Went to Film Fridays International at UCONN this weekend and saw the film Calle 54. As described in the program,

Director Fernando Truebaâ's tribute to Latin Jazz is a joyous celebration of musicmaking by Paquito D'Rivera, Elaine Elias, Gato Barbieri, Tito Puente and many more. Sponsored by the Puerto Rican/Latin American Cultural Center. "This is one of the most infectiously joyous celebrations of musicmaking ever committed to film." TV Guide MovieGuide "A brilliantly conceived and elegantly realized documentary tribute to Latin jazz, it packs more drama into each of its 12 musical tableaux than most feature films manage in two hours." Washington Post, "it simply sizzles with sophisticated passion" Ottawa Citizen.

Really enjoyed this flick... went out and bought the soundtrack the next day, and have been groovin' to it all day.

This article is a real hoot. An excerpt: Like all new Apple gear, it belongs in a museum and shouldn't be touched (fingerprints). I'm pretty sure it's as close to sex as you can get with a machine. I mean look at this photo. Scarry thing is... I can really relate!

Looking back at some of my old posts, and realized that I have been doing this blogger thing for over 1 year now. Started it up in Feb 2001. Incredible! Where has the year gone.

Spring Training games begin today! Should be a good year for the NY Mets. Started up my MJBL fantasy baseball league. Probably will need some teams to fill out the league. Interested? Let me know (gotta be local to attend the draft).

Since so many hits to this site are from people searching for calculating weight watcher points... here it is again. From the US Patent office web site Patent number 6,040,531.

p = (c/50) + (f/12) - (r/5)
p=points, c=calories, f=fat grams, r=fiber grams (max. of 4 fiber grams)

Today, I went to Seybold Exposition in NYC, with David. Seybold was once the premier electronic prepress and publishing trade show. This show was a mere shadow of what it has been in the past. Whats up with that? Usually every powerhouse in Electronic publishing showed off there warez with huge glitzy booths. Adobe, Apple, Agfa, Macromedia, Quark, Scitex, Linotype, Kodak, Xerox, etc. etc have always exhibited. This year, only one company, Adobe, had any significant presence. I have seen better turnouts for baseball card expos at the Elks Club in Rockville! Is this another nail in the coffin for our entire industry? Is it just the state of the economy at present? I recall at the keynote of last years expo, one of the Industry leaders stated that there is no more Venture Capital being invested in printing technologies. All this money is now being used to finance Internet based publshing and e-Commerce, and that will be the end of innovation in the traditional Printing technology. Maybe what I saw today is the end result of that premonition. I'll tell ya, it was a real shocker.

Best part of the day was drivin' home with Dave, pumpin up the jams on his mega sub woofer thumpin boomin bass stereo system recently installed in the Jeep. Man, that electronica... Crystal Method, Chemical Brothers. Awsome tunes. Gotta get those loaded up on my MP3 player.

Last night, excercycle busted for good. I had been using it nearly everyday. Now what do I do? Too cold to jog or bike ride, and those fitness centers are too damn expensive. Maybe one of those excersize tapes? Tae Bo anyone?

Uggg! Feel like hell today. Damn cold and fever plagued me all weekend. Just trying to survive the day at work. Thank god for Sudafed and Nyquil.

BTW, that other situation just gets worse and worse. Somehow I need to turn this around. Not sure exactly how yet... but beleive me, I am working on it. - nuff said here.

Woke up way too early this AM. Hopped on the GOAD Message Boards. One of my favorite things to do these days. Nice group of folks.

Just hung out around the house. Bought the DVD Contact. One of my all time fav sci fi flicks. Its so well done. Opening sequence is amazing. Story centers around the conflict of Science v Religion, Fact v Faith. It all gets turned around in the end with the scientist relying on *faith* in the end. Great Flick... even better book (by Carl Sagan). Too bad they didn't add more content to the DVD (like SETI information).

Yipee! Went to the 7 AM WW meeting, and MADE MY GOAL! I've been starving myself for the last two weeks to shed those last 6 lbs, and pumpin it up on the exer-bike... and it worked. I can stop driving the family crazy with my diet, and relax a little. Sure feels great. I'm gonna love those extra 4 points I can add to my point range! Oh Happy Day! Total weight loss - 34 lbs. Now I hope to be a little less focused on this WW thing and get back to a Normal Life (but still keep On Program). There is another segment of my life that needs to be straightened out... and life will be good. One other thing. Dave got accepted to college. Right now, its his fall back school, but its a relief to know he's got this in his back pocket for now.

