All the News Fit to Post

So, first post since I've been here in Mountain View. A lot has been happening. Last week was my third week at Google, and it's been an amazing experience so far. I can't go into the specifics (o those pesky NDAs) but it has exceeded my expectations by far. The amount of freedom I have in choosing what to do and how to do it is pretty cool. Combined with interesting problems that have real-world implications, it is definitely a cool job. Plus I get all the free food I want!

Being in the bay area, there are many cool concerts. Although it seemed like LA had more last summer; but it's just the year. Anyway, I sawMogwai a couple of weeks ago with Earth. I saw them last month in Chicago but Growing was opening. It was the last show on their tour but nothing special happened. The setlist was almost exactly the same. Then, last week, I saw Mono and Pelican. Seen Pelican before playing the same stuff so it wasn't too exciting. They did play one new song I think. But Mono. Wow. They didn't say a single word during their set but their music absolutely killed. Sorta sucks that their CDs don't come close to the live show. The wall of sound at the show is deafening and carries so much more emotion than the recordings.

Looking ahead, there are shows with Bane, Comeback Kid, Cattle Decapitation, Vader (maybe?), Gorilla Biscuits (reunion! 2 shows in SF!), and Silver Mt. Zion. Should be interesting.

Saw X3 last weekend. I thought it was pretty good; better than what all the reviewers seemed to say. It was definitely lacking in the philosophical department though. Should've done a lot more with the whole cure debate. Also, the whole who's the good side debate could have been more vague, too.

Also been upgrading my audiophile crap. I sold my Grado SR-80's. Never used them anyway; plus it was like wearing sandpaper. I upgraded my bookshelves from the Epos ELS-3 to the Tetra 120U. Tetra is a pretty small company but their bookshelves sound amazing. They had a bigger soundstage and better imaging than the Von Schweikert VR-1, which are highly rated. I got them last week and am still burning them in. Takes over 100 hours and I'm somewhere in the 50s I think. Also, I just ordered a pair of the AKG K701's. Should be here tomorrow I think; definitely looking forward to hearing them. I'm also upgrading my work DAC from the Fubar to the Headroom Micro DAC.

Finally, some thoughts on random stuff. Sopranos season finale was tonight. It was pretty weak; nothing happened. But I guess technically it wasn't really a finale. Still 8 more episodes to follow. But I've been thinking this has been a really good season so far. I've switched from using iCal on my Apple to Google Calendar and Tadalist. It's been more convenient to check my schedule anyway than just on my Apple. Also, my Cingular contract expired over the weekend. So I signed a new deal and got the Ericsson W600i. I actually got the Motorola SLVR not too long ago on eBay but that phone seriously sucks. It looks nice but the software is terrible. With the Ericsson phone, it's a bit bulky but I'm loving the software. Plus, reception is like 10x better.