Author: Jeff Tabaco

So You Think You Can Dance has started up again, and yes, I am watching. I like it, ’cause there’s so much talent on there (once you get past the open auditions). Though, I find it half-depressing and half-inspiring to watch. Once upon a time (basically most of the 1990s), I danced regularly, mostly jazz, and while I certainly wasn’t at the level at some of the better dancers on the show, it was fun, and I miss it. All of my dancing was through classes and workshops at school, so now that I don’t have that structure, I guess I just need the motivation to get up off the couch and take it up again on my own. Eventually.

Anyway, this guy is one of my favorites on the show so far:

Speaking of dads not supporting their dancer sons, there’s this guy (the clip has some video glitches in the middle):

Though the judges acknowledge that he doesn’t have much experience for such a grueling competition, he does eventually make it to the next round in Las Vegas.

I’m thankful that my parents were supportive of me doing dance and theater; if they had any objections, it was only that those activities were taking too much time away from schoolwork and sleep. Would my father have preferred I play sports? Maybe. But armed with the camcorder like a stereotypical stage parent, he dutifully came to each of my shows and enjoyed them, as far as I could tell. And for him, that was pride enough.

We finally got around to watching Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (the second movie in the series) last night on DVD. Let’s just say I won’t be eating much seafood for a while. Heh.

(My title above is taken from a New York Times review of the third movie, At World’s End.)

Actually we got back from the Philippines last Saturday night (May 19). It was a neat trip, but unfortunately there were some lows as well as highs, so just to get the those out of the way right now: my wallet was stolen in a crowd during the Pahiyas festival in Lucban. Thankfully I was able to contact my banks quickly and have my cards canceled and replaced, but I did lose a moderate amount of cash.

The other low is that last week Alex, our cat, ran away while we were on vacation. Our house sitter, one of Thom’s co-workers, has been so diligent in helping to find him, and for that we are grateful. We’re all continuing to look, and here is our latest craigslist ad.

So that’s that. Vacation photos and highlights are forthcoming. (Thom’s started his Philippines set on Flickr.) Happy thoughts!

MANDALUYONG CITY, PHILIPPINES — We’re almost midway through our vacation in the Philippines, and I just wanted to check in and say we’re having a great time so far. Here are a couple of photos, first of sunrise seen from my uncle’s house in Canlubang, and second of Thom and me in Tagaytay, a city located high on a ridge with some great views.

Tomorrow we’re off to my mom’s hometown, Lucban.

In just a couple of hours we leave for the airport to start our two-week vacation in the Philippines! (Our route, SFO-GUM-MNL, makes a quick stop in Guam.) I’m excited on so many levels. And if you’re keeping track, my birthday is on May 8, so I’ll be mourning the end of my twenties on the other side of the world. Heh.

Internet access will probably be intermittent, so blog postings may be as well (though at the glacial pace I’ve been blogging lately, you’d think I were on vacation already). Comments will continue to be moderated.

Take care, kids. Mabuhay!

I love this from McSweeney’s: “Important Follow-up Re: the New Password Complexity Policy.” So very true. I think I lost my soda around the part about wingdings, kanji, and original bitmap drawings.

And speaking of McSweeney’s and computing, I just have to revisit one of my favorite bits, “E-mail Shorthand That Civil War Soldiers Would Likely Have Used in Letters Home Had the Technology Been Available to Them.” Ha, I can just imagine the narration and the Mathew Brady photos, panning Ken Burns-like across the screen.

Cool, a Flickr photo of mine is on Inc.com, the website of Inc. magazine. The photo shows office buildings at a major intersection in Bethesda, Maryland, and with my permission they used it on their site, as part of a slideshow on the top U.S. cities for entrepreneurs. I snapped the photo from my office in 2004, and in the background is the office building which our company later moved to, just a few blocks away. (Incidentally I’m not so keen on the photo itself; I think the shadows are distracting. The night version is maybe more interesting.)

According to the slide on their site; Bethesda, aggregated with Gaithersburg and Frederick, comes in at number nineteen on their list of top twenty large cities for doing business.

You know that Gap commercial for the “Boyfriend Trouser” with Claire Danes and Patrick Wilson dancing to “Anything You Can Do” from Annie Get Your Gun?

Well, Joey and David do a good re-creation of it … with a little twist:

Ha. Also pretty funny is “14 Days in a Civic.” How had I not heard of Joey and David before?