I received my "private beta invitation" from hulu.com a couple of weeks ago and I've been thoroughly impressed from day one. It has a great selection of shows, a near-perfect user interface, and fast, high-quality video.

For those not familiar with Hulu, it started out as a joint venture between NBC and Fox to showcase their primetime shows and has grown beyond that.

Here's what I like about Hulu:

• Great show selection.
• Simple, easy-to-use, uncluttered user interafce
• Automatically resume playing a show right where you left off (even recovers from browser crashes)
• Full-screen viewing option
• Descent video quality: you will notice macro-blocking and the lower frame rate in full screen mode, but it is by no means distracting, especially if you scoot back from your screen an extra foot or two
• HD Video: this will eliminate all quality complaints, but it's only available for a few movie trailers at this point
• Commercials: there is one 30 second commercial every 15 minutes. Not bad. And all of the commercials are for the same company, so you kinda know what to expect when it is commercial time, which makes them almost enjoyable. Yes, you read that correctly, I was actually enjoying that Toyota commercial by the end of the show.

You can catch episodes of Firefly, Heroes, The Office, Scrubs, Chuck, 30 Rock, House, Battlestar Galactica (new and classic), Rosewell, Arrested Development, Journeyman, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Mary Tyler Moore, and many, many more.

Conclusion

It's great entertainment when you need a break (such as from visiting your family over the holidays.) Sign-up for an invitation now; it took me about a week to receive mine. In the meantime, you can view shows on openhulu.com.

Just Playing Around

And finally, one of the coolest features is that you can embed your favorite shows into your own website. Instead of simply posting about how great a show is, show an episode. Here are some of my favorites:

Firefly: Perhaps one of the best science fiction TV shows ever shown on network TV. You can watch the entire series online; here is the first episode:

Roswell: I'd never watched a single episode but noticed its high rating on Hulu. I watched the pilot and decided that I missed out on a great series. This is definitely something I'll be watching via hulu. Here is the pilot:

Journeyman: NBC has apparently canceled this show (yet decided to keep the unwatchable Bionic Woman remake alive.) I think people found Journeyman too difficult to follow, especially if they missed an episode. Out of all current shows on TV, I thought it has/had the best theme song and background music. Maybe watching it online will cause a revival. Here's a clip from Episode 8:

Ainsley Elaine Bale was born last Wednesday August 15th at 8:24 PM. Everyone is doing very well. We're back at home now, feeding her every 3 or so hours, changing diapers more often than that, and loving every minute of it.

I'm not going to write a comprehensive review of the movie, I'm just going to sum it up like this: The Bourne Ultimatum is the best movie of the summer. The plot is smart, the action scenes are intimate and intense, and the time line is ingeniously tied to the previous movie. Casino Royale was the best James Bond movie ever and The Bourne Ultimatum is better.

My entertainment advise for the weekend is to immediately pop The Bourne Supremacy into your DVD player for a 2-hour refresher because you don't want to miss the ties between the two movies. Then head to movie theater and see how the story line is completed and experience the paradigm shift Ultimatum imparts on the final scene of Supremacy; it is very well done.

10 years ago today was my first day of work at Cummins. I just received my company logo tie tack with an emerald, to go next to my 5-year sapphire version. During this time I've:

• had 5 different jobs
• had 8 different bosses
• had jobs where I spent more time in the field than at my desk
• had jobs where I spent
• had jobs where I spent 100% of my time at my desk
• gained experience in engine performance and design, control systems, product validation. new product launches, project management with small/large suppliers, interaction with small/large customer, IT project manage/specification/validation/launch, and financial reporting/forecasting
• switched from service engineering, to field test engineering, to design engineering, to product manager, to financial performance manager
• experienced the worst down-cycle in company history (a few years ago)
• experienced the highest up-cycle in company history (now)

Like any big company, there are some things that are done very well and some frustrating inefficiencies that are baffling. But take one look at the stock performance and you will see that, in the areas where it counts, the company has made all the right decisions in the past few years. I'm particularity impressed by the improvements in products and launches: 10 years ago: late launches, unreliable, not the ideal product for the market segment. Now: early launches, high reliability, the right product for the market segment.

