Author: Jeff Tabaco

There’s been some buzz in the Bay Area over the the new SFO-based airline Virgin America, which finally began flying on Wednesday, and I have to admit I’m kind of excited about it. Thom and I are going to Rufus Wainwright’s Judy Garland concert at the Hollywood Bowl next month, and a few days ago we booked our plane tickets on Virgin America. They were having an introductory fare sale of $44 each way for SFO-LAX; some of the other airlines had matched the fare, but being an aviation junkie I think it will be neat to check out the new kid on the block.

My blog has been running on Movable Type for a few years now, and recently I upgraded to the latest release candidate of MT 4.0, which is a big leap from 3.x, with a new interface and added features. So far, so good. That’s what’s going on behind the scenes. In front of the scenes, you’ve probably noticed (if you’re not reading this in an RSS reader) the new look. Since the 4.0 templates incorporate many new elements, I decided to just scrap the old ones and start over with the defaults. I’ll be customizing them here and there, so hopefully it won’t look too cookie-cutter-ish for too long.

By the way, I’m writing this from Nani’s Coffee in San Francisco. I’ve been here a few times before and like the place; the owners are friendly, and there seem to be several regulars. Although I work mostly from home, it’s nice once in a while to get out and work from a café that has free wi-fi. This place is conveniently located near Thom’s office, so I rode into the city with him this morning, and then walked over to Nani’s and worked for a few hours. Then Thom and I met up for lunch at Hukilau, a nearby Hawaiian restaurant. Afterwards I did some window shopping at the mall across the street and then came back to Nani’s for a latte and to finish up more work. For a home-based employee like me, it’s a nice antidote to cabin fever!

It’s Thom‘s birthday today! Happy happy birthday, baby. Here’s a photo of him at our joint birthday party last month (photo by Julie):

» See also the Times‘ “On This Day.”

Even though I’m several years out of school now, hearing the phrase “back to school” — which is cropping up now in ads, even though it’s just July — still gets me a little nervous for a second. What classes am I taking? Have I done all the reading?

Oh, wait. I’m not in school anymore. (Cue a Nelson Muntzian “ha ha.”) Instead I can just look back and romanticize it, courtesy of Avenue Q:

Now once again … in Swedish! (God, I love YouTube.)

Anyway, is “back to school” commercialization going the way of Christmas? Give it a few years, and we’ll start hearing about “back to school” sales in May.

We don’t have cable or satellite TV (for now), but I’ve been finding what I can of HBO’s Flight of the Conchords on the web. Based on characters created by Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, it’s about a two-man band from New Zealand trying to make it in New York City. It’s a hilarious show, and each episode has a music-video interlude or two. Here’s a promo clip:

There are more video clips, including the complete current episode, on the HBO website. Thanks to Ed for the heads up!

Speaking of HBO, I’m caught up on the available DVD episodes of Entourage, which only go up to the middle of the third season. What a great show. I remember watching the pilot when it first aired, and at the time I didn’t really get into it, but I’m glad I went back and gave it another shot. I’m hooked. “Lloyd!”

Sure, why not. And here’s an actual photo I dug up, for comparison. Nice to see that my freakishly large head doesn’t look quite so freakishly large … next to the cartoon version.

If you’re like me, and get off on customization stuff like this, be prepared to while away an inordinate amount of time. Have fun: The Simpsons Movie website.

(There’s also Simpsonize Me, which works from a headshot you upload.)