It’s so rare.



Very much so when you note a well done campaign in advertising.

It happens, but it’s the exception when it does:


It’s particularly hard when a client has its position in the market ingrained in the mind of the consumer. It’s when the going gets tough for people in advertising. I worked in the field for a long time, people with true talent are hard to find. The very nature of ad agencies and the inherent beauracracy stymies truly creative ideas. A concept has to get through so many hurdles, so many sign-offs, by the time a fresh idea gets to market, it has been watered down to the point where it doesn’t clearly deliver its message failing both the agency and the client.

Agencies don’t want to do bad advertising, neither do clients but, it’s hard for folks to get out of their own way and let the people who should be doing a job do that job:


In the meantime, I am a big fan of the Band, They Might Be Giants - I have been for years. Their sensibilities have always appealed to me not only in their wonderful lyrics but also in the many catchy poppy melodies they manage to craft. I would even go so far as to compare Flansberg and Linnell to Lennon and McCartney - they may not have reached the audience that the two legendary songwriters did but, they certainly have shown the same versatility and mastery of a tune:


Good advertising insofar as the world of TV commercials goes is all about marrying music and pictures in a striking and unmistakeable fashion. Getting a message across to someone in a brief snippet of time and in a way that it sticks. A way where the consumer walks away remembering their brief exposure to your ad and possibly looking for it again.



Hill Holiday’s work on Dunkin Donuts is just that, well executed repositioning of an established brand. They’ve implimented the graphics throughout the company’s printed material and it looks like they’ve done a great job of it. Makes me want to work at a place like that, seems like they’re on the ball.



These are just a few of my favorite spots from this campaign (in addition to the ones above), all marked by some very catchy tunes by TMBG:

This is for anyone who has suffered through last six years of a Bush presidency.

Some background, I went to Google, typed in the word a***ole and hit the I’m feeling lucky button - this is the site I was directed to which had me laughing hysterically. Unless you’re alone, you’ll probably want to keep the sound down but, I am sure you will enjoy this short video from:

Film strip international

Let’s get it over with.

More comic trailer previews. This one with Nicholas Cage sounded like it would be a dog but, the preview looks really good. You never know with these things though but it seems from what I could see they did a great job with the casting too.



Click here for the Ghost Rider trailer.

Speaking of superheroes...

While Superman Returns broke this past week, producers of another movie coming out this summer used it as an opportunity to promote their film. The way they set up their trailer was such that the viewer would think it was a trailer for Superman Returns as it began. Still the film looks very funny and I’ve no doubt I’ll want to see it when it is released:



Click here for trailer to My Super Ex Girlfriend.

The bastard son of Krypton.

I saw the new Superman movie and as these things go it was pretty good. Not surprising I imagine since Bryan Singer usually makes a good movie (see Apt Pupil which ranks just behind The Usual Suspects in terms of his best movies).

Following a mysterious absence of several years, Superman (Brandon Routh), comes back to Earth—but things have changed. While Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) plots to render him powerless once and for all, Superman faces the heartbreaking realization that the woman he loves, Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth), has moved on with her life. Or has she? Superman's bittersweet return challenges him to bridge the distance between them while finding a place in a society that has learned to survive without him. In an attempt to protect the world he loves from cataclysmic destruction, Superman embarks on an epic journey of redemption that takes him from the depths of the ocean to the far reaches of outer space.

I had a few problems with the film. It was way long. Much, much longer than it needed to be (Running Time: 2 hrs. 34 min.). It could have easily clocked in at just under or over two hours and been a lot better movie. I can only wonder if there is a special edition DVD if they’ll have anything in the way of deleted scenes since it is so unbearably long it looks like they used everything. If you don’t believe me, see if you don’t find yourself wondering when the damn thing is going to end and fidgeting in your seat for the last half hour.

That said, Kate Bosworth was wonderful (although I have to admit to getting her confused with Kate Beckinsale), Kevin Spacey was just out and out excellent as always, doing probably the best turn as Lex Luthor I have ever seen. Even Parker Posey who is known for destroying pictures was good in this (oops I get her confused with Amanda Peet). Brandon Routh was excellent as the Big Red S!

Singer has also managed to take some of the better elements of earlier Superman movies and reuse them to best effect in this film (score, titles and the appearance of a certain dead actor). I’m trying not to ruin the thing for those who do go and see it.

What I did have a problem with (spoiler text below - highlight to read):

Not to be a prude but, the plot point of Supes trying to put the moves on an obviously attached and involved Lois Lane didn’t quite sit well with me. Not that it’s so racy or anything, just that it’s kind of at odds with the whole image of Superman being this white bread pure superhero. When he is making the moves on her it is very clear she is living with and for all he knows has a family with another man. Superman the adulterer? I’m just not sure if that’s the kind of message you want for this type of a movie. What subtle message are you sending there?

