You know how some things just seem so wrong...
My friend Don is preparing to make his annual trek up to Burning Man. He loves it and so each and every year he makes his way from LA up to the desert just to be there. I’ve been talking about going out west for awhile now and the last time I spoke with Don he was really eager to know when I would get out there.
I thought I would do some online research about the whole Burning Man experience. I knew what it was (having read an article in WIRED about it many, many years ago) but, I still didn’t know the specifics.
As I was looking through the events, one of the things posted was this:
Description: Enemas have been a part of human history for thousands of years. Drop by and have a cup of coffee with us. The Best Part of waking up is coffee up your butt. Explore the sensuality and Heal this most over-looked and under-rated Chakra (Power Center). Look for us on Uranus @ 9:00
Date: Monday, August 29, 2005 - Sunday, September 4, 2005 (every Day)
(Updated: Thursday, July 21, 2005 2:03pm)
Time: 7:00am-8:00am
Duration: 60 minutes
Category: Classes/Workshops
Hosted by/Camp Name: Sacred Space - Anal Probe Camp
Email: sacred.space@att.net
As appealing as that might be to some, I think I’ll just stick to my morning cup of espresso - partaken through the mouth of course.
The best part of waking up, is not Folgers up my butt!
Aug 3, 2005
You know, when I wrote the entry about Global Frequency I had only watched about the first five minutes or so. Last night I got about halfway through the thing.
In a word... WOW!
It managed to hit just about every note correctly. Equal measures of suspense, action, creepiness all evident. Great visual effects too! I cannot imagine who in their right mind passed on this. Don’t be surprised to see the series show up on USA, SciFi or even FOX.
In a word... WOW!
It managed to hit just about every note correctly. Equal measures of suspense, action, creepiness all evident. Great visual effects too! I cannot imagine who in their right mind passed on this. Don’t be surprised to see the series show up on USA, SciFi or even FOX.
Aug 2, 2005
Speaking of Warren Ellis work...
I’ve mentioned in the past my fondness for Planetary - one of the best books around a truly fun read. Lo and behold, DC Comics has been magnanimous enough to post the entire first issue as a free pdf download on their website. Definitely worth a read if you’ve got the bandwidth:
Planetary - Issue 1
I’ve mentioned in the past my fondness for Planetary - one of the best books around a truly fun read. Lo and behold, DC Comics has been magnanimous enough to post the entire first issue as a free pdf download on their website. Definitely worth a read if you’ve got the bandwidth:
Planetary - Issue 1
The best tv show that never made it to broadcast...
I was looking forward to seeing Global Frequency make it to television. Apparently though, because of a change in the reigning junta at the WB it’s not to be. In the meantime, the big news was that the pilot episode (the only thing actually shot for air) had been posted on a P2P network and had been burning up the wire. This of course caused no small amount of consternation from the folks at the WB who, even though they had decided to pass on the show, were upset people were interested in downloading and viewing something they had not deemed worthy to put on their schedule.
Well, I’ve seen the pilot and I have to say I can understand why they’re upset. The thing looks like it would be a hit. The whole story of the pilot being put onto P2P makes for some interesting reading as well...
image from frequencysite.com very interesting, check them out.
I was looking forward to seeing Global Frequency make it to television. Apparently though, because of a change in the reigning junta at the WB it’s not to be. In the meantime, the big news was that the pilot episode (the only thing actually shot for air) had been posted on a P2P network and had been burning up the wire. This of course caused no small amount of consternation from the folks at the WB who, even though they had decided to pass on the show, were upset people were interested in downloading and viewing something they had not deemed worthy to put on their schedule.
Well, I’ve seen the pilot and I have to say I can understand why they’re upset. The thing looks like it would be a hit. The whole story of the pilot being put onto P2P makes for some interesting reading as well...
image from frequencysite.com very interesting, check them out.
Jul 28, 2005
Microbicides and you...
So, the condom may soon be a thing of the past?
AIDS is the leading killer of African-American women ages 25 to 34, and the sixth-leading cause of death among all U.S. women in that age group.
HIV is spreading fastest among Americans who are 25 and younger, with unprotected sex with men accounting for 79% of new female infections. Between 1999 and 2003, AIDS cases leapt by 15% among American women, compared to 1% for men, according to the June issue of Science.
At the same time, one in four American women has genital herpes; by age 30, half of all U.S. women will have had chlamydia; gonorrhea is also on the rise.
So, the condom may soon be a thing of the past?
AIDS is the leading killer of African-American women ages 25 to 34, and the sixth-leading cause of death among all U.S. women in that age group.
HIV is spreading fastest among Americans who are 25 and younger, with unprotected sex with men accounting for 79% of new female infections. Between 1999 and 2003, AIDS cases leapt by 15% among American women, compared to 1% for men, according to the June issue of Science.
At the same time, one in four American women has genital herpes; by age 30, half of all U.S. women will have had chlamydia; gonorrhea is also on the rise.
Jul 25, 2005
We interrupt our war on terrorism, to bring you this constitutional reminder...
Afterward, the riders of this bus got t-shirts saying:
“I went to New York and all I got was
this lousy t-shirt, a frisk and a body cavity search!”
Late breaking news from the year 1791:
Amendment IV - Search and seizure. Ratified 12/15/1791.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
People! The world is not a safe place.
Let’s all repeat that... THE WORLD IS NOT A SAFE PLACE!
No amount of searching, frisking, prodding or probing will ever make it that way. If this reasoning were truly effective, why are there still hand guns being sold in this country? The only people who will get screwed by crap like this are the ordinary citizens of this country! F**king wake up! Are the people of this country so incredibly bovine like, they will give up each and every liberty that makes this country a better place to live than a lot of others? Whether you have something to hide or not do you really want to give the police the ability to just stop you and pry into your life just because they don’t like the way you look?
Afterward, the riders of this bus got t-shirts saying:
this lousy t-shirt, a frisk and a body cavity search!”
Late breaking news from the year 1791:
Amendment IV - Search and seizure. Ratified 12/15/1791.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
People! The world is not a safe place.
Let’s all repeat that... THE WORLD IS NOT A SAFE PLACE!
No amount of searching, frisking, prodding or probing will ever make it that way. If this reasoning were truly effective, why are there still hand guns being sold in this country? The only people who will get screwed by crap like this are the ordinary citizens of this country! F**king wake up! Are the people of this country so incredibly bovine like, they will give up each and every liberty that makes this country a better place to live than a lot of others? Whether you have something to hide or not do you really want to give the police the ability to just stop you and pry into your life just because they don’t like the way you look?
Some notes on the issue of privacy...
From the ACLU’s site - five reasons why national identity cards should not be instituted...
A national ID card system would not protect us from terrorism, but it would create a system of internal passports that would significantly diminish the freedom and privacy of law-abiding citizens.Once put in place, it is exceedingly unlikely that such a system would be restricted to its original purpose. Social Security numbers, for example, were originally intended to be used only to administer the retirement program. But that limit has been routinely ignored and steadily abandoned over the past 50 years.A national ID system would threaten the privacy that Americans have always enjoyed and gradually increase the control that government and business wields over everyday citizens.
From the ACLU’s site - five reasons why national identity cards should not be instituted...
A national ID card system would not protect us from terrorism, but it would create a system of internal passports that would significantly diminish the freedom and privacy of law-abiding citizens.Once put in place, it is exceedingly unlikely that such a system would be restricted to its original purpose. Social Security numbers, for example, were originally intended to be used only to administer the retirement program. But that limit has been routinely ignored and steadily abandoned over the past 50 years.A national ID system would threaten the privacy that Americans have always enjoyed and gradually increase the control that government and business wields over everyday citizens.
Jul 23, 2005
Ahead of the curve...
From the WoP on June 22:
There are four guys I am hoping the Mets will pursue - I doubt they’ll get them but I certainly hope they do. The players are: Sean Casey, Alfonso Soriano, Eric Milton and Mark Redman
I pride myself on being a forward thinker when it comes to baseball. It’s a month to the day when the local guys on the sports beat finally catch up to me:
From the July 22nd edition of Newsday:
Those extra arms, however, could help land another experienced bat, such as Alfonso Soriano or Sean Casey. Texas needs more starting pitching to stay in contention, and with an abundance of young power hitters, Soriano - never a favorite of manager Buck Showalter - may be expendable.
The Mets scuttled trades that would have sent Jose Reyes or Scott Kazmir to the Rangers for Soriano before last season, then later shipped Kazmir to Tampa Bay, anyway, for Victor Zambrano.
Soriano would be a natural fit at second base. Minaya didn't sign Kaz Matsui, who is a lost cause with another season left on his three-year, $20.1-million deal, and the new GM does not have a history of sitting on his hands at the deadline.
One person familiar with the situation said the Mets and Rangers already have talked about Soriano. His 23 homers this season make him more attractive than Casey (.304, four homers), but the Rangers are reluctant to deal the slugging second baseman, and a trade seems unlikely at this point.
Soriano avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $7.5-million salary for this season - a $2.1-million raise - and he'll get another bump for 2006. Casey is making $7.8 million, and the Reds already picked up his $8.5-million option for 2006.
The Mets could put together an attractive package for either team, with a major-leaguer such as Aaron Heilman combined with prospects such as righthander Yusmiero Petit or outfielders Victor Diaz and Lastings Milledge, though Milledge is regarded as a nearly untouchable talent.
Actually, I had already figured on the players in the package which could land either guy and the only name I could see going from those aforementioned was Victor Diaz. Soriano could be had for a starting pitcher (pick a name from the following: Ishi, Zambrano or Glavine - take your pick) and Kaz Matsui (who will never get a decent break here in New York and could do with the change of scenery). Casey should be part of a package along with Milton and could be had for Diaz and two of the following potchers - Dae Sung Koo, Royce Ring, Zambrano or Ishi). Marlon Anderson or Chris Woodward could also be included in this deal. Tune back in in a month to see if I was on the money. Lord knows, I appear to have gotten it wrong on the London Underground theory.
(bet you never noticed the intentional thing with the inits of the blog - sometimes you just got to rub people’s noses in things)
From the WoP on June 22:
There are four guys I am hoping the Mets will pursue - I doubt they’ll get them but I certainly hope they do. The players are: Sean Casey, Alfonso Soriano, Eric Milton and Mark Redman
I pride myself on being a forward thinker when it comes to baseball. It’s a month to the day when the local guys on the sports beat finally catch up to me:
From the July 22nd edition of Newsday:
Those extra arms, however, could help land another experienced bat, such as Alfonso Soriano or Sean Casey. Texas needs more starting pitching to stay in contention, and with an abundance of young power hitters, Soriano - never a favorite of manager Buck Showalter - may be expendable.
The Mets scuttled trades that would have sent Jose Reyes or Scott Kazmir to the Rangers for Soriano before last season, then later shipped Kazmir to Tampa Bay, anyway, for Victor Zambrano.
Soriano would be a natural fit at second base. Minaya didn't sign Kaz Matsui, who is a lost cause with another season left on his three-year, $20.1-million deal, and the new GM does not have a history of sitting on his hands at the deadline.
One person familiar with the situation said the Mets and Rangers already have talked about Soriano. His 23 homers this season make him more attractive than Casey (.304, four homers), but the Rangers are reluctant to deal the slugging second baseman, and a trade seems unlikely at this point.
Soriano avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $7.5-million salary for this season - a $2.1-million raise - and he'll get another bump for 2006. Casey is making $7.8 million, and the Reds already picked up his $8.5-million option for 2006.
The Mets could put together an attractive package for either team, with a major-leaguer such as Aaron Heilman combined with prospects such as righthander Yusmiero Petit or outfielders Victor Diaz and Lastings Milledge, though Milledge is regarded as a nearly untouchable talent.
Actually, I had already figured on the players in the package which could land either guy and the only name I could see going from those aforementioned was Victor Diaz. Soriano could be had for a starting pitcher (pick a name from the following: Ishi, Zambrano or Glavine - take your pick) and Kaz Matsui (who will never get a decent break here in New York and could do with the change of scenery). Casey should be part of a package along with Milton and could be had for Diaz and two of the following potchers - Dae Sung Koo, Royce Ring, Zambrano or Ishi). Marlon Anderson or Chris Woodward could also be included in this deal. Tune back in in a month to see if I was on the money. Lord knows, I appear to have gotten it wrong on the London Underground theory.
(bet you never noticed the intentional thing with the inits of the blog - sometimes you just got to rub people’s noses in things)
Jul 22, 2005
Imagine a cross between the Matrix with shades of The Wall...
Set against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain, V For Vendetta tells the story of a mild-mannered young woman named Evey (Natalie Portman) who is rescued from a life-and-death situation by a masked vigilante known only as “V.” Incomparably charismatic and ferociously skilled in the art of combat and deception, V ignites a revolution when he detonates two London landmarks and takes over the government-controlled airwaves, urging his fellow citizens to rise up against tyranny and oppression. As Evey uncovers the truth about V’s mysterious background, she also discovers the truth about herself – and emerges as his unlikely ally in the culmination of his plot to bring freedom and justice back to a society fraught with cruelty and corruption.
Set against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain, V For Vendetta tells the story of a mild-mannered young woman named Evey (Natalie Portman) who is rescued from a life-and-death situation by a masked vigilante known only as “V.” Incomparably charismatic and ferociously skilled in the art of combat and deception, V ignites a revolution when he detonates two London landmarks and takes over the government-controlled airwaves, urging his fellow citizens to rise up against tyranny and oppression. As Evey uncovers the truth about V’s mysterious background, she also discovers the truth about herself – and emerges as his unlikely ally in the culmination of his plot to bring freedom and justice back to a society fraught with cruelty and corruption.
Shoo! Shoo! Retarded flu!
Truly funny animation of prank phone call from The Stern show - bandwidth required.
Truly funny animation of prank phone call from The Stern show - bandwidth required.
Jul 20, 2005
Yes, it’s true...
I am lazy. Easily as lazy as anyone out there. So, when Eva started a blog and I noticed how much nicer it looked it did bother me. I’ve procrastinated for a long time, figuring eventually I’ll build a site of my own with this spectacular and beautiful design. Two years later, while I’ve tweaked it, I was generally unhappy with the way the thing looked. Since I’ve been spending all this time upgrading software and installing the home network (yay, for DSL!), I thought I might as well look around and see what was available for free in the way of blog templates. So, I picked this style which will at least allow me to set up a decent links section (which I’ve wanted to do for awhile now). The links section will get built out in the coming weeks and hopefully as I play around with the template I’ll learn a thing or two in the process.
I am lazy. Easily as lazy as anyone out there. So, when Eva started a blog and I noticed how much nicer it looked it did bother me. I’ve procrastinated for a long time, figuring eventually I’ll build a site of my own with this spectacular and beautiful design. Two years later, while I’ve tweaked it, I was generally unhappy with the way the thing looked. Since I’ve been spending all this time upgrading software and installing the home network (yay, for DSL!), I thought I might as well look around and see what was available for free in the way of blog templates. So, I picked this style which will at least allow me to set up a decent links section (which I’ve wanted to do for awhile now). The links section will get built out in the coming weeks and hopefully as I play around with the template I’ll learn a thing or two in the process.
Jul 19, 2005
The powerful and destructive nature of the written word...
