Another Radio Song

This made me snortle.

A long time ago, in the land of LJ, I made it known that I was searching for the best website/program I could use to organize all my books, CDs, DVDs, and even games. I used to have a CueCat to scan in the barcodes of these items and a program would find them on Amazon, making everything neat and tidy for me.

Then my hard drive crashed and I couldn't remember the name of the program. I think it died long ago. Now I have a plethora of free websites to chose from. Delicious Library looks pretty neat, but I'm not going to review it because you need to pay $40. Perhaps, some other time.

Douban

PROS
- lets you modify descriptions or cover image
- shows the price of the item on Amazon
- you may choose (for books) if you've read it, am reading it, or want to read it
- same option for CDs

CONS
- only catalogs books and music

Good Reads

PROS
- has a widget, so you can share "what you are reading on your blog, MySpace profile, or or any other website you have"
- has a very detailed, easy-to-digest home page of books you've read. this page includes the title, author, your rating, the items avg. rating, year published, date read, and date added.

CONS
- only catalogs books
- haven't figured out how to cite books I am currently reading or want to read

Shelfari

PROS
- lists other members who own the same books as you do, if you want to be social
- provides a direct link to Amazon reviews for the item
- has a widget so you can share what books you own
- shows the price of the book on Amazon and how soon it can ship

CON
- only catalogs books

LibraryThing

PROS
- has a very detailed, easy-to-digest home page of books you've read
- also has 5 ways to see your home page (text only, list LC call no., etc.)
- you can search for your books on Amazon, the Library of Congress, or "choose from 78 other sources around the world"
- links to sites where you can swap your books

CONS
- only catalogs books

Lib.rario.us

PROS
- catalogs media, books, dvds, music, and games

CONS
- the dark grey background is oppressive and I find myself not wanting to look at my computer screen
- display page of all my books has a lot of wasted space; I find it uncomfortable
- had a bitch of a time trying to add stuff that it couldn't find
- if you don't type in the title of something exactly, you won't get any results

All Consuming

PROS
- catalogs books, music, movie, food & drink, and other (i.e. anything you want)
- syncs up with any of your 43 account (i.e. places, things, people)
- tracks how many items you consume by month (consumption by time)
- tracks how much of what you consume (consumption by type)
- people can suggest things they think you should consume next
- can add your consuming lists to your website

CONS
- I get errors every now and then

The Winner: Listal

PROS
- catalogs books, music, movie, TV shows, and games
- has both form and function (i.e. it's purdy)
- lets you customize colors and layouts
- lets you pick if the status of an item (read/listened to/played, want, own)
- has that widget doohickey
- "get recommendations based on your item ratings"
- "create themed lists with a ajax drag and drop interface"
- one thing I love is that it lists how many books I have read by each authour. it does the same for movies with actors/actresses and directors. and the same with games and platforms. and music and artists.

I had something interesting to share, but now I've forgotten what it was. Instead, I'm going to ask for some advice. How do you people feel about Open Office, compared to Microsoft Word? I'm about to try out Apple's Pages in a bit, but I wanted to see how my savvy readers feel about these programs.

Thanks!

No, no, no, no, no!

Where have all the GBV fans gone?

I was stressing out over a midterm and ended up studying until 3 o'clock. Of course, I oversleep and didn't get to finish going through my study guide. Eventually, I decided to skip my first class and get some extra cramming time in, but it turned out my efforts were all for naught.

I came into class, chugging my thermos of coffee, and the professor has changed the date of the midterm. He's moved it to Wednesday, but decided not to/forgot to tell any of the students! At the end of class, one kid piped up and says, "So... uh... is the midterm Wednesday, then?" "Oh, yes, yes, Wednesday."

Effin' bastard.

I would have spent my time on other classes or sleeping, if I had known we'd get two extra day. This has put me into a stompy mood all day. Oh, and my has been twitching on and off all night.

Onto zee photos!

I forgot to post Courtney's lovely photo of me from when I had my first Beard Papa creampuff. Puff chomp!

And, now here's a million photos of Luxxury.

The Bring Your Own Big Wheel race is tomorrow! It's down Lombard Street, one of the crookedest streets in San Francisco!

I'll be hugging those hairpin turns on my Harley trike:

I even have lights and sounds (huzzah for the revving noise):

In other happenings, I went to SFMOMA last week with Courtney and Scott. I'm never a huge fan of MOMA (at least the SF one; NYC is nice), but Scott wanted to go. Of course, I ended up taking photos of strangers. View this one larger because he's totally looking at me. Eek, I've been caught!

I love stripes so I had to take this picture of Courtney, taking this picture.

That evening, I finally had the chance to dine at Suppenküche, the much praised German restaurant in Hayes Valley, and now I see what the fuss is all about. Definitely no soup kitchen.

After din-din, a group of us met up for Ming & Ping! They first opener was an Oakland band called Tokyo Decadence. They weren't bad, but they weren't good either. Their music was nondescript, but they were trying to sound electro-disco, or something. The vocalist was putting an effort, dancing around and being a showman, but I just didn't feel neither energy nor stage presence. Here's their bassist:

I went to use the restroom several times (thanks to alcohol consumption) and every time I flushed the toilet, I saw this:

Last Saturday I got to see my friends, Noah and Lauren, and their kid, Kai. I haven't seen Lauren and Kai since March '06, so it's been a long time.

Kai has really grown.

Besides being a total cutie, he's also learning how to sign!

***

Oh, hey, on Easter Sunday I'll be at Bring Your Own Big Wheel (BYOBW) where people race down Lombard Street (San Francisco's crookedest street).

I got a helmet tonight, but need to purchase a big wheel from Toys 'R Us tomorrow.

More info here if you want to go and see me eat it!

PS Does any one know of some hills around San Jose/Sunnyvale/etc. where I can practice?

I'm sick. I'm unhappy about this and also being a huge-ass baby. Hopefully, Dayquil will keep it under control.
***

I fear Mr. Beeblebrox is going to have long, long fur that touches the ground. In this case, I'll be giving him a head-to-claw haircut.

I met my "internet buddy" last Thursday! She works at Red Rock, so I finally came in. She confessed she was nervous about making my mocha, but it turned out to be the best mocha I've had at Red Rock. Usually I prefer the mochas at Dana St. around the corner.

In Sunnyvale, there's a lone sushi place amidst Mexican restaurants and bakeries. The sushi was pretty decent although the salmon sashimi could have been a tad fresher. I was trying to take this man's picture but he kept ducking his head down to eat.

I saw a great band open for Ming & Ping last night and they reminded me of Electric Six and Ghostland Observatory. Their music could aptly be described as filthy balls of disco fury.

For a little taste, watch their music video which features a kitten, lasers, and an attractive female bassist. Trifecta!

"Sweet and Vicious" by Luxxury