Truthfully, I never thought I'd be here 10 years. The first wave of change happened when people who started at the same time I did started leaving the company. The second wave of change happened a few years later when people I hired started leaving the company. I can see why people leave but I also (obviously) see why they stay.

Sometimes I think that I would love to work for a smaller, more nimble company where I could have a more dramatic impact and better help forge the direction of the company. It's sometimes frustrating at a large company to force your influence on a large, common, legacy-influenced processes that seem unmovable at times. But as my friend Jayson told me, there is the opposite frustration at smaller companies. The direction can change frequently and with little warning; this can cause you to through away months of work and force you to jump onboard the new bandwagon you didn't see coming. The grass is always greener, it seems.

Will I be around for my 15-year pin? Well, my instinct is to say "no way," but history would say otherwise.

Here's a clip from The Office that really hit home:

Seating Location: First row, 2 seats right of center
Show Rating: 4/5
Crowd Rating: 3/5

I was fortunate enough to get some pre-sale, front row tickets to O.A.R. and, after zero effort, convinced my friend Luke Shiver to join me. We left Columbus after work and headed south to Louisville. With a couple of hours to kill, I suggested we give Browing's Brew Pub a try. The place was packed because the Riverbats had a game, but it quickly cleared-out. I had two different beers (one was average, the other quite tasety, but I don't remember the names) but it was the Hot Brown I enjoyed the most. I'm definitely back in Kentucky now.

Parking was a cinch both outside the restaurant, and then again outside the Palace Theatre. In downtown Indy, there's no way I could have found free street parking 2 blocks for either a baseball game or a concert.

The last time I visited the Palace Theatre was for a Dave Mathews and Tim Reynolds concert in February, 1999. It all came back to me as I walked past the ample bar area and peered into the auditorium. We grabbed a couple of drinks and headed to our seats. We initially sat in the first row of the orchestra section and I was bummed that there were 3 more rows in front of us. I then realized the tickets were for the first row of the pit section, just two seats outside the center, touching the stage. I was so close to the microphones that I could read the set list. Clearly, this is the best way to see a concert.

The average age of the audience was higher than any other O.A.R. show I've attended, and a lot of the mid-to-late-20s and older group was in the first few rows. Older (longer-term?) fans, nothing wrong with that. They were definitely the nicest, friendliest, and most energetic O.A.R. fans I'd met.

The band took the stage and the audience around me went absolutely nuts. The whole place was electric. Despite all the crowd excitement, I felt the first two songs of the concert (see setlist below) were a little boring. I was very excited when Delicate Few started, but apparently the front row were about the only one's who were. If you've ever been to an O.A.R. concert before, you know that some crowd sing-along is to be expected on Delicate Few, Black Rock, and Poker. If not for the 8 of us in the front row on the right side (especially the guy two seats to my right), it would have been total audience humiliation. Marc Roberge acknowleged this and even pointed the microphone our way.

I was very pleased by both of the new-to-me songs that were played: Road Outside Columbus and especially See You Cry.

Not long after, when some newer songs were played, it seemed to me that everyone behind the 5th row was almost asleep. To me, the best part of a live show it the energy and interaction between the band and crowd. This group didn't compare to what I'd experienced at Bloomington or The Lawn at White River last year.

Perhaps sensing the need for an energy boost, Marc Roberge took a fan request and changed the setlist (apparently, the song name was written on a bed sheet by bedsheetGIRL15.) He walked to band-only microphone and apparently communicated the switch, and the band started playing So Moved On. This is one of my favorite O.A.R. songs and one that I hadn't heard in quite some time. The chorus of the songs includes the lyrics "with my drink in hand, I got up to stand, and I was off to a regular day." Although most casual listeners take this to be a drinking anthem, it's actually about quitting the excesses that can overtake ones life. It has resonance and I digg it.