In an earlier post, I had noted how Blog Sensei was ruing damage inadvertently and innocently caused by comments she posted on her blog. It brought to mind, various discussions I have had over the previous two plus years with certain individuals regarding the risk associated with blogging in particular. These discussions centered basically around two things:
First, the hazard of writing an entry considered offensive and subsequently alienating a person or persons by it (of course strangers aren’t the issue here as much as friends and family).
Second, inadvertently disclosing something which would cause me embarrassment and shame.
In my conversations regarding these topics, I confessed each issue being something of a non starter for me. Mainly, I work from the presumptive view at any given time I easily manage to annoy, provoke or alienate a majority of people within my sphere because of the sheer outrageousness of my opinions or the totally ill mannered way that I voice same. I started the blog just to get into the regular habit of writing and thereby build up those muscles (so to speak). It’s the first small step on a journey to find my own unique voice by way of the written word. I feel any creative endeavor embodies a level of intimacy on the part of the creator - whether it be writing, art or some other media. Maybe it is a bit vainglorious on my part to consider myself somehow creative by publishing my inanities but, there is no question that for me the blog is an outlet.
Also, while unnerving at the level of intimacy required (for there is always the occasion to questions oneself), I have discovered as I make my way down the path of life, there is a trait I must fight to overcome. Simply put it’s the tendency to ‘play it safe.’ Compromise is an inevitable consequence of being successful in a politically correct society but, it is stifling.
How much time during the course of the day am I afraid?
Afraid of saying the wrong thing, doing the wrong thing or not even by necessity doing anything ‘wrong’ per say but having my motivations or intentions misconstrued and leading to conflict. Offending someone who I would never dream of offending and in doing so lose the great treasure of their respect and friendship. It’s not a good thing to go through life afraid and truthfully I don’t think anybody who played it safe ever made a difference in this world. They just maintained the status quo.
So, words are pretty dangerous things I guess.
The reason this little diatribe issues forth is that fortunately, Blog Sensei seems to have gotten in the habit of posting regularly again and it is through one of her posts I came to read this tidbit about someone whose employer not only read her blog but choose to write an article about it in the New York Times. Both provide interesting reading.
Maybe it’s a bit of a cautionary tale on the power of the written word. I don’t know but, I do figure if I’m going to get any better at the whole writing thing, I’ll have to keep pushing myself forward even though blogging may be akin to walking a tightrope. Seems all good things in life involve some kind of risk, no?
In an earlier post, I had noted how Blog Sensei was ruing damage inadvertently and innocently caused by comments she posted on her blog. It brought to mind, various discussions I have had over the previous two plus years with certain individuals regarding the risk associated with blogging in particular. These discussions centered basically around two things:
First, the hazard of writing an entry considered offensive and subsequently alienating a person or persons by it (of course strangers aren’t the issue here as much as friends and family).
Second, inadvertently disclosing something which would cause me embarrassment and shame.
In my conversations regarding these topics, I confessed each issue being something of a non starter for me. Mainly, I work from the presumptive view at any given time I easily manage to annoy, provoke or alienate a majority of people within my sphere because of the sheer outrageousness of my opinions or the totally ill mannered way that I voice same. I started the blog just to get into the regular habit of writing and thereby build up those muscles (so to speak). It’s the first small step on a journey to find my own unique voice by way of the written word. I feel any creative endeavor embodies a level of intimacy on the part of the creator - whether it be writing, art or some other media. Maybe it is a bit vainglorious on my part to consider myself somehow creative by publishing my inanities but, there is no question that for me the blog is an outlet.
Also, while unnerving at the level of intimacy required (for there is always the occasion to questions oneself), I have discovered as I make my way down the path of life, there is a trait I must fight to overcome. Simply put it’s the tendency to ‘play it safe.’ Compromise is an inevitable consequence of being successful in a politically correct society but, it is stifling.
How much time during the course of the day am I afraid?
Afraid of saying the wrong thing, doing the wrong thing or not even by necessity doing anything ‘wrong’ per say but having my motivations or intentions misconstrued and leading to conflict. Offending someone who I would never dream of offending and in doing so lose the great treasure of their respect and friendship. It’s not a good thing to go through life afraid and truthfully I don’t think anybody who played it safe ever made a difference in this world. They just maintained the status quo.
So, words are pretty dangerous things I guess.
The reason this little diatribe issues forth is that fortunately, Blog Sensei seems to have gotten in the habit of posting regularly again and it is through one of her posts I came to read this tidbit about someone whose employer not only read her blog but choose to write an article about it in the New York Times. Both provide interesting reading.
Maybe it’s a bit of a cautionary tale on the power of the written word. I don’t know but, I do figure if I’m going to get any better at the whole writing thing, I’ll have to keep pushing myself forward even though blogging may be akin to walking a tightrope. Seems all good things in life involve some kind of risk, no?
Let the lawsuits begin...
The cover of this week’s New York magazine was shocking to say the least. When I first saw it, I thought to myself, “They couldn’t really be stupid enough to pose for this, could they?” Considering the news lately, it wouldn’t have surprised me. Then upon closer examination I saw the small disclaimer copy to the bottom left of the image. It’s a great cover. Another example of fun with Photoshop and it underscores how you can’t really buy into everything you see these days. Boy, I’ve got to figure though the wunderkind of the Hubbard set isn’t going to let this one slide.
The cover of this week’s New York magazine was shocking to say the least. When I first saw it, I thought to myself, “They couldn’t really be stupid enough to pose for this, could they?” Considering the news lately, it wouldn’t have surprised me. Then upon closer examination I saw the small disclaimer copy to the bottom left of the image. It’s a great cover. Another example of fun with Photoshop and it underscores how you can’t really buy into everything you see these days. Boy, I’ve got to figure though the wunderkind of the Hubbard set isn’t going to let this one slide.
Jul 13, 2005
Richard Cohen’s column about an unlikely candidate to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court...
The upshot is that even the plenty conservative Alberto Gonzales, now the attorney general and once the White House counsel, is being pummeled by religiously based right-wing groups. Based on some of his decisions when he was on the Texas Supreme Court and, more pertinent, his lack of fulsome anti-abortion rhetoric, he has been deemed unacceptable by the true leaders of this very Christian nation. It is, really, an absurdity. If he is not acceptable, then Strom Thurmond will have to be exhumed.
Funny thing is, I have to say it’s something that might be worth considering.
The upshot is that even the plenty conservative Alberto Gonzales, now the attorney general and once the White House counsel, is being pummeled by religiously based right-wing groups. Based on some of his decisions when he was on the Texas Supreme Court and, more pertinent, his lack of fulsome anti-abortion rhetoric, he has been deemed unacceptable by the true leaders of this very Christian nation. It is, really, an absurdity. If he is not acceptable, then Strom Thurmond will have to be exhumed.
Funny thing is, I have to say it’s something that might be worth considering.
Jul 11, 2005
Fun with wordplay...
Last week I caught Mr and Mrs Smith which was somewhat passable. I enjoyed it (more so than my companion), mainly because it had something that’s been missing from movies in recent years. The thing I liked quite a bit about it was the smart, snappy dialog between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. The plot got lost about halfway through the movie but, they’re both so damn pretty to watch. All the back and forth between them harkened back to a time when movies were better scripted. I was writing a friend about it and referenced the classic dialog below - if you click through you’ll get a quicktime version of the exchange but, bonus points if you can name the stars and the movie:
Hey, you remind me of a man.
What man?
Man with the power.
What power?
Power of hoodoo.
Hoodoo?
You do.
Do what?
Remind me of a man...
Last week I caught Mr and Mrs Smith which was somewhat passable. I enjoyed it (more so than my companion), mainly because it had something that’s been missing from movies in recent years. The thing I liked quite a bit about it was the smart, snappy dialog between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. The plot got lost about halfway through the movie but, they’re both so damn pretty to watch. All the back and forth between them harkened back to a time when movies were better scripted. I was writing a friend about it and referenced the classic dialog below - if you click through you’ll get a quicktime version of the exchange but, bonus points if you can name the stars and the movie:
What man?
Man with the power.
What power?
Power of hoodoo.
Hoodoo?
You do.
Do what?
Remind me of a man...
Speaking of USA Network...
It’s very rare that TV ever gets it right. If anything, it usually gets it wrong (and in a big way). However, over the last few days I’ve been seeing these spots (ads). They’re quiet, funny and underplayed. They manage to showcase talent and at the same time build a unique brand image. It’s the antithesis of what advertising seems to have become (fast cuts, loud and garish) but, it proves how effective a campaign can be if it’s well thought out and executed properly.
Hopefully, it’ll start a trend.
“Characters Welcome,” underscores the strength of the characters that populate the network’s programming, as well as the people tuning in to watch.
A series of spots that will run beginning July 8 presents some of USA’s more popular characters in all their idiosyncratic glory. One clip trails Monk’s obsessive-compulsive detective (Tony Shalhoub) as he monomaniacally removes every expired foodstuff from the shelves of a supermarket, while another sees The Dead Zone’s reluctant psychic (Anthony Michael Hall) foresee the loss of all nine of his cat’s lives.
and...
USA will ditch its longtime logo, which incorporates a waving United States flag — but not because of any unpatriotic feelings. McCumber says viewers thought it was a “cold” symbol. It contradicted all the things that were human about our characters."
It’s very rare that TV ever gets it right. If anything, it usually gets it wrong (and in a big way). However, over the last few days I’ve been seeing these spots (ads). They’re quiet, funny and underplayed. They manage to showcase talent and at the same time build a unique brand image. It’s the antithesis of what advertising seems to have become (fast cuts, loud and garish) but, it proves how effective a campaign can be if it’s well thought out and executed properly.
Hopefully, it’ll start a trend.
“Characters Welcome,” underscores the strength of the characters that populate the network’s programming, as well as the people tuning in to watch.
A series of spots that will run beginning July 8 presents some of USA’s more popular characters in all their idiosyncratic glory. One clip trails Monk’s obsessive-compulsive detective (Tony Shalhoub) as he monomaniacally removes every expired foodstuff from the shelves of a supermarket, while another sees The Dead Zone’s reluctant psychic (Anthony Michael Hall) foresee the loss of all nine of his cat’s lives.
and...
USA will ditch its longtime logo, which incorporates a waving United States flag — but not because of any unpatriotic feelings. McCumber says viewers thought it was a “cold” symbol. It contradicted all the things that were human about our characters."
Jul 9, 2005
I’m always commenting on how girls are different today from when I was a lad. I feel often that guys my age are the unlucky caught-in-between fellows, we were too young for women raised to embrace traditional gender roles and too old for a newer generation that left those clichés behind.
Ours was the generation of the sexual revolution - hold the door or not hold the door, which is polite, which offensive? Girls didn’t play sports so much when I was younger, they were cheerleaders. If they did play sports, it was non-contact sports like gymnastics or track and field. During my years in school, if someone said you threw like a girl it wasn’t a compliment.
Today, things are different. I regularly drive by the park located next to our house to see the girls softball teams slugging it out with each new summer season. We have the WNBA and you can’t help but see all types of muscular women pushing themselves to the limits of their endurance...
“It was pretty killer,” the teenager from Hawaii said. “Even though I finished below par, it still feels (bad) because I played so well the first nine and then I just totally messed up the back nine.'”
She now goes to the men’s U.S. Amateur Public Links next week at Shaker Run in Lebanon, Ohio. The winner has traditionally gotten a spot in the Masters.
Wie had played beyond her years all week, hitting it straight and showing a better-than-expected touch around the greens. But all of that disappeared at the most inopportune time.
What I’m doing is just getting around to saying how cool I think Michelle Wie is. 15 years old, think about that for a second. She’s fifteen and she’s competing with pros and not only are they pros but, she’s given the guys a run for their money. She didn’t make the cut this week but, she’s only fifteen which means over the next five years she’ll probably only get better.
I am confident you’ll be hearing lots more of her in the years to come.
Jul 8, 2005
The empty seat at the table...
I don’t try to mark time so much presently. Days go by, running together, passing at a faster and faster rate. I succumb to the denial all manage as we grow older, the point where you’re not anticipating another birthday, just trying to ignore it. Oddly though, much as life may inevitably change - much as you try to resist change, constants are still in every person’s life to contrast that change. One such constant for me has been and remains seeing family at the holidays.
I’m not the baby of the family anymore, graduating to the ‘grown ups’ table long ago but unquestionably, comfort is still derived in being around ‘your people.’ People you know and love. People connected by the ties of blood or marriage who accompany you for the better part of your ride through life. People you see each and every year at certain times. Those who can recall a time when you weren’t marked by the bumps and bruises accumulated during your time here on earth.
Family is important. I find as I get older, it becomes even more important to me. I never thought of myself as having much in the way of family so, I am thankful for what little family I possess. Ironically, as I grow to enjoy being around my family more, there is less time left to me enjoy their company.
Each family has its own traditions. One of ours is the post meal card game. I couldn’t tell you when the game really started but, I do remember joining in somewhere during my late teens or early twenties. Being able to play in the game was a special privelege, a great boon if you would, a rite of passage from the recesses of childhood into the adult world. Accepted into the pantheon that was the core of players. Over the years some came, others went but, a select few of our number wound up sitting down after dinner and before coffee year in - year out. Admittedly as the number of games mounted, I found myself increasingly looking forward to each game. Our tradition, the menfolk sitting down, pretending to be big shots among one and other in our high stakes game of quarters.
Play cards with the same people through the years and you come to recognize the kind of player a person is. You get surprised every now and again but it doesn’t matter because the game itself, the banter, the company, just being there is what’s fun. Also, age becomes less of a barrier as you rack up time on the planet. A gap of ten or twenty years doesn’t mean as much as it did when you were younger. You start seeing people as they are rather than what you imagine them to be.
Well, we lost a player last week.
I’m not good enough to be able to do a man justice and sum up his life in a few sentences. What I can say is our last card game was at Christmas. Christmas was at Bob and Linda’s house. Bob broke out the new tabletop he had gotten for a gift from his son-in-law. He beamed with pride over the big holiday score, along with the nice set of chips, it wound up being a treat for all of us, a step closer to legimitizing our game. We played, we joked, we did all the same good natured ribbing of each other we all enjoyed.
I may be mistaken but, I’m thinking Bob was the big winner that day. Now, six short months later he is gone.
We went to visit him at the hospital last week - appropriately enough on the day where the sky opened up with rain. Bob had been asleep since Saturday and my cousin had been at his side standing vigil. It was tough on her, she had hardly been away from his side since he was admitted to the hospital almost two weeks prior but, you spend thirty years with someone I imagine you don’t ever want to ponder a day when they won’t be with you anymore.
Bob didn’t look at all like the smiling man who gleefully piled his chips before him. There was an ever increasing wall as his winnings mounted. The happy, vivacious charlatan has been spirited away and replaced by a small frail figure. Occasionally, his slight frame evidenced a great shudder showing the incredible weight of his illness. Sitting in the small room it was hard to reconcile the man I knew with the ravaged figure before me.
There wasn’t a shortage of people though, well-wishers, friends, family. People whose lives had been affected by Bob, by his energy, his joy of life. It is at these moments bearing witness to a person stirring the last embers of a precious fire before it dims, you confront mortality, you wonder what the measure of a person truly is. How can success or failure be measured? What is the legacy a person leaves behind?
Sitting in his hospital room and over the subsequent days after Bob’s passing I came to realize the measure of life’s wealth and simply put it is in the lives we touch. As the fates would have it, Bob turned out to be one of the wealthiest men I have ever had the privelege to know and he will be sorely missed.