The bastard son of Krypton reference is towards Lois’ kid who midway through the second act they make very clear is the child of Lois and Supes. Superman does the dirty deed with Lois (without protection no less) and then leaves behind a pregnant Lois is very uncool. Faster than a speeding bullet but unable to wear a hat? Lois certainly has a right to be pissed. Again, it’s just this cutesy kind of thing I imagine they were trying to make the character more modern but, I really think someone made a wrong turn with that one. Take out the reveal of the kid having powers and leave him as the kid of Lois and her new man and Supes becomes a more heroic figure in my book.

Also, there was a certain amount of very subtle Christian iconography that was going on it seemed. A lot of the poses and the way Supes was shot seemed very reminiscent of some of the clichéd portrayals of Christ through the centuries - much in the way the figure was posed and the point of view.



Anyway, I’m curious to see how others found it so please leave your comments below!

But then again, we always knew that.

Osama bin Laden appeared to warn Iraq’s majority Shi’ite Muslims they were not safe from al Qaeda’s new leader in the country after a car bomb devastated a Baghdad market on Saturday, killing more than 60 people.

“It is not possible that many southerners violate, alongside America and its allies, Ramadi, Falluja, Mosul ... and that their areas remain safe from retaliation,” a voice like that of the Saudi-born Sunni Islamist said in an Internet recording.

It’s just final proof Al Qaeda isn’t fighting a jihad against non-Muslims - there is no room for compromise with a group like this. Theirs is a battle of absolutes and we must commit ourselves to the total eradication of such evil in the world. We must fight this battle on their terms as they leave us no choice. The zealots of Al Qaeda make no distiction in who is a justifiable target of their violence and as such they rank right up there with other scourges of humanity over the last 100 years. Regardless of whether or not we agree with the premises behind this conflict, we cannot hide from it as they will seek us out. Let us join together and wage a thorough and merciless campaign to eradicate them and their ilk from our midst - they are animals and deserve none of our compassion or respect. The sooner we send them to their final reward, the sooner we will make the world a better and safer place. Just like vermin, pestilence or disease we must not stop until they are obliterated completely.

Time for housecleaning.

Need to go through the sidebar and do some housecleaning on the whole link experience yet again. I have to show some link love for those who are linking to me and at the same time just update some things to make life more interesting for those who drop by to visit.

The best part of the fight between Star Jones and Barbara Walters.

Although I don’t care about The View, I don’t watch The View and what happens on The View has little or no impact on my day to day life. I will shamelessly admit to enjoying a good hearty belly laugh every time I see this video which is now in heavy rotation because of recent media events:

What would Ray Miland say?

I looked up at the calendar today, a Christmas gift from Mister Bruce and realized I hadn’t changed the thing over from May to June. Then as I thought about it, I’d just as soon forget June anyway. The month started off with me feeling crappy and here were closing in on July and I’m just hoping to feel better. I thought I was out of the woods but, the last few days were just brutal. Stuff got done this month, precious little though and not anywhere near what I would have liked to accomplish - I just want to feel physically well though! June has been more like a lost month than anything else.

Some things you still enjoy...

It’s been on a couple of times lately and every time I manage to see it I am reminded by what a good movie it is:



My Favorite Brunette is a 1947 movie spoofing movie detectives and the film noir style. Starring Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, it also features Lon Chaney, Jr. playing Willie, a character based on his Of Mice and Men role Lennie; Peter Lorre as Kismit, a comic take on his many film noir roles; and cameo appearances by film noir regular Alan Ladd and Hope partner Bing Crosby.

Really worth watching, reminds me very much of a certain era of Hollywood movie making.

You’ve got to give some people credit for thinking outside of the box.

“We think this goes with the central message of the gospel and Jesus loves you regardless of your profession,” the statement read. “This is not about shock tactics, this is about trying to get the word of God to places most say would be impossible but we have found a way to do it.”

The only thing I imagine I’m a little bit surprised is the name of the organization - xxxchurch.

It’s not imitation, it’s theft.

There have been a few instances over the last couple of days where I’ve seen my writing (my terminology) just wholesale swiped. It’s been a bit amazing, the places I’ve seen it happen. I guess I should be flattered but, I just find myself a bit pissed. Possibly part of the reason is the people doing the swiping aren’t ready to own up to it or at the very least give me the credit for the masterful weaving of words. The thieves in question whether they be strangers or friends just come along and basically pirate ideas as their own.

It’s nothing new. Years back I would work on story concepts, rolling the things over and over in my mind. As part of the process of working out a story, I’d talk about the concepts, settings and themes before they had fully germinated only to watch as another would come takes those unrealized threads and spin them into a hackneyed and bland cloth, full of holes and clichés.

There are a few very popular and well-known plotlines (in a medium I choose not to designate), I have no doubt were commandered from me. I know full well who committed the theft and how they came by the information. In one or two cases, I am glad it was done because the fact is when you take something still incomplete and claim it as your own, you had best be able to see it through. Even if a foundation is poured, it doesn’t mean you’ll be able to build a strong and beautiful house. You need to be a skilled carpenter for that otherwise you end up with a shack. I guess it’s hard to imagine someone who finds it necessary to steal in such a way would be a skilled builder themselves.