Nice weekend. Took a nice long power-walk on the trails near the house. Its the farthest I've gone on this trail. Gorgeous cliffs, evergreens, streams and lakes. We are really lucky to have this here in Vernon. Loaded up the MP3 player with some old Buddy Rich and Art Blakely tunes from 50s-60s. Man, this music is timeless. Rich plays those drums so lyrically. He's got to be the best drummer of all time. He solo's on the drums like Sony Rollins solos on the sax. Incredible. Finished up the weekend watching the Superbowl. Great game. Watched 1st half with buddy Gordon. Don't like either team. NE and owner Kraft used and abused Hartford a couple of years ago, but I guess its nice to see the underdog win. Not a good year for those Superbowl commercials that everyone gets psyched for. They were pretty much ho-hum.

Weight Watchers has flexed its legal muscle and killed WWCalc for the Palm. I can honestly say that if it weren't for this software, I may not have stuck to the program. What a shame... and SHAME ON WEIGHT WATCHERS for taking such harsh action on a developer that provided a great tool to their membership. Bob Withers has invested a great deal of time and effort without ever profiting for himself, and provided this tool for free to WW members.

The least that Weight Watchers could do is to purchase the rights to this software from Mr. Withers, and distribute it to its members.

Trying out the YACCS commenting thingy - click on the comment link below.

I know its the middle of January, but thoughts have turned to Baseball. I pulled out some paperwork from my last years fantasy baseball league, and sifted through the rosters, reports, draft day work sheets, etc. Then on the drive home, I turned on WFAN, and it was NY Mets day. I heard them interview Johnny BeGood Franco, Manager Bobby V and Al Lieter. They were all excited about all the great player acquisitions during the off season, and what it means for the teams chances. Tonite, I went to the library and borrowed For the Love of the Game with Kevin Costner. Great Baseball movie... Well, its nearly the last week in January, and spring training camps open in Fla. in February, so its not all that far away. Meanwhile, I can look at these pics, and dream away. Whoopie!

Evening Post- Huskie hoops, ladies beat Notre Dame 80-53. Great seats, right at ground level behind basket, next to pep band. Fun. Thanks Diana!

WW-Lost another 3, 25+ lbs. total, 7 to go.

Took today off work for a long weekend. Been real full of myself with my diet and excersize. Can't help it. I feel physically great... light on my feet, active and and upbeat.

Seen lots of movies. Gosford Park ... a bore. The Gift... a great suspensful flick. What Woman Want... some good yucks, but schlocky ending. Read my entire reviews of these films here.

This afternoon goin to Ladies Huskies Basketball at the Hartford CC, then another Weight Watchers weigh-in, so I'm going to excersize and shower now, then basically starve myself today.

Hey, its snowing like crazy again.

Nothin like a good weigh-in at WW to lift your spirits. Lost another 4 lbs this week. A total of 23 lbs., made 10 percent goal. Need to drop another 10 to get to the BMI. Cool.

New iMac...Sweet!

Feel like crap. Damn cold and sorethroat have plagued me all week. Agravated, grumpy, sick....grrrrrr!

Mac Stuff
Macworld Expo SF - Lots of exciting anticipation surrounding this one. Flat panel iMacs, iWalk, Gigahertz and much much more. I'll try to get to Apple Store in W. Hartford to see the keynote on the big screen. At very least, will try to watch it on the web.

Vacation
Booked flights for spring vacation with sis Barb in Fla. Thanks Barb... it's 3 months away, but I am really looking forward to it! I need a vacation.

Weight Watchers
Still obsessed with diet. I've done much research on the web at several diet and weight watchers sites (official and unofficial). I've tried to reverse engineer the points calculator to better understand the WW system. I ended up at the US Patent office web site and found Patent number 6,040,531. If you dig through the text and image pages you will find the formula:
p = (c/50) + (f/12) - (r/5)
p=points, c=calories, f=fat grams, r=fiber grams (cap the fiber at no more than 4 grams)

There it is. WW has asked several sites to remove on and offline calculators from various web sites, but with the above information (in the public record) and any simple spread sheet, you can easily make a Points Calculator.

Basically the system is based on points of low values which makes it easy to calculate and track. Simply divide the number of calories by 50, add 1/2 point for 6 fat grams and deduct .5 point for 3 fiber grams. The result is the number of points (round to the next number if .5 or greater). Keep within a range of points per day (22- 27 for me at 180 lbs), and you have the program.

What I have found from all this research, is that any diet is simply a function of calories in vrs. calories out. WW points is just another way of controlling calorie intake. The other half of the equation is to increase your activity level to burn more calories. So, I have been pretty good about "kickin' it up a notch" with excersizing on the bike, long walks on the trail, and just trying not to spend too much time sittin on my ass in front of the TV.

Well, its New Years. Partied last night at our house, went to dinner, then back to the house. Good friends, good food, good champaign. Chilled today, worked on the web site, lounged around the house, took a power walk in the woods, listened to tunes, cut a Kieth Jarret CD, read some book, generally just relaxed. Tomorrow... back to work.