I don’t try to mark time so much presently. Days go by, running together, passing at a faster and faster rate. I succumb to the denial all manage as we grow older, the point where you’re not anticipating another birthday, just trying to ignore it. Oddly though, much as life may inevitably change - much as you try to resist change, constants are still in every person’s life to contrast that change. One such constant for me has been and remains seeing family at the holidays.
I’m not the baby of the family anymore, graduating to the ‘grown ups’ table long ago but unquestionably, comfort is still derived in being around ‘your people.’ People you know and love. People connected by the ties of blood or marriage who accompany you for the better part of your ride through life. People you see each and every year at certain times. Those who can recall a time when you weren’t marked by the bumps and bruises accumulated during your time here on earth.
Family is important. I find as I get older, it becomes even more important to me. I never thought of myself as having much in the way of family so, I am thankful for what little family I possess. Ironically, as I grow to enjoy being around my family more, there is less time left to me enjoy their company.
Each family has its own traditions. One of ours is the post meal card game. I couldn’t tell you when the game really started but, I do remember joining in somewhere during my late teens or early twenties. Being able to play in the game was a special privelege, a great boon if you would, a rite of passage from the recesses of childhood into the adult world. Accepted into the pantheon that was the core of players. Over the years some came, others went but, a select few of our number wound up sitting down after dinner and before coffee year in - year out. Admittedly as the number of games mounted, I found myself increasingly looking forward to each game. Our tradition, the menfolk sitting down, pretending to be big shots among one and other in our high stakes game of quarters.
Play cards with the same people through the years and you come to recognize the kind of player a person is. You get surprised every now and again but it doesn’t matter because the game itself, the banter, the company, just being there is what’s fun. Also, age becomes less of a barrier as you rack up time on the planet. A gap of ten or twenty years doesn’t mean as much as it did when you were younger. You start seeing people as they are rather than what you imagine them to be.
Well, we lost a player last week.
I’m not good enough to be able to do a man justice and sum up his life in a few sentences. What I can say is our last card game was at Christmas. Christmas was at Bob and Linda’s house. Bob broke out the new tabletop he had gotten for a gift from his son-in-law. He beamed with pride over the big holiday score, along with the nice set of chips, it wound up being a treat for all of us, a step closer to legimitizing our game. We played, we joked, we did all the same good natured ribbing of each other we all enjoyed.
I may be mistaken but, I’m thinking Bob was the big winner that day. Now, six short months later he is gone.
We went to visit him at the hospital last week - appropriately enough on the day where the sky opened up with rain. Bob had been asleep since Saturday and my cousin had been at his side standing vigil. It was tough on her, she had hardly been away from his side since he was admitted to the hospital almost two weeks prior but, you spend thirty years with someone I imagine you don’t ever want to ponder a day when they won’t be with you anymore.
Bob didn’t look at all like the smiling man who gleefully piled his chips before him. There was an ever increasing wall as his winnings mounted. The happy, vivacious charlatan has been spirited away and replaced by a small frail figure. Occasionally, his slight frame evidenced a great shudder showing the incredible weight of his illness. Sitting in the small room it was hard to reconcile the man I knew with the ravaged figure before me.
There wasn’t a shortage of people though, well-wishers, friends, family. People whose lives had been affected by Bob, by his energy, his joy of life. It is at these moments bearing witness to a person stirring the last embers of a precious fire before it dims, you confront mortality, you wonder what the measure of a person truly is. How can success or failure be measured? What is the legacy a person leaves behind?
Sitting in his hospital room and over the subsequent days after Bob’s passing I came to realize the measure of life’s wealth and simply put it is in the lives we touch. As the fates would have it, Bob turned out to be one of the wealthiest men I have ever had the privelege to know and he will be sorely missed.
Jul 7, 2005
Meanwhile...
How stupid are these guys to actually believe this is going to serve any purpose other than to get people madder and united in their resolve to obliterate these morons - these fanatics?
I was trying to track down something regarding terrorism throughout history and it ineffectiveness as a means of achieving political aims. I remember hearing something about it not being a terrible useful tool (I am chagrined to admit is was during some dialog from the West Wing) when contrasted against non violence.
Then I came across this which I found interesting:
Suicide attack is an ancient practice with a modern history. Its use by the Jewish sects of Zealots and Sicarii (“daggers”) in Roman-occupied Judea [1] and by the Islamic Order of Assassins (hashashin) during the early Crusader times are legendary examples.[2] The concept of “terror” as systematic use of violence to attain political ends was first codified by Maximilien Robespierre during the French Revolution. He deemed it an “emanation of virtue” that delivers “prompt, severe, and inflexible” justice, as “a consequence of the general principle of democracy applied to our country’s most pressing needs”. [3]The Reign of Terror, during which the ruling Jacobin faction exterminated thousands of potential enemies, of whatever sex, age, or condition, lasted until Robespierre’s fall ( July 1794). Similar justification for state-sponsored terror was common to 20th-century revolutions, as in Russia (Lenin), Cambodia (Pol Pot), and Iran (Khomeini).
How stupid are these guys to actually believe this is going to serve any purpose other than to get people madder and united in their resolve to obliterate these morons - these fanatics?
I was trying to track down something regarding terrorism throughout history and it ineffectiveness as a means of achieving political aims. I remember hearing something about it not being a terrible useful tool (I am chagrined to admit is was during some dialog from the West Wing) when contrasted against non violence.
Then I came across this which I found interesting:
Suicide attack is an ancient practice with a modern history. Its use by the Jewish sects of Zealots and Sicarii (“daggers”) in Roman-occupied Judea [1] and by the Islamic Order of Assassins (hashashin) during the early Crusader times are legendary examples.[2] The concept of “terror” as systematic use of violence to attain political ends was first codified by Maximilien Robespierre during the French Revolution. He deemed it an “emanation of virtue” that delivers “prompt, severe, and inflexible” justice, as “a consequence of the general principle of democracy applied to our country’s most pressing needs”. [3]The Reign of Terror, during which the ruling Jacobin faction exterminated thousands of potential enemies, of whatever sex, age, or condition, lasted until Robespierre’s fall ( July 1794). Similar justification for state-sponsored terror was common to 20th-century revolutions, as in Russia (Lenin), Cambodia (Pol Pot), and Iran (Khomeini).
Don’t be surprised if it turns out the London bombings were carried out by a single person.
Why?
A single person carrying out such a plot is less likely to have things go wrong in terms of choreographing the event. A lone bomber would be harder to guard against and catch. Look at the spacing of the bombings. The time between each explosion is relatively short and the three tube bombings all occur on trains running along parallell or intersecting lines suggesting one means of executing the attack could simply be a matter of leaving an unattended package aboard a very crowded train and setting it off via means of a timer or cell phone detonator. The person would just be catching another train and merely looking like a passenger who, in a rush, overlooked their parcel. The direction the trains were proceeding at the time of the blasts will determine whether or not this theory has any credence.
Now, that’s not to say they (the lone bomber) wouldn’t have had the support and cooperation of a larger group of people (co-conspirators) but, with the forethought the person charged with the actual placement of the devices would be committing suicide by blowing themselves up (making identification difficult) it would make the task of linking the bombing to co-conspirators all the more difficult. Three bombs are set off in the tubes, followed by a bus bombing which obliterates the physical remains of the bomber, scattering his body parts over a wide area. Bearing in mind, this kind of a ‘sacrifice’ on the part of the bomber, would be considered heroic on his part (as evidenced by prior attacks), the theory is not entirely implausible.
Why?
A single person carrying out such a plot is less likely to have things go wrong in terms of choreographing the event. A lone bomber would be harder to guard against and catch. Look at the spacing of the bombings. The time between each explosion is relatively short and the three tube bombings all occur on trains running along parallell or intersecting lines suggesting one means of executing the attack could simply be a matter of leaving an unattended package aboard a very crowded train and setting it off via means of a timer or cell phone detonator. The person would just be catching another train and merely looking like a passenger who, in a rush, overlooked their parcel. The direction the trains were proceeding at the time of the blasts will determine whether or not this theory has any credence.
Now, that’s not to say they (the lone bomber) wouldn’t have had the support and cooperation of a larger group of people (co-conspirators) but, with the forethought the person charged with the actual placement of the devices would be committing suicide by blowing themselves up (making identification difficult) it would make the task of linking the bombing to co-conspirators all the more difficult. Three bombs are set off in the tubes, followed by a bus bombing which obliterates the physical remains of the bomber, scattering his body parts over a wide area. Bearing in mind, this kind of a ‘sacrifice’ on the part of the bomber, would be considered heroic on his part (as evidenced by prior attacks), the theory is not entirely implausible.
Jul 4, 2005
You’d think I was making this stuff up...
During a simulated Chemical attack, Brian and few other soldiers were tasked to complete their mission, while wearing Chemical protective clothing. While wearing the clothing he released gas and noticed that he couldn’t smell any odor nor could anyone else. But it wasn’t until one morning when Brian’s wife had an episode of gas did Brian make the connection
...but wait it gets better, for those who blame the poor dog:
DOGGIE DIAPER MODEL AND A THONG MODEL
Many things may cause a dogs system to create excessive malodorous gas (farts or flatus) such as their diet, digestive problems, medications, or old age. Your dog may have gastrointestinal problems, just like a human. Age can also affect the digestive tract of your dog. Your best friend deserves to eat the food he wants. You should enjoy his close company and not be disturbed by his gaseous emissions. Flat-D Innovations has tested and developed two models of Canine gas odor control- No more stinky or smelly dogs! Pet and dog odor from flatulence are a thing of the past.
Oh, and the dog looks so happy now too!
During a simulated Chemical attack, Brian and few other soldiers were tasked to complete their mission, while wearing Chemical protective clothing. While wearing the clothing he released gas and noticed that he couldn’t smell any odor nor could anyone else. But it wasn’t until one morning when Brian’s wife had an episode of gas did Brian make the connection
...but wait it gets better, for those who blame the poor dog:
DOGGIE DIAPER MODEL AND A THONG MODEL
Many things may cause a dogs system to create excessive malodorous gas (farts or flatus) such as their diet, digestive problems, medications, or old age. Your dog may have gastrointestinal problems, just like a human. Age can also affect the digestive tract of your dog. Your best friend deserves to eat the food he wants. You should enjoy his close company and not be disturbed by his gaseous emissions. Flat-D Innovations has tested and developed two models of Canine gas odor control- No more stinky or smelly dogs! Pet and dog odor from flatulence are a thing of the past.
Oh, and the dog looks so happy now too!
Jun 30, 2005
You can’t make stuff like this up...
If you think Tom jumping up and down on Oprah’s couch was strange, take a look at this...
Xenu was about to be deposed from power, so he devised a plot to eliminate the excess population from his dominions. With the assistance of “renegades,” he defeated the populace and the “Loyal Officers,” a force for good that was opposed to Xenu. Then, with the assistance of psychiatrists, he summoned billions of people to paralyse them with injections of alcohol and glycol, under the pretense that they were being called for “income tax inspections.” The kidnapped populace was loaded into space planes for transport to the site of extermination, the planet of Teegeeack (Earth). The space planes were exact copies of Douglas DC-8s, “except the DC-8 had fans, propellers on it and the space plane didn’t.” DC-8s have jet engines, not propellers, although Hubbard may have meant the turbine fans.
When the space planes had reached Teegeeack, the paralysed people were unloaded and stacked around the bases of volcanoes across the planet. Hydrogen bombs were lowered into the volcanoes, and all were detonated simultaneously. Only a few people’s physical bodies survived.
The now-disembodied victims' souls, which Hubbard called thetans, were blown into the air by the blast. They were captured by Xenu's forces using an "electronic ribbon" ("which also was a type of standing wave") and sucked into "vacuum zones" around the world. The hundreds of billions of captured thetans were taken to a type of cinema, where they were forced to watch a “three-D, super colossal motion picture” for 36 days.
Now the rant with Matt Lauer about psychiatrists takes on a new light.
If you think Tom jumping up and down on Oprah’s couch was strange, take a look at this...
Xenu was about to be deposed from power, so he devised a plot to eliminate the excess population from his dominions. With the assistance of “renegades,” he defeated the populace and the “Loyal Officers,” a force for good that was opposed to Xenu. Then, with the assistance of psychiatrists, he summoned billions of people to paralyse them with injections of alcohol and glycol, under the pretense that they were being called for “income tax inspections.” The kidnapped populace was loaded into space planes for transport to the site of extermination, the planet of Teegeeack (Earth). The space planes were exact copies of Douglas DC-8s, “except the DC-8 had fans, propellers on it and the space plane didn’t.” DC-8s have jet engines, not propellers, although Hubbard may have meant the turbine fans.
When the space planes had reached Teegeeack, the paralysed people were unloaded and stacked around the bases of volcanoes across the planet. Hydrogen bombs were lowered into the volcanoes, and all were detonated simultaneously. Only a few people’s physical bodies survived.
The now-disembodied victims' souls, which Hubbard called thetans, were blown into the air by the blast. They were captured by Xenu's forces using an "electronic ribbon" ("which also was a type of standing wave") and sucked into "vacuum zones" around the world. The hundreds of billions of captured thetans were taken to a type of cinema, where they were forced to watch a “three-D, super colossal motion picture” for 36 days.
Now the rant with Matt Lauer about psychiatrists takes on a new light.
Ah, you’ve got to feel sorry for the ladies...
...the average self-flagellating female, swimsuit shopping is as pleasurable as paying taxes and getting a root canal. Most styles are designed for porn stars or nymphets...
...the average self-flagellating female, swimsuit shopping is as pleasurable as paying taxes and getting a root canal. Most styles are designed for porn stars or nymphets...
I’m indulging myself today (so please your pardons). I have finally installed Tiger on the two main machines - after much procrastination. Now, I am enjoying playing around with Safari and finally getting a chance to use all those cool things previously denied me because of my stubborn reliance on old software.
Now just to get all the other software installed and running properly!
Now just to get all the other software installed and running properly!
My life as furniture...
I was at a function over the weekend where I was asked ‘what I was doing,’ to which I replied, ‘nothing.’ That’s not entirely true when I pause and give it some thought. I’ve found a new career as furniture for the cat - it would appear there’s nothing better than using me as a warm place to sleep.
I was at a function over the weekend where I was asked ‘what I was doing,’ to which I replied, ‘nothing.’ That’s not entirely true when I pause and give it some thought. I’ve found a new career as furniture for the cat - it would appear there’s nothing better than using me as a warm place to sleep.
Jun 29, 2005
Finally there is proof!
...or is there?
Came across this today and the first thing which struck me was maybe it’s not so much the drug as the condition that results from taking it:
Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it had 38 reports of blindness caused by a a condition called NAION or non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy among users of Viagra.
...or is there?
Came across this today and the first thing which struck me was maybe it’s not so much the drug as the condition that results from taking it:
Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it had 38 reports of blindness caused by a a condition called NAION or non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy among users of Viagra.
Jun 27, 2005
Memories of another childhood hero...
Passed along to me by The Beck was the sad news regarding the passing of Paul Winchell:
At 82 Paul was still active and was working on streaming video that would showcase full half hour children shows from the 50’s and 60’s. Not just his shows, but as many performers as he could get that had wholesome children's programming. He wanted it all to be free to the public.
Clicking on the link or image above will take you to the man’s site - he lead an amazing life.