Hearing I Feel Home is always a treat, and the pre-encore finale of Love and Memories was perfectly placed. The finale was the traditional Poker. It's always a great, exciting, fantastic to an O.A.R. concert. The fans definitely appreciated it more than any other song. To me, it was great and not notably better or worse than any similar Poker finale I'd experienced.

My seating location, the fans in the front row with me, and being back in Louisville are what made this concert special.

Setlist: http://www.oarsa.org/features/viewsetlist.php?showID=1266
Palace Theatre 07.16.2007 - Louisville, KY

1. Set 1:
   1. Destination (Fire On The Mountain Tag)
   2. About Mr. Brown
   3. Delicate Few
   4. Missing Pieces
   5. The Stranger
   6. What Ever Happened
   7. About An Hour Ago
   8. Conquering Fools
   9. One Shot
   10. Road Outside Columbus
   11. King Of The Thing
   12. Lay Down
   13. So Moved On
   14. Heard The World
   15. I Feel Home &
   16. Love And Memories
2. Encore:
   17. See You Cry ~
   18. That Was A Crazy Game Of Poker (Officer Tag)

~ Marc solo.
& Marc and Richard.
Entire show with Mike Paris on keys, percussion, and vocals.

TV Guide just release their list of the top 30 Cult TV shows of all time.  Of the 30, I counted the number of shows for which I'd seen at least 5 episodes: 11.  I guess that is why they are cult favorites and not hugely successful favorites.

• 8 of the shows started in the 1960s or earlier (a surprise to me.)
• I'd never even heard of 4 of them.
• Not a single one on the list began its run during the years between 1975 and 1986, indicating an apparent lull in creativity.

TV Guide List of the Top 30 Cult TV Shows of All Time

Nicole and I planned for one last concert together before Ainsley Day arrives. We arrive at Verizon Wireless Music Center around 9:00 and it was still another hour or so before John Mayer took the stage, a consequence of two opening acts.

This was the third John Mayer concert we've attended in the past 5 years and the musical growth of Mayer is evident. From roots as a soulful acoustic artist in 2000, to a somewhat over-produced top-40 star in 2003, to a mature and bluesy artist now, it's been an interesting and rewarding evolution.

I was surprised how much focus there was on the newest album in the set list, with only three songs from his first two albums (Inside Wants Out is still my favorite) being played. The focus is definitely on the newer and more blues-focused pieces. And this is not a bad thing. He is expressive enough and talented enough with a guitar to make it work.

Good Love is On the Way is one of Mayer's better song in recent years and was one of my favorites from this concert, but Gravity is the one that could listen to again and again. Why Georgia was a crowd favorite, although the beginning where he played 10 second clips from 4 other songs from the same album was a bit confusing and anti-climactic.

After the underwhelming Tower of Power-style horn section of the Heavier Things tour, I was a little worried by the Sax and Trumpt player on stage. But they were welcome additions after hearing them play. The trumpet especially added some mood to the more bluesy tunes.

The encore was somewhat anti-climactic. It was mostly acoustic, which is generally a good thing, but they were not the songs I was hoping to hear.

Based on an interview on 92.3 WTTS, John Mayer's next album with be solo acoustic. Now that, I'm looking forward to hearing.

Set list: link
Vultures
No Such Thing
Good Love is On the Way
I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)
Neon
Bigger Than My Body
Dreaming With A Broken Heart
I Don't Need No Doctor
Belief
Why Georgia
Waiting on the World to Change
Gravity
– encore –
Slow Dancing (acoustic)
Stop This Train (acoustic)
I'm Gonna Find Another You

On the final day in Alaska, I finally feel like I'm sleeping soundly. I'm ready to sleep all morning, but get up at 7:30 to take Jayson to a sight-seeing tour with Copper Valley Air (their above-the-tree-line hiking tour sounds fantastic, by the way.) I head back to the camp site, stir Kevin and Dan, and start packing for the last time. It tales us a long time to pack because we have to pack for the commercial flight home; it's amazing how much less stuff we have when packing efficiently.

