In March, Chris took me to NUMMI, New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. where they mass assemble Toyota Corollas, Toyota Tacomas, and Pontiac Vibes. Sadly, the public tour has been canceled indefinitely, but Chris was lucky enough to be invited to a private tour, and I was lucky enough to be his +1.
What really impressed me at NUMMI, besides the giant hydraulic robots, was the team spirit and collective work ethic. Based on several Japanese principles of increasing productivity and efficiency by avoiding waste of energy, time, and effort, …

Kris and I attended Maker Faire this weekend, a huge carnival cornucopia of innovation and creativity, melding art and technology featuring physics freaks (above left) and pyro artists (above right) techno-scientists, steampunk kids, needlecrafters, robot warriors, you name it. One of the coolest things we saw (aside from UC Santa Cruz’s lightning demonstration) was the Life Size Mouse Trap, a full scale recreation of the Milton Bradley Rube Goldberg-esque board game classic. Now, we didn’t take any video ourselves, but here’s a video of a successful performance …

This weekend at the SFIAAF Kris and I attended some of the Kiyoshi Kurosawa Retrospective, and had about the best time ever. We saw three rarely screened Kiyoshi Kurosawa films (Eyes of a Spider, Serpent’s Path, and License to Live, all to be reviewed shortly), and actually got to meet Kurosawa in person! We had a brief and informal interview of sorts, and he was kind enough to sign our import copy of Loft (to be reviewed shortly as well), but I’ll forgo listing the actual details for now. Suffice …

If you know me, you probably know of my love for Gus van Sant. He can take unconventional matter, a half-baked story, sometimes even non-actors, and, with a generous helping of DP Harris Savides’ ethereal magic, usually creates unassuming depth and warmth. Usually. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that Milk wasn’t a good movie, it’s just that it wasn’t a great movie.

Heyas! Chris and I just got back from the super crazy awesome Halloween Haunt at Great America in Santa Clara, so if you’ve $40 (+$10 per car parking) to spare, go now, go now!! Yay!! It’s so completely worth it… definitely aces above the disappointing haunted houses around the Bay lately. Best of all, students get $10 off ticket prices. Plus, ohmigod, rollercoasters in the dark!!
Four hours just flew by as we went on almost all of the thrill rides (no hands, of …

If you think Amber India is good Indian food, then stop reading right now. If you’re one for a little adventure, try Saravana Bhavan. Piquant, pungent, vegetarian South Indian (Tamilnadu, I believe) cuisine that won’t break the bank (prices have been steadily increasing probably due to popularity, ~$5.85/main dish) revolves around various categories of fried or steamed bread. The most popular here is the Dosa, which is an impressive giant foot-long paper-thin crisp crepe filled with your choice of filling, including curried potatoes or wilted onions. …

Kind of awesome press release/event notification I just received. Check check it out.
SANTA’S LITTLE HELPERS WALK OUT
The United Elves Guild of San Francisco Strike in Support of the Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping on Buy Nothing Day at Powell and Market Streets
Elves are available for interviews.
November 21, 2007 San Francisco, CA- In an unprecedented show of solidarity, the San Francisco chapter of the United Elves Guild (UEG) will pack up their tools and stage a work stoppage strike at the corner of Powell and Market Streets across …

I don’t know how I didn’t hear about this earlier. Today starts the one week special engagement of Kenta Fukasaku (Battle Royale 2)’s Yo-Yo Girl Cop (aka: Sukeban Deka : Kôdo nêmu = Asamiya Saki ), the latest in the Sukeban Deka series of movies. Now, if you’re not familiar with Sukeban Deka, you really should acquaint yourself (Check out my review of the first film, here, and the second, here). The series focuses on a group of school-girl secret agents, the leader of which is armed only with …

The Festival Lineup for SF Indie’s annual Horror Fest, Another Hole in the Head, has been published. This year the festival will run from June 1st through the 14th, and will feature the following films:
FEATURES