In 1963, he patented an artificial heart that he said was a collaboration with Henry J. Heimlich, inventor of the maneuver for choking victims. Mr. Winchell’s device was considered the prototype for the one designed by Robert K. Jarvik that was successfully implanted in a human in 1982.
Heimlich later said: “I saw the heart, I saw the patent and I saw the letters. The basic principle used in Winchell’s heart and Jarvik’s heart is exactly the same.”
Passed along to me by The Beck was the sad news regarding the passing of Paul Winchell:
At 82 Paul was still active and was working on streaming video that would showcase full half hour children shows from the 50’s and 60’s. Not just his shows, but as many performers as he could get that had wholesome children's programming. He wanted it all to be free to the public.
Clicking on the link or image above will take you to the man’s site - he lead an amazing life.
In 1963, he patented an artificial heart that he said was a collaboration with Henry J. Heimlich, inventor of the maneuver for choking victims. Mr. Winchell’s device was considered the prototype for the one designed by Robert K. Jarvik that was successfully implanted in a human in 1982.
Heimlich later said: “I saw the heart, I saw the patent and I saw the letters. The basic principle used in Winchell’s heart and Jarvik’s heart is exactly the same.”
Jun 23, 2005
Picking up speed...
So, it’s official - I’m over the hill. Along the road of life, I climbed, crested and now am on the downward slope. I don’t feel that way personally but, I have heard from someone recently I was ‘too old.’
It was shocking really.
After having been ‘too young’ for things, I never realized I had progressed into that age bracket where I was ‘just right.’ I guess I blinked and I missed it.
Now, I’m too old.
I don’t think you’re ever too old myself. I don’t feel any different mind you. I don’t feel as if some bridge has been crossed. Certainly there are ways in which my body reminds me of the passage of time.
- Things don’t heal quite as fast as they might have years ago.
- My energy level (which was never something to brag about to begin with) hasn’t noticeably diminished but, I do notice a fatigue on those days after I’ve done something like walked a few miles around the city on a hot day lugging around the city with the always too heavy bag full of stuff (people wonder what’s in that bag, wouldn’t you all like to know).
- And of course, there’s the seemingly growing array of various noises and aches my body subjects me to over the course of the day.
These are the only ways I would have acknowledged that the years have gone by.
Oh, and of course whenever I see one of those ‘candid’ pictures someone snaps of you (when you really don’t want them to take your picture). I see a person who I almost don’t recognize. Some lines on the face, some gray in the hair, a bit of paunchiness and some bags under the eyes - who is that person anyway?!?! Yes, it’s the person masquerading as me.
Like I said, inside the house that hosts my consciousness - nothing feels like it’s changed - only the image staring back from the mirror each day is different.
So, I was told I’m ‘too old,’ what to do, what to do?
Of course, the person who told me this is someone who is considerably my junior. This is something which I found a little ironic. Over a decade separates me from the arbiter of my fate. Strangely enough, these kinds of judgments are never made by someone who is older than you, only by someone who is younger.
I know our society emphasizes youth but, as I lap years I can’t help but look back on the past with a certain wry appreciation of my own naivety. I imagine each generation suffers from the same plight - that certainty they’ve seen it all, done it all and are that much more tuned in to the world than those who have come before.
So, after my initial indignation, my next thought was: hee, hee, hee... boy, if you aren’t in for a surprise.
So, my youthful judge you’ll have excuse me if I don’t go out and buy the plot just yet.
So, it’s official - I’m over the hill. Along the road of life, I climbed, crested and now am on the downward slope. I don’t feel that way personally but, I have heard from someone recently I was ‘too old.’
It was shocking really.
After having been ‘too young’ for things, I never realized I had progressed into that age bracket where I was ‘just right.’ I guess I blinked and I missed it.
Now, I’m too old.
I don’t think you’re ever too old myself. I don’t feel any different mind you. I don’t feel as if some bridge has been crossed. Certainly there are ways in which my body reminds me of the passage of time.
- Things don’t heal quite as fast as they might have years ago.
- My energy level (which was never something to brag about to begin with) hasn’t noticeably diminished but, I do notice a fatigue on those days after I’ve done something like walked a few miles around the city on a hot day lugging around the city with the always too heavy bag full of stuff (people wonder what’s in that bag, wouldn’t you all like to know).
- And of course, there’s the seemingly growing array of various noises and aches my body subjects me to over the course of the day.
These are the only ways I would have acknowledged that the years have gone by.
Oh, and of course whenever I see one of those ‘candid’ pictures someone snaps of you (when you really don’t want them to take your picture). I see a person who I almost don’t recognize. Some lines on the face, some gray in the hair, a bit of paunchiness and some bags under the eyes - who is that person anyway?!?! Yes, it’s the person masquerading as me.
Like I said, inside the house that hosts my consciousness - nothing feels like it’s changed - only the image staring back from the mirror each day is different.
So, I was told I’m ‘too old,’ what to do, what to do?
Of course, the person who told me this is someone who is considerably my junior. This is something which I found a little ironic. Over a decade separates me from the arbiter of my fate. Strangely enough, these kinds of judgments are never made by someone who is older than you, only by someone who is younger.
I know our society emphasizes youth but, as I lap years I can’t help but look back on the past with a certain wry appreciation of my own naivety. I imagine each generation suffers from the same plight - that certainty they’ve seen it all, done it all and are that much more tuned in to the world than those who have come before.
So, after my initial indignation, my next thought was: hee, hee, hee... boy, if you aren’t in for a surprise.
So, my youthful judge you’ll have excuse me if I don’t go out and buy the plot just yet.
The return of Mac clones?
Or cheaper Macs? Interesting article about the implications of Apple’s switch over to the Intel Processor:
Apple also could eventually feel financial and consumer pressure to license the Mac OS after the Intel switch because consumers will be better able to compare Windows-based PCs with Macintosh computers and determine the premium paid for the Mac OS and the computers’ design. That transparency could well force Apple to bring computer prices more in line with those of its PC rivals, which, unlike Apple, typically sell their machines at thin profit margins.
Or cheaper Macs? Interesting article about the implications of Apple’s switch over to the Intel Processor:
Apple also could eventually feel financial and consumer pressure to license the Mac OS after the Intel switch because consumers will be better able to compare Windows-based PCs with Macintosh computers and determine the premium paid for the Mac OS and the computers’ design. That transparency could well force Apple to bring computer prices more in line with those of its PC rivals, which, unlike Apple, typically sell their machines at thin profit margins.
A revised opinion...
The Yankees don’t play in Flushing and
The Mets are in the toilet.
Just a painful June. The Astros came to town and the Mets went south it seems.
There are four guys I am hoping the Mets will pursue - I doubt they’ll get them but I certainly hope they do.
The players are:
__________
Sean Casey
__________
Alfonso Soriano
__________
Eric Milton
__________
Mark Redman
Casey is a first baseman from Cincinnati who apparently can “be had” and should combined in a trade to allow Cincinnati to get out from under the contract for Eric Milton (which they must be having second thoughts about).
The Pirates are always trade partners and rumors are that Redman is available for the right package.
Soriano is too keen on his sojourn in Texas (according to the rumblings) and a change of scenery could only benefit Kaz Matsui - plus with the abundance of starters currently it would be very possible for the Mets to package Zambrano or Ishi to get a decent second baseman.
We’ll see.
The Mets are in the toilet.
Just a painful June. The Astros came to town and the Mets went south it seems.
There are four guys I am hoping the Mets will pursue - I doubt they’ll get them but I certainly hope they do.
__________
Sean Casey
__________
Alfonso Soriano
__________
Eric Milton
__________
Mark Redman
Casey is a first baseman from Cincinnati who apparently can “be had” and should combined in a trade to allow Cincinnati to get out from under the contract for Eric Milton (which they must be having second thoughts about).
The Pirates are always trade partners and rumors are that Redman is available for the right package.
Soriano is too keen on his sojourn in Texas (according to the rumblings) and a change of scenery could only benefit Kaz Matsui - plus with the abundance of starters currently it would be very possible for the Mets to package Zambrano or Ishi to get a decent second baseman.
We’ll see.
Jun 21, 2005
What better remedy for the first day of summer...
...than to put up a link to a Christmas card gallery.
Below is the infamous and unforgettable “Reindeer by Committee” holiday card by my friend Mark Favreau. Nothing has ever captured the lunacy of working in the industry quite like this card. The gallery of his various holiday cards is worth a look (Mark’s a terrific artist) and Mark’s a multi talented guy having done everything from a CD ROM game (back when it was a trailblazing thing to do) to all kinds of design work.
1989. Furthering the point, this card was picked up by bunches of folks and organizations who, apparently feeling neglected that they were not consulted during its creation, wanted copies, permission to reproduce it, claim it as their own, rip it off, improve it, revise it, and otherwise participate in the creative process after the fact.
Check out his site. Better still hire him for some work!
...than to put up a link to a Christmas card gallery.
Below is the infamous and unforgettable “Reindeer by Committee” holiday card by my friend Mark Favreau. Nothing has ever captured the lunacy of working in the industry quite like this card. The gallery of his various holiday cards is worth a look (Mark’s a terrific artist) and Mark’s a multi talented guy having done everything from a CD ROM game (back when it was a trailblazing thing to do) to all kinds of design work.
1989. Furthering the point, this card was picked up by bunches of folks and organizations who, apparently feeling neglected that they were not consulted during its creation, wanted copies, permission to reproduce it, claim it as their own, rip it off, improve it, revise it, and otherwise participate in the creative process after the fact.
Check out his site. Better still hire him for some work!
Jun 20, 2005
Pardon me, my mouth went off and I didn’t know it was loaded...
Blog Sensei is feeling remorse. She wrote something which apparently got someone else in trouble and now she feels terrible about it:
Because of flippant, arrogant comments I made someone is else is being made to pay a very high price, which is worse to me than if I was fired because of something I said.
Working from the assumption (as I do), I manage to piss off most of the world at any given time I find myself unencumbered by the pangs of conscious.
Most of the time that is...
I still write what I want but, you’ll see those little apologetic after words if I think I might have stepped over the line and offended someone else’s delicate sensibilities. Which is surprising, I never get the sense there’s this great movement out there going on sacrificing for the sake of my feelings but, living in a politically correct society as we do all language has become somewhat akin to walking amidst a minefield. You never know when what you say will set a bomb off.
Of course, I have to say that I take great pleasure in reading the musings of my Blog Sensei. While it hasn’t made us grow any closer as two people, I find her to be an intelligent, thoughtful, sensitive and graceful person. There aren’t a lot of people who I would proscribe those qualities to but in essence, I think that goes to show you what a special person I believe her to be.
Consequently, anything that would stifle her from voicing her thoughts really is bothersome and angers me. It angers me in the futile way men get angry, that stupid yell at the sky kind of rage that just makes a person look foolish and is usually unwelcome.
All I’m getting at is Blog Sensei is a pretty quiet person for the most part, quashing her beautiful means of expression is a crime. Probably one of the reasons I like and respect her so much is that I know she really is sorry for whatever did happen which is probably a lot more than can be said about the person or persons making an issue of the whole thing.
At the end of the day, it’s all just speculation on my part. Just another instance probably of me sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong but for those of you that do know her, I hope you’ll take it as a cue to do something nice for her if only to make her feel a little better.
Blog Sensei is feeling remorse. She wrote something which apparently got someone else in trouble and now she feels terrible about it:
Because of flippant, arrogant comments I made someone is else is being made to pay a very high price, which is worse to me than if I was fired because of something I said.
Working from the assumption (as I do), I manage to piss off most of the world at any given time I find myself unencumbered by the pangs of conscious.
Most of the time that is...
I still write what I want but, you’ll see those little apologetic after words if I think I might have stepped over the line and offended someone else’s delicate sensibilities. Which is surprising, I never get the sense there’s this great movement out there going on sacrificing for the sake of my feelings but, living in a politically correct society as we do all language has become somewhat akin to walking amidst a minefield. You never know when what you say will set a bomb off.
Of course, I have to say that I take great pleasure in reading the musings of my Blog Sensei. While it hasn’t made us grow any closer as two people, I find her to be an intelligent, thoughtful, sensitive and graceful person. There aren’t a lot of people who I would proscribe those qualities to but in essence, I think that goes to show you what a special person I believe her to be.
Consequently, anything that would stifle her from voicing her thoughts really is bothersome and angers me. It angers me in the futile way men get angry, that stupid yell at the sky kind of rage that just makes a person look foolish and is usually unwelcome.
All I’m getting at is Blog Sensei is a pretty quiet person for the most part, quashing her beautiful means of expression is a crime. Probably one of the reasons I like and respect her so much is that I know she really is sorry for whatever did happen which is probably a lot more than can be said about the person or persons making an issue of the whole thing.
At the end of the day, it’s all just speculation on my part. Just another instance probably of me sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong but for those of you that do know her, I hope you’ll take it as a cue to do something nice for her if only to make her feel a little better.
Jun 19, 2005
The next big thing?
I remember back in ancient days ('94?) reading about technologies that would replace SCSI. Things like USB and Firewire where you wouldn’t be limited to a seven device chain. People forget about the SCSI limitation nowadays but, it’s one of a number of tech standards that have come and gone over the last decade and a half (floppies, Bernoullis, Syquest, Zip, Jaz, CDs - anyone? anyone?). Well, I was doing my morning reading and came across this article and thought I would pass it along - the clincher in this case of course is the thing about the tech being on the market by ’06 pr ’07. Imagine 25 DVDs on a stamp!
One of IBM’s more promising near-term technologies is its Millipede data storage technology. The device — which works on a principle similar to those old data punch cards that those of us who are 40 or older used in the 1970s — employs atomic-sized tips to create pits about 10 nanometers wide that are then read as bits of data. This technique will allow a device the size of a postage stamp to hold the equivalent of 25 DVDs. If IBM can bring the technology to market in 2006 or 2007, as expected, it could represent a new way to store massive amounts of data and fuel wide-scale use in next-generation cell phones, digital cameras, and PDAs.
I remember back in ancient days ('94?) reading about technologies that would replace SCSI. Things like USB and Firewire where you wouldn’t be limited to a seven device chain. People forget about the SCSI limitation nowadays but, it’s one of a number of tech standards that have come and gone over the last decade and a half (floppies, Bernoullis, Syquest, Zip, Jaz, CDs - anyone? anyone?). Well, I was doing my morning reading and came across this article and thought I would pass it along - the clincher in this case of course is the thing about the tech being on the market by ’06 pr ’07. Imagine 25 DVDs on a stamp!
One of IBM’s more promising near-term technologies is its Millipede data storage technology. The device — which works on a principle similar to those old data punch cards that those of us who are 40 or older used in the 1970s — employs atomic-sized tips to create pits about 10 nanometers wide that are then read as bits of data. This technique will allow a device the size of a postage stamp to hold the equivalent of 25 DVDs. If IBM can bring the technology to market in 2006 or 2007, as expected, it could represent a new way to store massive amounts of data and fuel wide-scale use in next-generation cell phones, digital cameras, and PDAs.
Jun 15, 2005
More on the Wal-Mart virus...
The thing that got me looking into this was Frontline’s excellent program on Wal-Mart’s impact on America. If you haven’t seen it, it is really worth trying to catch. Frontline has a lot of the video and related materials up on their website but, you’ll need a big pipe for the streaming video.