We stop by the side of the road and snap on last picture of Mount Drum before heading west. I drop Kevin and Dan at the Caribou and then pick-up Jayson. My meal was waiting at the sit-down counter when I return and it's served with enthusiasm and sass. Coffee was $0.25. Highly recommended.

We drive three hours back to Anchorage but it seems even longer longer. I'm occasionally getting sleepy but Jayson starts a conversation that lasts the rest of the drive. I stop to add an extra 3 gallons to the tank and take a quick baby wipe bath in the gas station bathroom. It feels amazing to be clean. I put on the last clean shirt I have, a white undershirt. I use deodorant. I'm definitely back in civilization.

We head to the Snow Goose Restaurant, which contains the Sleeping Lady Brewery. We sit on the deck on a perfectly clear afternoon and watch F16s performing maneuvers over the Cook Inlet. This a a very relaxing cap after several days of non-stop action.

The rest of the day in Anchorage was a blur. We walk around the touristy downtown area, drop Dan at the airport for his earlier flight, search unsuccessfully for a replacement gun case for Jayson at Wal-Mart, find one at a local sporting goods store, have freezer-burned ice cream at Baskin-Robbins, head to the airport, clean-out the car, and back-packed to the terminal.

At the terminal, Kevin finds that he is accidentally scheduled on the flight for tomorrow. After a few minutes of confusion, the lady behind the counter takes care everything and he's on our flight. We hang-out at TGI Friday and wait for the flight. Wait a second, that's Dan wandering around the terminal! Isn't he supposed to be on a plane right now? Turns out, he was upgraded to a direct flight home.

Kevin and I end up in the exit row with an empty seat in between us. This is the first time he and I really spent talking one-on-one and we take full advantage. We talk the entire flight. I'm amazed by his spiritual growth and his vision for the church. His sacrifice of status and prestige for a pure vision for Cool River Church is inspiring. We talk about Vietnam, Haiti, people we knew, and ourselves.

I say a quick good bye and rush off to my flight to Indy. I sleep about 20 minutes but can't find a comfortable position after that, so I watch an couple of episodes of Battlestar Gallactica on my Treo to pass the time. A quick baggage claim and I'm outside waiting for my father-in-law to pick me up. What a great surprise when my smiling wife shows up instead! Have have a happy little reunion and head home, where I doze in and out of nap state for the rest of the day, in front of the TV. At night, I finally get to experience darkness again, and I sleep very soundly.

I awaken two hours before anyone else to slightly lifted cloud cover and a cold morning. I perched on a the rock ridge with my sleeping bag and listened to an entire O.A.R. concert before anyone else stirred. We had a quick meal, packed the car, and headed north to explore the glacier and do some more fishing.

The Worthington Glacier is a short 10 minute drive away and is largely a mystery to us. There is a little tourist shop in the parking lot, a fenced-in observation area with a few trails on the other side of it. Are we allowed to climb the fence? Are we allowed to hike the trails? Are we allowed to hike the glacier? We have no idea. So we jump the fence and start to climb up the mountain to the south.

Half-way up, it's decision time. Dan and Kevin decide to slide down the steep embankment and head to the glacier. Jayson and I decide to take the trail back. After a few minutes of hiking, Jayson finds easier access to the glacier and goes to meet Kevin and Dan. I head down to the base of the glacier on my own and start snapping photos.

I'm taking photos along the base of the glacier. The sediment in the glacier shows why the rock bed is so heavily work. I start talking to a couple of retired tourists and they tell me they just saw a couple of guy walk across the glacier about half way up. I start scanning and see Dan and Jayson on the far side and Kevin coming back down the original side.

Apparently, out on the ice, Kevin decided it was too difficult/slippery to cross. Dan was determined to walk across and Jayson decided it was more interesting to go with Dan than with Kevin. I'm slightly jealous that I didn't get to cross it, but I'm also glad I didn't slide to my death due to slippery boots. Luckily everyone makes it out unscathed save my soggy right boot during the stream crossing.

We head to Tiekel River Lodge for lunch and it is the best cooking of the trip. We chat-up the diner chef and he tells us the best fishing is back south, at the lake near the glacier on the east side of the highway. We head back south to see if the fish really will jump out the water onto our hooks.