Aachi & Ssipak http://youtube.com/watch?v=w14kQlT8hjg
Automaton Transfusion http://youtube.com/watch?v=sk6N69lXWBs
Blood Car http://youtube.com/watch?v=YiQTOL6XTkE
Driller http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZgJInsBdGeQ
El Muerto http://youtube.com/watch?v=mkCz3mLGdIg
The Forbidden Zone http://youtube.com/watch?v=GY1XmUKPjFc
Hazard http://youtube.com/watch?v=x0-zMw2OojI
ID  http://youtube.com/watch?v=XVLED-nWYrA
Last House In The Woods http://youtube.com/watch?v=4y21FZ-xo5c
Living and the Dead http://youtube.com/watch?v=b9mDpikhqU0
Race
Simon Says http://youtube.com/watch?v=lMpm_1Sc6Bw
Small Town Folk http://youtube.com/watch?v=8eoloJu5ANM
Special http://youtube.com/watch?v=7NUzKPbMT7k
Stagknight http://youtube.com/watch?v=lOHYWY_58d0
The Man from Earth http://youtube.com/watch?v=RGgAp7T5OCE
Murder Party http://youtube.com/watch?v=7mY8oAmj5NI
The Thirst http://youtube.com/watch?v=-1hiB61Q9pk
Unearthed http://youtube.com/watch?v=ncBAPnQg5bk
Zombie Farm http://youtube.com/watch?v=z0n4qMRYIM4

SHORTS

Grace
Of Darkness

Now, HoleHead is easily one of Dreamlogic’s favorite festivals of the year. We’ve …

Okay, so we don’t have free gourmet roasted quail like Google does, but we do have a cute little cafeteria with lots of curves and multi-color polka dots. So there, ha! The chefs are cool and the food is okay; when I do eat in I usually opt for the Indian/Thai stuff or their veggie calzones. Today (er, the day I wrote this review a while back) they were out of the latter, so I had their Pan Seared Scallops with a Green Onion Soy-Ginger Glaze, Jade …

SHE SAID:
@$)^(*)!+ That’s the Zodiac killer saying the movie is really good. Or else that’s him saying dammit, you almost caught me.
David Fincher’s stab (eh) at the Bay Area’s gruesome Zodiac serial killer is decidedly un-Fincher-esque. If you’re a salivating fan of the director’s previous slick CG swoops or gloomy moodiness (i.e.: Se7en, Fight Club), you may find this movie to be a bit blithe. Awash with a capable cast and droll dialogue, Zodiac refuses to be pigeon-holed into the indecently suspenseful prevalent psycho-thriller with an awful …

So the Mercury News came out with a list of Bay Area driver pet Peeves yesterday. Ranked at number 1 was incorrect merging techniques. That was an interesting choice, but I find that I encounter horrible merges far less than other irksome driving habits. So, I’ve crafted my own list of 5 pet peeves. Check it out.
Turn Signals . This is really a driving basic, but so many Californians seem to not know they exist. Turn signals help indicate what direction you’re trying to go in traffic. You can use …

This weekend marks Fangoria’s first Weekend of Horrors in San Jose (the first in my recollection, at least). Why they would host it in San Jose, I can’t say. It’s certainly the least interesting of the “big cities” in California. As far as the film scene is concerned, San Jose plays host to Cinequest Festival, the place where major festival rejects go to die, and its Camera Cinemas present the most pathetic Midnight Movie lineup in the nation. But hey, there’s something to be said for the festival being right …

That’s right, our shitty brown hills have turned a luscious shade of green thanks to this wonderful weather! I know, most Californians go running for cover at even the slightest hint of the mist which constitutes this state’s “rain”, but the past few weeks of said misting have allowed plants and grass to actually grow! So fresh! I think I might finally take 280 to the city.

Am I alone in thinking that the whole “survival of the fittest” thing that designs the primal threat-induced reaction transcends to modern drivers? I mean, there are just bad drivers period, those who can be best classified as “eternal blind spot”-ers, but there’s no call for rude driving. So what if you’re a CEO or have an MBA, so what if you’re stuck behind a little old lady. It’s not our fault if you just needed to leave a little earlier or you’re on a Starbucks-overload-induced rampage.
But maybe the problem …

One of my favorite things these days is checking out DVDs from the library. There are no fees, you get to keep them for a week, and you usually find something interesting you’d been meaning to see, but hadn’t had the time. Oh yah, and you can check out roughly 10 films at a time at most libraries.
Now there’s a definite difference in selection depending on the library you visit. For example, the Mountain View Library has a pretty good foreign film section, and roughly 60 – 75% of the Criterion …

I noticed we’ve been getting quite a few searches for radio station 104.9 these past few days, 104.9 being a Clear Channel operated “alternative” rock station in San Jose, which I ragged on in a musings article a while back. So, on my way to work I decided to take a listen and see what all the searches were about. Upon flipping the dial my ears were met with sounds soulful love songs….in Spanish.
104.9, the “music alternative” has been replaced by Ciento-quatro punto nueve, Radio Romantica.
I did …