Last year we imported $36 billion of goods from China. We exported only $3 billion and most of what we sent out was raw materials to service China’s production boom. “We export cotton; we bring in clothing,” Smith explained. “We export hides; we bring in shoes. We export scrap metal; we bring back machinery.”
Add it all up and you get a record trade deficit with China that will likely exceed $150 billion this year. “You definitely see the imbalance in trade when you come down to the port,” says Smith.
The thing that got me looking into this was Frontline’s excellent program on Wal-Mart’s impact on America. If you haven’t seen it, it is really worth trying to catch. Frontline has a lot of the video and related materials up on their website but, you’ll need a big pipe for the streaming video.
Last year we imported $36 billion of goods from China. We exported only $3 billion and most of what we sent out was raw materials to service China’s production boom. “We export cotton; we bring in clothing,” Smith explained. “We export hides; we bring in shoes. We export scrap metal; we bring back machinery.”
Add it all up and you get a record trade deficit with China that will likely exceed $150 billion this year. “You definitely see the imbalance in trade when you come down to the port,” says Smith.
The virus sweeping the nation...
I saw something on PBS last night (more on that later) which caused me to do some looking around and I came across this Pulitzer winning series from the Los Angeles Times - it’s really worth a read:
Wal-Mart gives. And Wal-Mart takes away.
From a small-town five-and-dime, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has grown over 50 years to become the world’s largest corporation and a global economic force.
It posted $245 billion in sales in its most recent fiscal year — nearly twice as much as General Electric Co. and almost eight times as much as Microsoft Corp. It is the nation’s largest seller of toys, furniture, jewelry, dog food and scores of other consumer products. It is the largest grocer in the United States.
Wal-Mart’s decisions influence wages and working conditions across a wide swath of the world economy, from the shopping centers of Las Vegas to the factories of Honduras and South Asia. Its business is so vital to developing countries that some send emissaries to the corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., almost as if Wal-Mart were a sovereign nation.
The company has prospered by elevating one goal above all others: cutting prices relentlessly. U.S. economists say its tightfistedness has not only boosted its own bottom line, but also helped hold down the inflation rate for the entire country. Consumers reap the benefits every time they push a cart through Wal-Mart’s checkout lines.
Yet Wal-Mart’s astonishing success exacts a heavy price.
By squeezing suppliers to cut wholesale costs, the company has hastened the flight of U.S. manufacturing jobs overseas. By scouring the globe for the cheapest goods, it has driven factory jobs from one poor nation to another.
Wal-Mart’s penny-pinching extends to its own 1.2 million U.S. employees, none of them unionized. By the company’s own admission, a full-time worker might not be able to support a family on a Wal-Mart paycheck.
I saw something on PBS last night (more on that later) which caused me to do some looking around and I came across this Pulitzer winning series from the Los Angeles Times - it’s really worth a read:
Wal-Mart gives. And Wal-Mart takes away.
From a small-town five-and-dime, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has grown over 50 years to become the world’s largest corporation and a global economic force.
It posted $245 billion in sales in its most recent fiscal year — nearly twice as much as General Electric Co. and almost eight times as much as Microsoft Corp. It is the nation’s largest seller of toys, furniture, jewelry, dog food and scores of other consumer products. It is the largest grocer in the United States.
Wal-Mart’s decisions influence wages and working conditions across a wide swath of the world economy, from the shopping centers of Las Vegas to the factories of Honduras and South Asia. Its business is so vital to developing countries that some send emissaries to the corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., almost as if Wal-Mart were a sovereign nation.
The company has prospered by elevating one goal above all others: cutting prices relentlessly. U.S. economists say its tightfistedness has not only boosted its own bottom line, but also helped hold down the inflation rate for the entire country. Consumers reap the benefits every time they push a cart through Wal-Mart’s checkout lines.
Yet Wal-Mart’s astonishing success exacts a heavy price.
By squeezing suppliers to cut wholesale costs, the company has hastened the flight of U.S. manufacturing jobs overseas. By scouring the globe for the cheapest goods, it has driven factory jobs from one poor nation to another.
Wal-Mart’s penny-pinching extends to its own 1.2 million U.S. employees, none of them unionized. By the company’s own admission, a full-time worker might not be able to support a family on a Wal-Mart paycheck.
Jun 14, 2005
Reflections on business past...
The first of them arrived at 3 a.m. By daybreak some 4,000 were huddled in the deep January freeze. By 7:30, 10,000 men had gathered at the entrance to the Highland Park, Mich., factory, hoping for a job at a wage that sounded too good to be true.
But it was true. The previous morning, Henry Ford had lingered near a window while his treasurer read a statement to reporters: “At one stroke, [Ford] will reduce the hours of labor from nine to eight” and offer its workers “five dollars per day”—more than twice the prevailing wage of $2.34.
The 1914 announcement hit America like a thunderclap. The Wall Street Journal accused Ford of “an economic blunder if not crimes.” But Ford’s motives were neither socialist nor utopian. Ever since his assembly lines had lurched into motion the year before, he simply could not keep workers. Turnover of 370% required hiring almost 50,000 people a year just to maintain a workforce of 14,000. Putting $5 in a worker’s pocket, Ford hoped, would do more than reward him for grueling and mind-numbing work.
Seems to me that this is a lesson which American businesses would be wise to relearn.
An interesting article on the Fortune website on the best and worst calls in business history.
The first of them arrived at 3 a.m. By daybreak some 4,000 were huddled in the deep January freeze. By 7:30, 10,000 men had gathered at the entrance to the Highland Park, Mich., factory, hoping for a job at a wage that sounded too good to be true.
But it was true. The previous morning, Henry Ford had lingered near a window while his treasurer read a statement to reporters: “At one stroke, [Ford] will reduce the hours of labor from nine to eight” and offer its workers “five dollars per day”—more than twice the prevailing wage of $2.34.
The 1914 announcement hit America like a thunderclap. The Wall Street Journal accused Ford of “an economic blunder if not crimes.” But Ford’s motives were neither socialist nor utopian. Ever since his assembly lines had lurched into motion the year before, he simply could not keep workers. Turnover of 370% required hiring almost 50,000 people a year just to maintain a workforce of 14,000. Putting $5 in a worker’s pocket, Ford hoped, would do more than reward him for grueling and mind-numbing work.
Seems to me that this is a lesson which American businesses would be wise to relearn.
An interesting article on the Fortune website on the best and worst calls in business history.
Jun 9, 2005
Poetry corner...
Some beautiful words on a site with humanistic text including words from some of the San People:
The wind does thus when we die, our (own) wind blows; for we, who are human beings, we possess wind; we make clouds, when we die. Therefore, the wind does thus when we die, the wind makes dust, because it intends to blow, taking away our footprints, with which we had walked about while we still had nothing the matter with us. And our footprints, which the wind intends to blow away, would otherwise still lie plainly visible. For, the thing would seem as if we still lived. Therefore, the winds intends to blow, taking away our footprints.
Some beautiful words on a site with humanistic text including words from some of the San People:
The wind does thus when we die, our (own) wind blows; for we, who are human beings, we possess wind; we make clouds, when we die. Therefore, the wind does thus when we die, the wind makes dust, because it intends to blow, taking away our footprints, with which we had walked about while we still had nothing the matter with us. And our footprints, which the wind intends to blow away, would otherwise still lie plainly visible. For, the thing would seem as if we still lived. Therefore, the winds intends to blow, taking away our footprints.
Dia!kwain, San People
Look for this...
Saw this documentary on PBS last night (channel 13 here in New York) which is being rerun on Saturday morning at 7:30am. Even if you can’t get up it’s worth taping (or Tivo-ing as I imagine I’m dating myself).
By collecting blood samples from thousands of men living in isolated tribes around the world and analyzing their DNA, 34-year-old geneticist Spencer Wells and his colleagues discovered that all humans alive today can be traced back to a small tribe of hunter-gatherers who lived in Africa 60,000 years ago.
Well, as I said the documentary was fascinating and it sparked a great story idea for me which I spent some time last night doing some research online for. During my browsing, I came across a something which struck me as so horrific in scope, it was sickening. If you ever wonder why there are problems in regard to race relations take a look at this jewel of history and make your own decision:
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SARA BAARTMAN is the fascinating story of this Khoi Khoi woman who was taken from South Africa, and then exhibited as a freak across Britain. The image and idea of “The Hottentot Venus” swept through British popular culture. A court battle waged by abolitionists to free her from her exhibitors failed.
In 1814 she was taken to France, and became the object of scientific and medical research that formed the bedrock of European ideas about black female sexuality. She died the next year. But even after her death, Sara Baartman remained an object of imperialist scientific investigation. In the name of Science, her sexual organs and brain were displayed in the Musee de l'Homme in Paris until as recently as 1985.
Saw this documentary on PBS last night (channel 13 here in New York) which is being rerun on Saturday morning at 7:30am. Even if you can’t get up it’s worth taping (or Tivo-ing as I imagine I’m dating myself).
By collecting blood samples from thousands of men living in isolated tribes around the world and analyzing their DNA, 34-year-old geneticist Spencer Wells and his colleagues discovered that all humans alive today can be traced back to a small tribe of hunter-gatherers who lived in Africa 60,000 years ago.
Well, as I said the documentary was fascinating and it sparked a great story idea for me which I spent some time last night doing some research online for. During my browsing, I came across a something which struck me as so horrific in scope, it was sickening. If you ever wonder why there are problems in regard to race relations take a look at this jewel of history and make your own decision:
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SARA BAARTMAN is the fascinating story of this Khoi Khoi woman who was taken from South Africa, and then exhibited as a freak across Britain. The image and idea of “The Hottentot Venus” swept through British popular culture. A court battle waged by abolitionists to free her from her exhibitors failed.
In 1814 she was taken to France, and became the object of scientific and medical research that formed the bedrock of European ideas about black female sexuality. She died the next year. But even after her death, Sara Baartman remained an object of imperialist scientific investigation. In the name of Science, her sexual organs and brain were displayed in the Musee de l'Homme in Paris until as recently as 1985.
Jun 8, 2005
Some fun for you...
I came across this strip and thought I would pass along the link to the artist’s website - it’s definitely worth a look and the strip is lots of fun: Danielle Corsetto’s Girls With Slingshots
I came across this strip and thought I would pass along the link to the artist’s website - it’s definitely worth a look and the strip is lots of fun: Danielle Corsetto’s Girls With Slingshots
Jun 4, 2005
The Propaganda War on retirement benefits...
I’m sure everyone has heard lately about ‘The Discussion’ about Social Security. The system is broke, there won’t be enough to pay out benefits, it’s the looming crisis our nation faces and so on and so on and so on...
It has long been accepted as truth that government workers get good benefits and job security in lieu of high salaries, but over the years the gap between public and private employee paychecks seems to have narrowed. It’s hard to come by perfect comparisons, since government numbers for the private sector include lower-wage industries like retailing, which pull down the averages, but overall, public-sector workers look to be getting a pretty good deal. In 2004 average salary for a public worker was $49,275 compared with $34,461 for everyone else, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).
I’ve been seeing a lot of ink lately about employee benefits. Specifically, employee retirement plans which seem to have fallen out of vogue these days.
Executives at Delta and elsewhere in the airline industry—not to mention at similarly legacy-cost-plagued companies like U.S. Steel and GM—are doubtless closely watching the United deal, which could serve either as a potential bargaining tool to use with unions, or as another inducement to try Chapter 11 themselves. American Airlines, the largest U.S. carrier, has said it will keep its pension plans but is concerned about No. 2 United gaining a financial advantage; Delta is currently making plenty of noise about Chapter 11, even as two Georgia Republican Congressmen are currently pushing House legislation to let airlines spread out payments for defined-benefit pension plans and spread the shortfalls over 25 years instead of the current four. And certainly the United deal adds some spice to baby-boom-in-the-python retirement debates from Social Security to, well, the PBGC, now running its own $23 billion deficit. Will retirement/health plan bailouts be our new S&L crisis?
It seems like everytime I turn around these days, employee benefits are the bane of our society - medical benefits, retirement benefits - these things are just hurting perfectly good companies and the American people! We need to wake up folks! We’ve got to do something about these shiftless, lazy bastards who expect to get these benefits! Unfortunately sarcasm does not translate through the keyboard easily.
So, along with the current discussion about Social Security, we are also facing a time when the responsibility for pensions and retirement plans are shifted onto the American Worker.
Now, what I fail to understand (and if someone can explain the logic of this to me) is how the increasing disparity between the average worker’s salary and benefits and that of a company’s top management can continue to be justified. Everytime I turn around, it seems companies are paying a price for bad decisions made by the people in charge but, instead of getting a reduction in pay - they get huge bonuses in the form of stock options and buyouts.
So, now companies are looking at ways to get out from under their obligations via Chapter 11 while simultaneously our government has made it harder for individuals to declare bankruptcy. Can anyone say, “Class Warfare?”
...more to come.
I’m sure everyone has heard lately about ‘The Discussion’ about Social Security. The system is broke, there won’t be enough to pay out benefits, it’s the looming crisis our nation faces and so on and so on and so on...
It has long been accepted as truth that government workers get good benefits and job security in lieu of high salaries, but over the years the gap between public and private employee paychecks seems to have narrowed. It’s hard to come by perfect comparisons, since government numbers for the private sector include lower-wage industries like retailing, which pull down the averages, but overall, public-sector workers look to be getting a pretty good deal. In 2004 average salary for a public worker was $49,275 compared with $34,461 for everyone else, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).
I’ve been seeing a lot of ink lately about employee benefits. Specifically, employee retirement plans which seem to have fallen out of vogue these days.
Executives at Delta and elsewhere in the airline industry—not to mention at similarly legacy-cost-plagued companies like U.S. Steel and GM—are doubtless closely watching the United deal, which could serve either as a potential bargaining tool to use with unions, or as another inducement to try Chapter 11 themselves. American Airlines, the largest U.S. carrier, has said it will keep its pension plans but is concerned about No. 2 United gaining a financial advantage; Delta is currently making plenty of noise about Chapter 11, even as two Georgia Republican Congressmen are currently pushing House legislation to let airlines spread out payments for defined-benefit pension plans and spread the shortfalls over 25 years instead of the current four. And certainly the United deal adds some spice to baby-boom-in-the-python retirement debates from Social Security to, well, the PBGC, now running its own $23 billion deficit. Will retirement/health plan bailouts be our new S&L crisis?
It seems like everytime I turn around these days, employee benefits are the bane of our society - medical benefits, retirement benefits - these things are just hurting perfectly good companies and the American people! We need to wake up folks! We’ve got to do something about these shiftless, lazy bastards who expect to get these benefits! Unfortunately sarcasm does not translate through the keyboard easily.
So, along with the current discussion about Social Security, we are also facing a time when the responsibility for pensions and retirement plans are shifted onto the American Worker.
Now, what I fail to understand (and if someone can explain the logic of this to me) is how the increasing disparity between the average worker’s salary and benefits and that of a company’s top management can continue to be justified. Everytime I turn around, it seems companies are paying a price for bad decisions made by the people in charge but, instead of getting a reduction in pay - they get huge bonuses in the form of stock options and buyouts.
So, now companies are looking at ways to get out from under their obligations via Chapter 11 while simultaneously our government has made it harder for individuals to declare bankruptcy. Can anyone say, “Class Warfare?”
...more to come.
