李晓雷
Check it out! I got a Canon EOS 350D (Rebel XT) and an assortment of accessories. The first lens just arrived today so I've been messing around with it all day. Too bad it rained all day; can't wait to take it out and take a couple hundred pictures. I think this summer I'm going to try to get into photography, especially since I'm gonna be working in Malibu, CA. In the meantime, you can check out the new photographysection.
Currently listening to: Slowdive - ``Catch the Breeze''
I'm in Tokyo, Japan this week for ICDE 2005. Got into town late yesterday afternoon and the conference got under way this morning. Haven't had a chance to explore the town yet; tonight I'll definitely checkout the neighborhood around my hotel and get something nice to eat. In the meantime, here's the view from my hotel room.
March Madness is here! Every year I don't pay much attention to the games and rankings until about a week before the conference championships. This year I watched more Illini games than usual but not much else until this past week. In the past couple of days, there were some very exciting conference tournament games in the ACC, Big Ten, Big East, etc. And now I'm all pumped up for the big dance. Still haven't completed my brackets yet; have to do some further thinking...
Baseball season is just around the corner, too. To get in the spirit, I got ESPN MLB 2K5 for the Xbox. After playing a few games, I still feel 2K3 was better, 2K4 totally sucked. Maybe I'll give EA's MVP a chance one of these days.
Currently listening to: Ozma - ``The Doubble Donkey Disc'' (so what if they sound like Weezer!)
So recently I've been in a music rut, listening to practically nothing but Bright Eyes and Dream Theater (that Live at Budokan DVD is pretty sweet). That is, until yesterday when the new Mars Volta officially came out. Even though I've heard it multiple times on MP3, it's just not the same as the real thing. Now I just have to wait for the ``decoder'' 12" released in conjunction with the full-length. In addition, I've been listening to the new Fantomas, Comeback Kid, Fischerspooner, Le Fly Pan Am, etc. Right now, I'm enjoying some 65daysofstatic, that is some good math rock.
Sealab 2021: Season 2 DVD is out. Sniff you jerks later!
Got my Mac mini earlier this week, and after a couple of days of configuring, it's now running smoothly. Using Fink, I was able to install everything I needed to send/receive email and some other minor duties. In addition, I tossed my old Logitech QuickCam and got the iSight to host my webcam. I've also used it a little bit for video chatting on iChat with AIM users. Pretty neat camera but it's still way over-priced.
Currently listening to: The Mars Volta - ``Frances the Mute''
So Apple announced the Mac mini yesterday. It's everything I ever wanted in my mini-itx server. So of course, I immediately placed an order for one. The plan is to sell all my mini-itx related stuff and replace it with this. It supposedly ships on Jan. 22; can't wait.
So I just finished Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. That was a very thrilling ending and plot. The final fight for Naked Snake to actually kill The Boss was extremely satisfying. Now I'm contemplating playing the original Metal Gear Solid remake for the Gamecube. Even more exciting, I wonder if the next game in the series will tie in Big Boss, Solid Snake, etc. together.
O yea, I also beat Halo 2 a couple of days ago. That ending sucked. They better have some downloadable content by Feb. 9th or whatever the rumor says.
I've been playing quite a bit of Metal Gear Solid 3 lately. (This always seem to happen around the time of finals.) I'm about half way through, just got past The End today. That has to be one of the cooler boss fights in video games. It takes place in a thick jungle, just you vs. The End. The fight takes a good 20-30 minutes to complete and involves a lot of tracking/hunting/sneaking. It's definitely a rush. The game itself has been mixed so far. The controls and the camera are terrible. But the gameplay, story, misc. are top-notch. I'll definitely finish this one soon.
Been watching the Seinfeld DVDs recently. I got the limited edition gift set with the mini-dinette set. The extras on the DVDs are pretty good; although I wish there were more commentary. Also been playing a bit of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. The controls in that are pretty annoying but I think I'll endure through for the story.
Now listening to: Dntel - "Something Always Goes Wrong"