After 2 hours of fishing in 40-degree weather, we have the one fish that Dan has caught, a smaller female lake trout. Our fingers, noses, and ears are numb and we're ready to find a place to camp. So we head back to Glenallen with our second and final catch. $220 for fishing licenses means that we've caught 2 $110 fish. Oh well, we had fun doing it.

As we were fishing, a bald eagle flew overhead and I didn't have my camera with me. I rushed over to my backpack, snapped on my 80-300mm lens, and was able to capture one descent shot after the eagle had already passed.

We stop by the grocery store and Dan get what he needs to prepare the fish. Kevin and I head to get beer and ice while Dan prepares the fish. Beer; no problem. Ice; the entire town of Glennallen is out. That's right, there is snow visible on all of the nearby mountains but all 4 grocery stores are out of ice. As a last resort, we stop by the Caribou Restaurant and they take pity on us. We get a free garbage bag full of ice. Cold beer is a hard-won luxury.

Dan cooks the fish and it is excellent. By far the best fish of the trip; perfectly seasoned and cooked. It's amazing the transformation Dan has undergone. He was ready to call it quits the first and now he a glacier conquering, fish catching explorer.

After dinner, we play a quick game of basketball. At 11:30 PM. Unfortunately for me, it's the hardest workout of the week. Sure, I hiked a glacier earlier that day and only had 4 hours sleep the night before (and the night before. . .), but that wasn't the main reason for my pain. I hadn't played basketball in 4 years and it showed. I'm getting older and more out-of-shape. My team (the two tall guys) win the game but I'm definitely the loser. My feet, legs, back, and stomach are all complaining. Time for bed. But not before applying more deet.

Enough of the hotel already; we came here to hike and camp. Based on the advise of the Copper Valley Air guys, we head down to Valdez. It's a beautiful drive and we're surprised how much the scenery has changed. It's probably because we're driving through the mountains as opposed to around them. We pass a couple of beautiful waterfalls as well as a glacier that we will plan to explore the next day.

We stroll around Valdez and it seems to be what we'd expect a real Alaskan town to be. Lots of evidence of the oil and fishing. It's always overcast and has a gritty, industrial feel to it. We have lunch at MacMurrays Alaska Halibut House, the local equivalent of Long John Silvers. The fires are soggy but the fried fish is fresh off the boat and excellent. The salmon was great, but I think Jayson's halibut was even better. Guess that's why it's not called Salmon House.

There are very few mosquitoes in Valdez and surrounding areas. We are happy.

We stop by the local tourism office and ask about hiking and camping. We're disappointed that the long train long the coast with camping is washed out an unavailable. We settle on a shorter trail north of town that is guaranteed to have bears. I'm excited. I want to get a photo of a bear and I have my 300mm lens ready. We start up the trail and are surprised to find it's actually a service road to the dam above. We immediately see bear scat and we each check our bear mace canisters. We sign the logbook and head in. Soon after we see a big black shape suddenly pop-up above the ridge in front of us. My eyes widen and I read for my camera and bear mace at the same time. It's a dude on a mountain bike.

That was the most exciting part of the hike. At the end of the trail was the dam, which we climbed down. We hung-out for a while and then hiked back to our car. A giant grizzly marked the side of our car! Well, upon further inspection, it looks like it was probably a dog. Our bear viewing experience was a bust. At least I was able to get a photo of a bald eagle perched on driftwood in the middle of the lake.

We headed back north to Blueberry Lake campground. We were initially a little disappointed with the selection of sites, but eventually found a perfect place for 4 tents and no neighbors at back of the grounds. The fog / clouds were thick and it made for a cool and eerie camping experience. We scavenged fire wood (because the camp ground had none for sale), made a fire, boiled water for our dinners, and finished-off (I take most of the credit) the Jack. The cloud cover made for the dimmest night we'd seen, and you actually needed a flashlight to read in your tent. It was also the coldest night we'd had, reaching down into the 30s.