Clean hands...
The big news last week was the revelation of the identity of Deep Throat to be Mark Felt a former FBI agent (my money had been on Al Haig). It was a dramatic turn of events, accompanied by interviews and comments by everyone from Bob Woodward himself to Henry Kissinger to Robert Redford.
However, before running off and declaring Felt a hero, there are some matters which should be carefully reviewed:
The article said the family believed Felt should get credit for his involvement in the case while he was alive and quoted Joan Felt as saying that the family should be a part of any financial gains from the revelation.
cnn.com
____
But David Gergen, who was Nixon’s speechwriter during the Watergate era, said in a telephone interview yesterday that Felt “was no innocent. Until we understand his motivations we ought to be a little cautious.”
Boston Globe
____
FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover died shortly before the Watergate break-in. Felt himself had hopes that he would be the next FBI director, according to the Post, but President Nixon instead appointed an administration insider, assistant attorney general L. Patrick Gray, to the post.
Associated Press
____
Gray was never confirmed as FBI director, and in 1973 William D. Ruckelshaus was nominated to replace him. Felt clashed repeatedly with his new boss and left the bureau later that year, well before Nixon was to leave office.
In 1978 he was indicted, along with Edward G. Miller, for nine illegal break-ins in New York and New Jersey carried out in 1972 and 1973.
Washington Post
____
W. Mark Felt always denied he was Deep Throat. “It was not I and it is not I,” he told Washingtonian magazine in 1974.
Seattle Times (running Washington Post story)
____
Felt had a storied career at the bureau, one that also had its share of controversy.
A jury found him guilty in 1980 of violating civil rights by authorizing warrantless searches at homes of friends and relatives of left-wing fugitives during the early 1970s. President Reagan pardoned him, along with another former FBI official convicted in the case.
Associated Press
____
Felt served as an honorary pallbearer at Hoover’s funeral.
Immediately upon his death, Hoover’s secretary for five decades, Helen W. Gandy, began destroying his files with the approval of Felt and Gray. She turned over twelve boxes of the “Official/Confidential” file to Felt on May 4, 1972. This consisted of 167 files and 17,750 pages, many of them containing derogatory information. Felt stored them in his office and Gray told the press that afternoon that “there are no dossiers or secret files. There are just general files and I took steps to preserve their integrity.” Felt earlier that day had told Gray, “Mr. Gray, the Bureau doesn’t have any secret files” and to prove it had taken Gray to Hoover’s office. They found Gandy boxing up papers. Felt said Gray “looked casually at an open file drawer and approved her work,” though Gray would later deny he looked at any thing. Gandy retained Hoover’s “Personal File” and destroyed it. When Felt was called to testify in 1975 by the U.S. House about the destruction of Hoover’s papers, he said “There's no serious problems if we lose some papers. I don’t see anything wrong and I still don’t.”
Wikipedia.org entry on the life and career of Felt
____
So, consequently while Mark Felt is in the process of being canonized with very little digging you find Felt was:
Those last two items - the break-ins/wiretaps and destruction of evidence are what bought down the Nixon Administration. Doesn’t sound to me as if Felt could in any way be considered the defender of civil liberties for this country. Sounds more like there was a power play going on between two branches of government which were way out of control. There aren’t any heroes here, only a bunch of shadowy villains breaking laws and running roughshod over the constitutional rights of the American people. I never thought I would see the day when one of J. Edgar Hoover’s pals would wind up being embraced by the left - these are strange days indeed.
The big news last week was the revelation of the identity of Deep Throat to be Mark Felt a former FBI agent (my money had been on Al Haig). It was a dramatic turn of events, accompanied by interviews and comments by everyone from Bob Woodward himself to Henry Kissinger to Robert Redford.
However, before running off and declaring Felt a hero, there are some matters which should be carefully reviewed:
The article said the family believed Felt should get credit for his involvement in the case while he was alive and quoted Joan Felt as saying that the family should be a part of any financial gains from the revelation.
But David Gergen, who was Nixon’s speechwriter during the Watergate era, said in a telephone interview yesterday that Felt “was no innocent. Until we understand his motivations we ought to be a little cautious.”
FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover died shortly before the Watergate break-in. Felt himself had hopes that he would be the next FBI director, according to the Post, but President Nixon instead appointed an administration insider, assistant attorney general L. Patrick Gray, to the post.
Gray was never confirmed as FBI director, and in 1973 William D. Ruckelshaus was nominated to replace him. Felt clashed repeatedly with his new boss and left the bureau later that year, well before Nixon was to leave office.
In 1978 he was indicted, along with Edward G. Miller, for nine illegal break-ins in New York and New Jersey carried out in 1972 and 1973.
W. Mark Felt always denied he was Deep Throat. “It was not I and it is not I,” he told Washingtonian magazine in 1974.
Felt had a storied career at the bureau, one that also had its share of controversy.
A jury found him guilty in 1980 of violating civil rights by authorizing warrantless searches at homes of friends and relatives of left-wing fugitives during the early 1970s. President Reagan pardoned him, along with another former FBI official convicted in the case.
Felt served as an honorary pallbearer at Hoover’s funeral.
Immediately upon his death, Hoover’s secretary for five decades, Helen W. Gandy, began destroying his files with the approval of Felt and Gray. She turned over twelve boxes of the “Official/Confidential” file to Felt on May 4, 1972. This consisted of 167 files and 17,750 pages, many of them containing derogatory information. Felt stored them in his office and Gray told the press that afternoon that “there are no dossiers or secret files. There are just general files and I took steps to preserve their integrity.” Felt earlier that day had told Gray, “Mr. Gray, the Bureau doesn’t have any secret files” and to prove it had taken Gray to Hoover’s office. They found Gandy boxing up papers. Felt said Gray “looked casually at an open file drawer and approved her work,” though Gray would later deny he looked at any thing. Gandy retained Hoover’s “Personal File” and destroyed it. When Felt was called to testify in 1975 by the U.S. House about the destruction of Hoover’s papers, he said “There's no serious problems if we lose some papers. I don’t see anything wrong and I still don’t.”
So, consequently while Mark Felt is in the process of being canonized with very little digging you find Felt was:
- – part of Hoover’s inner circle at the FBI.
— was pissed at being passed over for the top spot at the FBI after Hoover’s death.
— had no problem with unauthorized wiretaps and break ins as long as it was him determining who was on the receiving end of such violations of civil rights.
— didn’t think there was anything wrong with the destruction of sensitive papers or evidence as long as he was determining what got shredded.
Those last two items - the break-ins/wiretaps and destruction of evidence are what bought down the Nixon Administration. Doesn’t sound to me as if Felt could in any way be considered the defender of civil liberties for this country. Sounds more like there was a power play going on between two branches of government which were way out of control. There aren’t any heroes here, only a bunch of shadowy villains breaking laws and running roughshod over the constitutional rights of the American people. I never thought I would see the day when one of J. Edgar Hoover’s pals would wind up being embraced by the left - these are strange days indeed.
Jun 2, 2005
Looking forward to it...
A married couple (Pitt and Jolie) are getting bored with their quiet domestic life. What they don't know, however, is that they're both assassins, secretly hopping the world and killing for hire. But their separate lives are about to collide when each finds out their next target is their own spouse.
Admit it, they’re both like the best looking people on the planet, if your a woman you want to see him and if your a guy you want to see her. I’m looking forward to it.
A married couple (Pitt and Jolie) are getting bored with their quiet domestic life. What they don't know, however, is that they're both assassins, secretly hopping the world and killing for hire. But their separate lives are about to collide when each finds out their next target is their own spouse.
Admit it, they’re both like the best looking people on the planet, if your a woman you want to see him and if your a guy you want to see her. I’m looking forward to it.
Jun 1, 2005
The thief in the night...
I have a healthy cynicism when it comes to government. We’re lucky in this country because we live in a free society but, each day in very subtle ways all around us hard-won civil liberties are being sacrificed under the guise of making us safer...
More than 100 surveillance cameras have been quietly filming Brooklyn subway stations over the past two weeks, according to a state legislator who used MTA funds to place them in his district.
Notice how it’s being done quietly, no signs letting you know. Doesn’t make you any less likely from being a victim of a crime, just means they’ll be able to show it on a Fox special some day.
Here’s the capper I read about in the paper today, this is absolutely chilling...
Locations for cameras have not yet been finalized but areas likely to be targeted for surveillance include Manhattan’s Herald Square, Times Square and 125th Street in Harlem as well as busy thoroughfares in the city’s other boroughs.
The primary goal of the program would be to drive down crimes such as assaults and robberies, a police source said, adding that extra scrutiny in high-profile areas could also be a deterrence to terrorism.
“The plan to install 400 surveillance cameras around the city has all the earmarks of Big Brother and puts us even closer to becoming an all-out surveillance society,” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman told Reuters in a telephone interview.
“Video surveillance is tempting as a quick fix to all our problems, but it isn’t,” she said. “As a society we want to prevent crime and that can be better done by officers on the street, not with cameras.”
And of course as a follow up there’s this article:
Big Brother is not new to the Big Apple - where housing developments alone boast about 3,000 of the city’s 3,200 public cameras - but the news has civil-liberties activists fearing the possibility of privacy infringement.
Public housing developments aren’t any safer because of cameras. The people who are going to commit crime aren’t going to let a little thing like being caught on camera stop them (there’s this little thing called a mask dumb asses). No, the people who do play by the rules just had their life intruded upon yet again - 1984 is coming, just a little bit late and a little at a time.
I have a healthy cynicism when it comes to government. We’re lucky in this country because we live in a free society but, each day in very subtle ways all around us hard-won civil liberties are being sacrificed under the guise of making us safer...
More than 100 surveillance cameras have been quietly filming Brooklyn subway stations over the past two weeks, according to a state legislator who used MTA funds to place them in his district.
Notice how it’s being done quietly, no signs letting you know. Doesn’t make you any less likely from being a victim of a crime, just means they’ll be able to show it on a Fox special some day.
Here’s the capper I read about in the paper today, this is absolutely chilling...
Locations for cameras have not yet been finalized but areas likely to be targeted for surveillance include Manhattan’s Herald Square, Times Square and 125th Street in Harlem as well as busy thoroughfares in the city’s other boroughs.
The primary goal of the program would be to drive down crimes such as assaults and robberies, a police source said, adding that extra scrutiny in high-profile areas could also be a deterrence to terrorism.
“The plan to install 400 surveillance cameras around the city has all the earmarks of Big Brother and puts us even closer to becoming an all-out surveillance society,” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman told Reuters in a telephone interview.
“Video surveillance is tempting as a quick fix to all our problems, but it isn’t,” she said. “As a society we want to prevent crime and that can be better done by officers on the street, not with cameras.”
And of course as a follow up there’s this article:
Big Brother is not new to the Big Apple - where housing developments alone boast about 3,000 of the city’s 3,200 public cameras - but the news has civil-liberties activists fearing the possibility of privacy infringement.
Public housing developments aren’t any safer because of cameras. The people who are going to commit crime aren’t going to let a little thing like being caught on camera stop them (there’s this little thing called a mask dumb asses). No, the people who do play by the rules just had their life intruded upon yet again - 1984 is coming, just a little bit late and a little at a time.
May 31, 2005
Taming the Tiger...
As I get deeper into the whole Tiger experience, I find dashboard to be a step back to the earlier days of the Mac when you could customize your whole computing experience, which of course is a good thing. Check it out for yourself:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/dashboard/
As I get deeper into the whole Tiger experience, I find dashboard to be a step back to the earlier days of the Mac when you could customize your whole computing experience, which of course is a good thing. Check it out for yourself:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/dashboard/
“It’s me! It's me!”
I don’t begrudge the police anything (I have several friends and neighbors who are officers) but, it’s stories like this that prove we need to keep from blindly surrendering our rights for the illusion of safety...
An undercover narcotics cop was cuffed, beaten and punched by his own back-up team during a buy-and-bust operation in Queens last year, according to a $15 million lawsuit filed last week.
Officer Carlton Foster, who is black, claims in his suit that several white cops who had worked with him before hadn't been trained properly and, as a result, beat him up before recognizing him.
I don’t begrudge the police anything (I have several friends and neighbors who are officers) but, it’s stories like this that prove we need to keep from blindly surrendering our rights for the illusion of safety...
An undercover narcotics cop was cuffed, beaten and punched by his own back-up team during a buy-and-bust operation in Queens last year, according to a $15 million lawsuit filed last week.
Officer Carlton Foster, who is black, claims in his suit that several white cops who had worked with him before hadn't been trained properly and, as a result, beat him up before recognizing him.
More from Bizarro world...
You know the old saw about opinions (and a**holes). I’m reading the story below and I’m thinking... great. A company tries treating people well and wind up getting boycotted for their trouble.
This is the whole bugaboo I’ve got with the ‘religion thing.’ Isn’t this the same thinking used to justify flying planes into the sides of buildings?
Whatever happened to live and let live?
A conservative Christian group launched a boycott against Ford Motor Co. Tuesday, saying the second-largest U.S. automaker has given thousands of dollars to gay rights groups, offers benefits to same-sex couples and actively recruits gay employees.
“From redefining family to include homosexual marriage, to giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to support homosexual groups and their agenda, to forcing managers to attend diversity training on how to promote the acceptance of homosexuality... Ford leads the way,” American Family Association chairman Donald Wildmon said in a statement.
Ford responded that it respects its customers and employees.
Every time I wind up in a discussion about THE LORD (there should be an accompanying thunderclap there, folks) with a person genuinely concerned about my salvation and saving my immortal soul, I find myself in a bit of a disconnect...
I’ve never had the audacity to possibly think I could speak for a supreme being (if there is one). Further, I find it hard believing even the most well-meaning and devout among us can say with 100% certainty they’re correct in the tenets of their belief system. There’s no theorem I know of which can be presented concretely proving a position in these things - one of the reasons it’s called faith no doubt.
faith
1. Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.
2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence. See Synonyms at belief. See Synonyms at trust.
3. Loyalty to a person or thing; allegiance: keeping faith with one's supporters.
4. often Faith Christianity. The theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will.
5. The body of dogma of a religion: the Muslim faith.
6. A set of principles or beliefs.
So, when I hear someone say (for example), “God is my biggest fan” or something like ”God wants us to (fill in the blank),” I have a tendency to switch out the word ‘God’ for the pronoun ‘I’ in these instances because I find it the height of self-aggrandizing behavior.
It’s because I’ve been around people a lot of my life who seem to equate going to worship as justification for some really bad behavior or as a way of managing to take an attitude of superiority towards others. When you look a bulk of history, you come to realize a lot of really nasty stuff has been done in God’s name, the kind of thing makes me a even more wary.
As for these people with the ‘Direct Connect,’ if it works for them, if it brings them comfort... hey I’m all for it. Just show me the same respect for my beliefs and we’ll get along fine. What’s that phrase, oh yeah... we’re all God‘s children.
Actually made me have some respect for Ford of all things.
You know the old saw about opinions (and a**holes). I’m reading the story below and I’m thinking... great. A company tries treating people well and wind up getting boycotted for their trouble.
This is the whole bugaboo I’ve got with the ‘religion thing.’ Isn’t this the same thinking used to justify flying planes into the sides of buildings?
Whatever happened to live and let live?
A conservative Christian group launched a boycott against Ford Motor Co. Tuesday, saying the second-largest U.S. automaker has given thousands of dollars to gay rights groups, offers benefits to same-sex couples and actively recruits gay employees.
