lance is doping.
Drug Lords: sucked, too much of factual narration, not enough story telling. And there's plenty of story to tell, as shown by...
Killing Pablo: great story of the rise and eventual death of Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel.
Making Love (The Bruce Campbell Way): Super fun read, totally light.
1776: Great storytelling from the year that almost ended the USA.
Harry Potter :)

Up next:
The Physics of Superheroes (once it releases on Sept 29)
finish Collapse
finish Guns Germs and Steel

Looking for good reads in the history department: US, world, the church

Babies

The kids...

Build or remodel?

I've been thinking of the value of remodeling vs. just tear down and build new.

Remodel = $220,000 or so for our dream setup, 8 months+ of work, results in ~3100-3200 sq. ft. of nice space, 5br, 4.5bath.

Tear down and rebuild = $250,000 or so for a similar spec house, but it would have 9' ceilings, all new everything (plumbing, electrical, etc.) vs. mostly new everything, better flow, and be done in 6 months with fewer surprises...

We could keep our kitchen cabinets, sink, granite counters, appliances, light fixtures, new windows/doors, electrical boxes, HVAC system, etc. that we just put in the remodeled space, and the education we got in the process. I figure we'd only lose about $10k vs. having just done the tear-down to start with.

Seems like a no-brainer, but I'm not 100% certain of what it would cost to build a new 3100 sq. ft. house, subtracting maybe $20-40k worth of stuff by re-using some salvaged parts from the current house. I'm guessing $85-95 per sq. ft., which should be $260-300k roughly, and that variation is just enough to be a problem. Gotta go across the street tomorrow and see what the new house cost to build...

Finally a stable wireless network

After trying high-gain antennas and all kinds of other stuff, I finally just replaced my Linksys G router with a Netgear MIMO NetRange (model 824) and the NIC in my worst-case machine with a Netgear 311WPN MIMO PCI card. I'm only getting 5.5-11mbps on average, but it's solidly connected. With the linksys, even with high-gain antennas, I was 0-2.2mbps, and usually couldn't connect at all. If I pull the case away from the wall a little and move some of the 6 other components off of it a little, I get 108mbps connections. Can't wait to finally get that damn AV furniture and get things looking good in that room...

WORD!

Katrina links

Article written before hurricane hits about likely damage and mandatory evacuation.

Story about false rumors of killings/rapes/etc. in the astrodome/convention center/baton rouge, shooting at helicopters, etc.

Wikipedia entry for Hurricane Katrina (FANTASTIC source of info)

I'm looking for the specifics about what the feds are allowed to do when (can the National Guard/Army be sent in by George without the Governor/other locals requesting it, what exactly does FEMA do when a Disaster Area is declared (as it was on Aug 29), etc.)...

Microsoft Sucks

It's an epidemic in the company these days...too many metrics, middle managers adding zero value, direction-less product lines, etc.

Buck Fush

Google for "Impeach Bush" reaches new hit high.

Vote to Impeach:
http://www.votetoimpeach.org/
http://www.petitiontoimpeach.com/

Sweet stuff you need:

Popo the Dog