“From redefining family to include homosexual marriage, to giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to support homosexual groups and their agenda, to forcing managers to attend diversity training on how to promote the acceptance of homosexuality... Ford leads the way,” American Family Association chairman Donald Wildmon said in a statement.
Ford responded that it respects its customers and employees.
Every time I wind up in a discussion about THE LORD (there should be an accompanying thunderclap there, folks) with a person genuinely concerned about my salvation and saving my immortal soul, I find myself in a bit of a disconnect...
I’ve never had the audacity to possibly think I could speak for a supreme being (if there is one). Further, I find it hard believing even the most well-meaning and devout among us can say with 100% certainty they’re correct in the tenets of their belief system. There’s no theorem I know of which can be presented concretely proving a position in these things - one of the reasons it’s called faith no doubt.
faith
1. Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.
2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence. See Synonyms at belief. See Synonyms at trust.
3. Loyalty to a person or thing; allegiance: keeping faith with one's supporters.
4. often Faith Christianity. The theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will.
5. The body of dogma of a religion: the Muslim faith.
6. A set of principles or beliefs.
So, when I hear someone say (for example), “God is my biggest fan” or something like ”God wants us to (fill in the blank),” I have a tendency to switch out the word ‘God’ for the pronoun ‘I’ in these instances because I find it the height of self-aggrandizing behavior.
It’s because I’ve been around people a lot of my life who seem to equate going to worship as justification for some really bad behavior or as a way of managing to take an attitude of superiority towards others. When you look a bulk of history, you come to realize a lot of really nasty stuff has been done in God’s name, the kind of thing makes me a even more wary.
As for these people with the ‘Direct Connect,’ if it works for them, if it brings them comfort... hey I’m all for it. Just show me the same respect for my beliefs and we’ll get along fine. What’s that phrase, oh yeah... we’re all God‘s children.
Actually made me have some respect for Ford of all things.
May 30, 2005
TV and me...
So, I’m flipping channels today - 40 something channels and nothing on, you know the deal. Anyway, I come across an old time staple: I Dream of Jeannie. As I sit there for a second or two looking at the show, it occurs to me just how much things have changed.
First off, there was apparently a big to-do at the time about showing Barbara Eden’s belly button (if you can imagine). Of course, today we are in a time when showing her belly button certainly wouldn’t be much of a problem - we’d probably see butt crack if anything.
Still, as uptight as that may sound (the belly button thing) can you imagine the uproar over the show’s premise today? I can easily see groups out in protest and up in arms about the very concept of “Jeannie.” I imagine the protests would be along the lines of it being demeaning to women or disrespectful of Arab culture. Think about it, is it really that hard not to see that happening? To get Jeannie on the air today, you’d probably have to do one of two things: One, Major Nelson would have to be a women and Jeannie (Genie) would have to be a man or two, Major Nelson would be a man and Jeannie would be a man as well but he’d be gay.
Now, if somehow this should come to pass, I’m going out to find a lawyer and you saw it here first.
How about Hogan’s Heroes? Maybe we could update that for the Vietnam War? Naw, they probably wouldn’t buy that.
And of course, if you’re reading this and I’ve offended your delicate sensibilities - I apologize.
So, I’m flipping channels today - 40 something channels and nothing on, you know the deal. Anyway, I come across an old time staple: I Dream of Jeannie. As I sit there for a second or two looking at the show, it occurs to me just how much things have changed.
First off, there was apparently a big to-do at the time about showing Barbara Eden’s belly button (if you can imagine). Of course, today we are in a time when showing her belly button certainly wouldn’t be much of a problem - we’d probably see butt crack if anything.
Still, as uptight as that may sound (the belly button thing) can you imagine the uproar over the show’s premise today? I can easily see groups out in protest and up in arms about the very concept of “Jeannie.” I imagine the protests would be along the lines of it being demeaning to women or disrespectful of Arab culture. Think about it, is it really that hard not to see that happening? To get Jeannie on the air today, you’d probably have to do one of two things: One, Major Nelson would have to be a women and Jeannie (Genie) would have to be a man or two, Major Nelson would be a man and Jeannie would be a man as well but he’d be gay.
Now, if somehow this should come to pass, I’m going out to find a lawyer and you saw it here first.
How about Hogan’s Heroes? Maybe we could update that for the Vietnam War? Naw, they probably wouldn’t buy that.
And of course, if you’re reading this and I’ve offended your delicate sensibilities - I apologize.
It takes one to know one?
This jewel was passed along by Brian, does it mean you have to be an a**hole to be interested in a**holes?
“These are the actual certifying general surgery board questions with correct answers, guaranteed to improve your test score,” the auctioneer wrote in August 2004. “A friend of mine failed this written exam, paid the $100 sitting fee and flew to Philadelphia to review his test. ... Why take the chance at failing, getting a year behind your peers...? Get an advantage now!”
Craig Edward Amshel, a rectal specialist from St. Augustine, Fla., failed the 2002 exam. But, as was the practice at the time, he was later allowed to review his test, alone, at the board’s offices in downtown Philadelphia for several hours.
Makes one wonder about the qualifications of people who are poking around down there, doesn’t it?
This jewel was passed along by Brian, does it mean you have to be an a**hole to be interested in a**holes?
“These are the actual certifying general surgery board questions with correct answers, guaranteed to improve your test score,” the auctioneer wrote in August 2004. “A friend of mine failed this written exam, paid the $100 sitting fee and flew to Philadelphia to review his test. ... Why take the chance at failing, getting a year behind your peers...? Get an advantage now!”
Craig Edward Amshel, a rectal specialist from St. Augustine, Fla., failed the 2002 exam. But, as was the practice at the time, he was later allowed to review his test, alone, at the board’s offices in downtown Philadelphia for several hours.
Makes one wonder about the qualifications of people who are poking around down there, doesn’t it?
The more things change...
You notice, you never hear about women being addicted to internet porn. I just point it out because we are in denial in this country about attitudes towards sex and the sexes. If you don’t think that is the case, next time you hear a story about the teacher (female) who married her student - just swap out the genders and think about how the same story comes across (I also happen to like how the writer uses the gender neutral descriptor, “one partner” below when in fact there are no incidents of females cited).
There are many reasons couples break up, but a new, and increasingly common, one is that one partner becomes obsessed with Internet pornography. Now that porn is so easy to watch at home or at work, many men are spending enough time and energy on it that they drive their female partners to end the relationship. In fact, Internet porn has so changed American relationships that in a 2003 survey of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, more than half said the Internet played a “significant role” in divorces in the past year, and that online porn contributed to half of these cases. Once upon a time, a woman’s greatest fear was a good-looking, buxom blonde. These days, her greatest fear is thousands of them.
You notice, you never hear about women being addicted to internet porn. I just point it out because we are in denial in this country about attitudes towards sex and the sexes. If you don’t think that is the case, next time you hear a story about the teacher (female) who married her student - just swap out the genders and think about how the same story comes across (I also happen to like how the writer uses the gender neutral descriptor, “one partner” below when in fact there are no incidents of females cited).
There are many reasons couples break up, but a new, and increasingly common, one is that one partner becomes obsessed with Internet pornography. Now that porn is so easy to watch at home or at work, many men are spending enough time and energy on it that they drive their female partners to end the relationship. In fact, Internet porn has so changed American relationships that in a 2003 survey of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, more than half said the Internet played a “significant role” in divorces in the past year, and that online porn contributed to half of these cases. Once upon a time, a woman’s greatest fear was a good-looking, buxom blonde. These days, her greatest fear is thousands of them.
May 28, 2005
The incredible warranty...
The last week or so I’ve been doing the upgrade thing to the equipment I have around here. This is something I’ve put off for as long as I could but now I am left with no choice. It’s part of the process of getting all the ducks in a row - setting up the equipment the way I want it and upgrading everything too.
Well, I installed Tiger on my G4 dual which was very straightforward... and then the problems began.
Everytime Apple plugs their latest and greatest, they usually haven’t worked out all the kinks (as evidenced by all those ‘little’ 40 and 50mb maintenance releases). So, I installed Tiger and then all of a sudden I had a Tiger by the tail!
The machine would start up and a screen would come up telling me I had to restart.
Gggggrrrrreeeaaaaatttttttt.
Either I got the screen telling me very nicely I had to restart or I simply got a prompt up on screen. In the back of my mind, I hear the voice telling me that this was the inevitable outcome of upgrading and I wince.
I look around the piles of detritus which have clustered near my desk and among them I find a forgotten treasure. Suddenly, I am very thankful of my inclination to hoard. The book Mac OSX The Missing Manual is a godsend as I find the resources to begin troubleshooting my problem. In short order after thumbing through the index I am launching directly into terminal and entering the commands to run a disk check. All my results come back okay so, it’s more reading to see if I can discover the cause of my problem.
A bit later I am pulling cards out of the machine in a logical sequence trying to isolate the offending piece of hardware. At last, I discover the two memory chips I purchased way back when don’t play nice with the new big cat on the block. So, I pull them and now the tower is running with a less than awesome 128mb of RAM but, it’s booting up.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I’m remembering something about a lifetime warranty that comes with the memory. I dive into the mountains of paper I’ve saved and come across the packing slip/receipt from my memory purchase surprised it is dated ’01 (have four years really passed?!). I go online and find the vendor’s site, nose around for awhile, generally upset at the prospect of having to shell out money I don’t currently have for replacement chips.
On the odd chance there really is something like a lifetime warranty, I call the vendor and have a long discussion with one of their salesmen.
And... there is a lifetime warranty!
And... I’m not the only person who has been having these problems with Tiger (much to the consternation of chip vendors) as the memory checks it runs at startup cause a heap freeze and it’s a fairly common occurrence.
So the surprise of the day is the chips I purchased four years ago can be returned and the vendor will send out replacement parts within 48 hours! Simply amazing!
More on this after everything is done but I will plug the people Coast to Coast Memory at 18004memory.com
The last week or so I’ve been doing the upgrade thing to the equipment I have around here. This is something I’ve put off for as long as I could but now I am left with no choice. It’s part of the process of getting all the ducks in a row - setting up the equipment the way I want it and upgrading everything too.
Well, I installed Tiger on my G4 dual which was very straightforward... and then the problems began.
Everytime Apple plugs their latest and greatest, they usually haven’t worked out all the kinks (as evidenced by all those ‘little’ 40 and 50mb maintenance releases). So, I installed Tiger and then all of a sudden I had a Tiger by the tail!
The machine would start up and a screen would come up telling me I had to restart.
Gggggrrrrreeeaaaaatttttttt.
Either I got the screen telling me very nicely I had to restart or I simply got a prompt up on screen. In the back of my mind, I hear the voice telling me that this was the inevitable outcome of upgrading and I wince.
I look around the piles of detritus which have clustered near my desk and among them I find a forgotten treasure. Suddenly, I am very thankful of my inclination to hoard. The book Mac OSX The Missing Manual is a godsend as I find the resources to begin troubleshooting my problem. In short order after thumbing through the index I am launching directly into terminal and entering the commands to run a disk check. All my results come back okay so, it’s more reading to see if I can discover the cause of my problem.
A bit later I am pulling cards out of the machine in a logical sequence trying to isolate the offending piece of hardware. At last, I discover the two memory chips I purchased way back when don’t play nice with the new big cat on the block. So, I pull them and now the tower is running with a less than awesome 128mb of RAM but, it’s booting up.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I’m remembering something about a lifetime warranty that comes with the memory. I dive into the mountains of paper I’ve saved and come across the packing slip/receipt from my memory purchase surprised it is dated ’01 (have four years really passed?!). I go online and find the vendor’s site, nose around for awhile, generally upset at the prospect of having to shell out money I don’t currently have for replacement chips.
On the odd chance there really is something like a lifetime warranty, I call the vendor and have a long discussion with one of their salesmen.
And... there is a lifetime warranty!
And... I’m not the only person who has been having these problems with Tiger (much to the consternation of chip vendors) as the memory checks it runs at startup cause a heap freeze and it’s a fairly common occurrence.
So the surprise of the day is the chips I purchased four years ago can be returned and the vendor will send out replacement parts within 48 hours! Simply amazing!
More on this after everything is done but I will plug the people Coast to Coast Memory at 18004memory.com
May 25, 2005
Hot wheels...
Tomorrow I get my car back.
It’s been two weeks almost, time sure flies. Some people wrap their identity around their job for me, I imagine it’s partially my car.
The car I have now was the first new car I ever purchased and owned. If I remember right, it took me almost a year to decide what car I was going to buy – lots of test driving different models, lots of research but, I’ve been very happy with the decision I made. There comes a point after a while where your car becomes something more than a mere means of transportation, I don’t know if you can elevate it to the level of a pet but, it becomes something special. Again, at least that’s the way it’s always been for me.
When I was younger, I practically lived out of my car. As a teenager, the car was all about independence and escape – and when I say I lived out of my car, I do mean I literally lived out of it as I remember leaving home for several weeks at one point and using the car as a bedroom with wheels (not an easy thing in the middle of winter).
So, tomorrow my old friend will be back with me once again.
Some moron hit me a few weeks back. I don’t know whether it was a man or a women. Just another one of those cowboy a**holes behind the wheel of their SUV. I really hate those damn things. Ever since they’ve gotten popular it seems like driving has become this contact sport or better still a way for people to take out the frustrations in other areas of their lives. All too often nowadays I see people tailgating or just driving stupid. I keep meaning to write a short book about driving but I haven’t managed to get around to it yet (one of the reasons I took up the whole blog thing - to keep the writing muscles active).
SUVs are a good example of bully behavior when it comes to the roads. The people who justify an SUV and live in the city could manage to use a station wagon for the very same reasons they justify getting and driving their SUV but then, I guess there wouldn’t be that whole image thing going on. You can’t look rugged driving in a station wagon the way you can in an SUV now can you?
I watch and keep smiling while gas prices go up and up and up because I know it’s the world’s way of exacting a form of revenge on what could pass for the automotive equivalent of gluttony.
So, this idiot sideswiped me and then sped off.
Nice.
Since the person had been sitting on my bumper and I imagine I was going to slow to suit their tastes as I got on the highway, they sped past me on the right, misjudged cutting it way too close and really making nice work of the right side of the car.
I was surprised, thankfully I wasn’t hurt or anything. I was a little shaken up by it but, more surprised by it than anything else and when I noticed that instead of stopping the guy stepped really hard on the gas to get scarce as quickly as possible, it took a second or two to register what was happening.
I looked over and noticed the mirror was gone on the passenger side and then looked ahead to see the Jeep Cherokee accelerating very quickly away up the long straightaway, receding in the process. A moment or two passed before I realized what was happening. The “guy” had passed me on the shoulder of the road (a no-no), hit me and then decided not to stop - with good reason no doubt since there was no question about who’s fault the damn thing was.
Like I said, it took a second or two to register. Then, “hit and run” flashed across the front of my mind and it became about being pissed. So, in short order I got behind the guy got the plate info and then pulled off to take a trip to the nearest police station. Thankfully, even after all this time the car still has decent pickup and is pretty fast when it needs to be. There was this funny thing that happened as the Jeep sped away first ever increasing in speed (90?, 95?) until it was fairly obvious that there was no escape and then the vehicle slowed.
So, I went to the local PD station and wound up waiting for a State Trooper. Three days later I got a call from the clown’s insurance company about the ‘event’ I had reported, I guess someone got tracked down after all.
Tough luck schmuck.
Tomorrow I get my car back.
It’s been two weeks almost, time sure flies. Some people wrap their identity around their job for me, I imagine it’s partially my car.
The car I have now was the first new car I ever purchased and owned. If I remember right, it took me almost a year to decide what car I was going to buy – lots of test driving different models, lots of research but, I’ve been very happy with the decision I made. There comes a point after a while where your car becomes something more than a mere means of transportation, I don’t know if you can elevate it to the level of a pet but, it becomes something special. Again, at least that’s the way it’s always been for me.
When I was younger, I practically lived out of my car. As a teenager, the car was all about independence and escape – and when I say I lived out of my car, I do mean I literally lived out of it as I remember leaving home for several weeks at one point and using the car as a bedroom with wheels (not an easy thing in the middle of winter).
So, tomorrow my old friend will be back with me once again.
Some moron hit me a few weeks back. I don’t know whether it was a man or a women. Just another one of those cowboy a**holes behind the wheel of their SUV. I really hate those damn things. Ever since they’ve gotten popular it seems like driving has become this contact sport or better still a way for people to take out the frustrations in other areas of their lives. All too often nowadays I see people tailgating or just driving stupid. I keep meaning to write a short book about driving but I haven’t managed to get around to it yet (one of the reasons I took up the whole blog thing - to keep the writing muscles active).
SUVs are a good example of bully behavior when it comes to the roads. The people who justify an SUV and live in the city could manage to use a station wagon for the very same reasons they justify getting and driving their SUV but then, I guess there wouldn’t be that whole image thing going on. You can’t look rugged driving in a station wagon the way you can in an SUV now can you?
I watch and keep smiling while gas prices go up and up and up because I know it’s the world’s way of exacting a form of revenge on what could pass for the automotive equivalent of gluttony.
So, this idiot sideswiped me and then sped off.
Nice.
Since the person had been sitting on my bumper and I imagine I was going to slow to suit their tastes as I got on the highway, they sped past me on the right, misjudged cutting it way too close and really making nice work of the right side of the car.
I was surprised, thankfully I wasn’t hurt or anything. I was a little shaken up by it but, more surprised by it than anything else and when I noticed that instead of stopping the guy stepped really hard on the gas to get scarce as quickly as possible, it took a second or two to register what was happening.
I looked over and noticed the mirror was gone on the passenger side and then looked ahead to see the Jeep Cherokee accelerating very quickly away up the long straightaway, receding in the process. A moment or two passed before I realized what was happening. The “guy” had passed me on the shoulder of the road (a no-no), hit me and then decided not to stop - with good reason no doubt since there was no question about who’s fault the damn thing was.
Like I said, it took a second or two to register. Then, “hit and run” flashed across the front of my mind and it became about being pissed. So, in short order I got behind the guy got the plate info and then pulled off to take a trip to the nearest police station. Thankfully, even after all this time the car still has decent pickup and is pretty fast when it needs to be. There was this funny thing that happened as the Jeep sped away first ever increasing in speed (90?, 95?) until it was fairly obvious that there was no escape and then the vehicle slowed.
So, I went to the local PD station and wound up waiting for a State Trooper. Three days later I got a call from the clown’s insurance company about the ‘event’ I had reported, I guess someone got tracked down after all.
Tough luck schmuck.
May 23, 2005
Why men are lucky there are women...
The other day I referenced the story about the nut who took the time and energy to place a minicam underneath a grate so, he could get decent panty shots and perhaps the elusive bare b**ver. I thought it was an illustration of the way men are hardwired, a way which women fail to completely grasp at times.
Yes, I thoroughly believe if men were wired somewhat differently and weren’t so preoccupied with sex we’d have a car that runs on water, a cure for cancer and a human colony on a few of the other satellites in our solar system. Yes ladies, there’s a reason a missiles have that phallic shape - and it’s all about having more missiles or the most powerful missiles (I’m sure you get the drift).
Anyway, what bought that to mind was a couple of conversations I’ve had over the last few days which further illustrate the differences between the genders:
— — —
One lady I know recently went for surgery and had a pair of shunts residing in her nasal passages for well over a week. When it came time to remove them it was a brief affair which caused her doctor to observe, “women rock!” Seems she had to perform the same procedure on a guy earlier in the day and it took 45 minutes of hand wringing and hand holding to work the patient through it - in the lady in question’s case it was a matter of five minutes and out.
— — —
Another illustration was a discussion I was having with ‘my dental student’ (since graduated but still beholden to my mouth - treatment plan that is), as she commented on my being a good patient.
— — —
Good has nothing to do with it really as I truly hate going to the dentist - I just can’t ever say I’ve looked forward to hearing the high-pitched whine of the drill. However, through the years, I’ve somehow mastered the art of being able to fall asleep in odd places. While this never seems to carry over to the bed at night, one of those odd places I have managed success in falling asleep at is the dental chair. If it’s just the kind of overcast day and I can manage to get cozy warm, I sleep right through the worst of it - no gas, no nothing. Even on days when it’s not especially overcast, I can mange to start to doze off if I put my mind to it.
— — —
Anyway back to that point I was trying to make, during today’s four hour sojourn in the chair (think of my mouth as a public works project, a highway or some such) and witnessing a truly brutal escapade involving another patient, Jan and I were discussing the whole pros and cons of patients, men versus women and such.
It was then she commented on the ‘good patient’ to which I responded that like most painful experiences, you just try to soldier through as best you can and not to let it affect you any more than it has to.
She had just gone through childbirth and I observed that even though it’s a painful experience, you try to make it through and afterward put it from your mind — if ladies didn’t I would think it would have to be ‘one and done’ for all women. The funny thing she observed though was during the night of her delivery (Thanksgiving night), she really went to the hospital because of the terrific pain she was experiencing due to labor. So, she’s there because of all this pain and they take care of it and at the end someone handed her a baby. Like it was her prize for going through all that pain.
Well, I had never quite heard it described like that and she noted that I was a good sport even though nobody would be handing me a baby after we were all done (my what a scary thought). I thought it was something I would pass along.
— — —
I’ve had discussions about the whole childbirth thing with various women through the years. One memorable dialogue occurred between me and an old flame the day after she had her first. I was a much younger man and I asked her what it was like. Plainly she stated it was difficult to describe in terms a man could understand - I opined the only comparable feeling I could possible liken it to was passing a bowling ball (gi tract - never done but 8 lbs is 8 lbs) and she figured that was a fairly accurate assessment.
— — —
Consequently, what’s the upshot of all this? Well, let’s just put it this way, you won’t see any men out there volunteering for the bowling ball experience - as much blather about machismo and such as there may be, if it were up to my brothers and I we would soon be a very extinct species. No, the only thing we’re probably good for is chasing after you women and doing some really dirty job around the house.
The other day I referenced the story about the nut who took the time and energy to place a minicam underneath a grate so, he could get decent panty shots and perhaps the elusive bare b**ver. I thought it was an illustration of the way men are hardwired, a way which women fail to completely grasp at times.
Yes, I thoroughly believe if men were wired somewhat differently and weren’t so preoccupied with sex we’d have a car that runs on water, a cure for cancer and a human colony on a few of the other satellites in our solar system. Yes ladies, there’s a reason a missiles have that phallic shape - and it’s all about having more missiles or the most powerful missiles (I’m sure you get the drift).
Anyway, what bought that to mind was a couple of conversations I’ve had over the last few days which further illustrate the differences between the genders:
One lady I know recently went for surgery and had a pair of shunts residing in her nasal passages for well over a week. When it came time to remove them it was a brief affair which caused her doctor to observe, “women rock!” Seems she had to perform the same procedure on a guy earlier in the day and it took 45 minutes of hand wringing and hand holding to work the patient through it - in the lady in question’s case it was a matter of five minutes and out.
Another illustration was a discussion I was having with ‘my dental student’ (since graduated but still beholden to my mouth - treatment plan that is), as she commented on my being a good patient.
Good has nothing to do with it really as I truly hate going to the dentist - I just can’t ever say I’ve looked forward to hearing the high-pitched whine of the drill. However, through the years, I’ve somehow mastered the art of being able to fall asleep in odd places. While this never seems to carry over to the bed at night, one of those odd places I have managed success in falling asleep at is the dental chair. If it’s just the kind of overcast day and I can manage to get cozy warm, I sleep right through the worst of it - no gas, no nothing. Even on days when it’s not especially overcast, I can mange to start to doze off if I put my mind to it.
Anyway back to that point I was trying to make, during today’s four hour sojourn in the chair (think of my mouth as a public works project, a highway or some such) and witnessing a truly brutal escapade involving another patient, Jan and I were discussing the whole pros and cons of patients, men versus women and such.
It was then she commented on the ‘good patient’ to which I responded that like most painful experiences, you just try to soldier through as best you can and not to let it affect you any more than it has to.
She had just gone through childbirth and I observed that even though it’s a painful experience, you try to make it through and afterward put it from your mind — if ladies didn’t I would think it would have to be ‘one and done’ for all women. The funny thing she observed though was during the night of her delivery (Thanksgiving night), she really went to the hospital because of the terrific pain she was experiencing due to labor. So, she’s there because of all this pain and they take care of it and at the end someone handed her a baby. Like it was her prize for going through all that pain.
Well, I had never quite heard it described like that and she noted that I was a good sport even though nobody would be handing me a baby after we were all done (my what a scary thought). I thought it was something I would pass along.
I’ve had discussions about the whole childbirth thing with various women through the years. One memorable dialogue occurred between me and an old flame the day after she had her first. I was a much younger man and I asked her what it was like. Plainly she stated it was difficult to describe in terms a man could understand - I opined the only comparable feeling I could possible liken it to was passing a bowling ball (gi tract - never done but 8 lbs is 8 lbs) and she figured that was a fairly accurate assessment.
Consequently, what’s the upshot of all this? Well, let’s just put it this way, you won’t see any men out there volunteering for the bowling ball experience - as much blather about machismo and such as there may be, if it were up to my brothers and I we would soon be a very extinct species. No, the only thing we’re probably good for is chasing after you women and doing some really dirty job around the house.
May 20, 2005
40 acres and a mule? No, 42 midgets and a lion
An interesting story which I heard reported on the radio today:
The fight was slated when an angry fan contested Yang Sihamoni, President of the CMFL, claiming that one lion could defeat his entire league of 42 fighters.
Sihamoni takes great pride in the league he helped create, as was conveyed in his recent advertising campaign for the CMFL that stated his midgets will “... take on anything; man, beast, or machine.”
Unfortunately, the person doing the reporting didn’t do their research.
Why the article was created:
- The debate:
It was created to ‘settle’ a dispute between a friend of mine in which he claimed that 40 weaponless midgets could defeat 1 lion in a hypothetical fight.
An interesting story which I heard reported on the radio today:
The fight was slated when an angry fan contested Yang Sihamoni, President of the CMFL, claiming that one lion could defeat his entire league of 42 fighters.
Sihamoni takes great pride in the league he helped create, as was conveyed in his recent advertising campaign for the CMFL that stated his midgets will “... take on anything; man, beast, or machine.”
Unfortunately, the person doing the reporting didn’t do their research.
Why the article was created:
- The debate:
It was created to ‘settle’ a dispute between a friend of mine in which he claimed that 40 weaponless midgets could defeat 1 lion in a hypothetical fight.
Gentlemen, start your engines...
More from A Galaxy, Far, Far Away:
“Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith” has been leaked onto a major file-sharing network just hours after opening in theaters, at a time when Hollywood is increasingly concerned about online piracy.
At least two copies of the film, which was first shown in theaters in the early hours of Thursday, have been posted to the BitTorrent file-sharing network—a new and increasingly popular technology that allows users to download large video files much more quickly than in the past.
More from A Galaxy, Far, Far Away:
“Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith” has been leaked onto a major file-sharing network just hours after opening in theaters, at a time when Hollywood is increasingly concerned about online piracy.
At least two copies of the film, which was first shown in theaters in the early hours of Thursday, have been posted to the BitTorrent file-sharing network—a new and increasingly popular technology that allows users to download large video files much more quickly than in the past.
May 19, 2005
A long time ago...
So, I got to thinking about all those people who line up in front of the Ziegfeld wearing costumes and thinking whatever will they do now that the last movie of the Star Wars series has come out? I mean, all this time they’ve devoted to the Star Wars universe and there won’t be any more Star Wars, what to do, what to do, what to do?
Here they’ve got these costumes...
...and they don’t have any place to wear them to since there won’t be any more of those movie lines.
Then, I came across this article:
US Army recruiters have failed to hit their targets for the third consecutive month, with the war in Iraq apparently making Americans reluctant to enlist.
Provisional figures show an April shortfall, a Pentagon spokesman says, after the army managed only 68% of its target in March and 73% in February.
So, I got to thinking, maybe here was a situation where we could “kill” (pardon the pun) two birds with one stone. Why not just set up recruiter stations at the exits of all movie theaters showing Revenge of the Sith? The enlistees don’t even need to change out of their costumes! We can just send them over to Iraq dressed the way they are! They got a place to wear their outfits and the military gets more warm bodies for tours in the Middle East!
Admit it! It’s a match made in heaven! You keep popping out Stormtroopers and we’ll keep sending them overseas!
Certainly beats just sitting around all dressed up with no place to go!
So, I got to thinking about all those people who line up in front of the Ziegfeld wearing costumes and thinking whatever will they do now that the last movie of the Star Wars series has come out? I mean, all this time they’ve devoted to the Star Wars universe and there won’t be any more Star Wars, what to do, what to do, what to do?
Here they’ve got these costumes...
...and they don’t have any place to wear them to since there won’t be any more of those movie lines.
Then, I came across this article:
US Army recruiters have failed to hit their targets for the third consecutive month, with the war in Iraq apparently making Americans reluctant to enlist.
Provisional figures show an April shortfall, a Pentagon spokesman says, after the army managed only 68% of its target in March and 73% in February.
So, I got to thinking, maybe here was a situation where we could “kill” (pardon the pun) two birds with one stone. Why not just set up recruiter stations at the exits of all movie theaters showing Revenge of the Sith? The enlistees don’t even need to change out of their costumes! We can just send them over to Iraq dressed the way they are! They got a place to wear their outfits and the military gets more warm bodies for tours in the Middle East!
Admit it! It’s a match made in heaven! You keep popping out Stormtroopers and we’ll keep sending them overseas!
Certainly beats just sitting around all dressed up with no place to go!
Massive suck potential?
While it’s an ingenous bit of casting and seems dead on, it just made me think about Schwarzenegger’s turn as Mister Freeze in the Batman series.
Twentieth Century Fox and Marvel Entertainment have bolstered the mutant roster for “X-Men 3” with Kelsey GrammerKelsey Grammer, who is set to play Beast, the oversized blue-furred creature who has not yet appeared in an “X-Men”“X-Men” film.
While it’s an ingenous bit of casting and seems dead on, it just made me think about Schwarzenegger’s turn as Mister Freeze in the Batman series.
Twentieth Century Fox and Marvel Entertainment have bolstered the mutant roster for “X-Men 3” with Kelsey GrammerKelsey Grammer, who is set to play Beast, the oversized blue-furred creature who has not yet appeared in an “X-Men”“X-Men” film.
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