Anyway, what I find amazes me though is that with the incredible wealth of ideas and words we are surrounded by, is it still necessary to steal? Are these thieves just f**kin’ lazy?

Never happens enough for my taste.

But always nice when comments do appear.

Your time is gonna come....

From Google video, a short from some foreign TV show of an excellent sight gag!

C’mon, if you lived here you already knew this.

Outscoring large cities in 35 countries, New York proved best in three tests of courtesy, according to the survey by Reader’s Digest.

Reporters for the magazine conducted a “door test,” to see who would hold open a door, a “document drop” to see who would help pick up dropped papers and a “service test” to measure if salesclerks said thank you for a purchase.

Speaking of crusades.

I came across this and thought I would pass it along, I think anyone who is over the age of 35 would rankle at this proposal and might want to take the time out to generate some response to it. Click on the paragraph to take a look:

Soon after the death of former President Ronald Reagan, the leader of the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project came up with the idea of removing Alexander Hamilton from the $10 bill. According to him, Hamilton has no constituency, no one will care if he is gone. While it is important to honor our nation’s 40th president, doing so at the expense of one of our greatest Founding Fathers is unnecessary and inappropriate. Hamilton’s portrait on the $10 bill is the single most significant living memorial to the man who created the modern American economy. To remove Hamilton from the $10 is to debase American history and our common American heritage.

Conducting an experiment.

The old saw is that sex sells. I wanted to test that theory so, I posted one of the photos I had from a shoot I did around this time last year up on the Flickr stream.

It’s not a particualrly revealing photo and I have procrastinated about going through all the shots from the session, cleaning them up and adjusting the color on them. I thoroughly intend on posting the whole series eventually but I’ve been focusing mainly on the things I’ve shot with the point and shoot over the last few months rather than going back and adjusting the things I did with the big camera.

So, I put up this image as a teaser image more or less just to see what kind of traffic it will generate. Also, I was hoping to get an opportunity to work with some more people on the basis of the shoot itself - we’ll see what happens but here’s the shot in question. It’s marginally nsfw but it shouldn’t really be a problem since you can’t see more than you would at a beach. I imagine though the selection of outfit and the body art are what might make it a bit racy.



*Update - a mere four hours after the shot was posted, it has moved up to the #15 position on the basis of number of views and I would not at all be surprised if it doesn’t crack the top 3 before tomorrow! I guess there’s some truth to the statement!

*Update 2 - As predicted, not even up 24 hours and it cracked the top 3 - before the week is out it may even crack number 1!

This is for every fool.

Who has felt the need to stand in the overly long line at the Shake Shack waiting for their mediocre fare. You people really need to get out of Manhattan a bit more or at the vey least explore the island a bit. The Shake Shack line webcam.

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane...

With the release of the new Superman movie right around the corner, when would there be a better time than to watch Robot Chicken’s Real World Metropolis! (Quicktime required - with the right plugins).

and if you can’t watch that, then why not solace yourself with the first new Beavis and Butthead short of Robot Chicken’s when Beavis and Butthead join the Teen Titans! (this thing isn’t even available on the DVD so watch it while you can!)

Dogs in space!

I came across this video through a link up on Dacia Ray’s blog (see Waking Vixen link in sidebar). People talk about animals being so expressive mainly because we attribute human emotions to pets but, I have to admit - I found the video tremendously compelling with the pictures of dogs over a driving techno soundtrack. Worth a look.

Getting the word out.

Sometimes you make new connections with people and then they want to share the things that are important to them with you. In that regard, I am just getting the word out on two things that were brought to my attention in the past few days.

First off was an appeal on the behalf of some homeless people up in Canada - take a quick look and if you would a moment or two out to maybe generate an email on their behalf.

Please I’m begging for your HELP! EVERYONE FROM CANADA AND THE WORLD!! Help my friends!!! (Please read all)

Please, I'm begging to you call the Mayor, David Miller 416-397-2489 and urge him to stop this eviction. Write him a letter and fax it to 416-696-3687 E-mail: mayor_miller@toronto.ca please watch this video too: homelessnation.org/node/1359 Please, this is a man that has been living on the streets for a very long time after a terrible accident. I met him 8 years ago when I was homeless myself and living in the same place he is still living now… I knew him as “Chris the penny guy” because all day long he was picking up pennies, and this is all he is surviving on. I remember I used to sit with him at Coffee TIme and help him count his pennies. I lived there for almost a year. Today he is still living off pennies, has build a house of his own, and doesn't bother anyone...

and also this appeal:

Dear friends who care about our earth,

Please take a minute to read and judge for yourself if you want to take action. In the Valle de San Felix, the purest water in Chile runs from 2 rivers, fed by 2 glaciers. Water is a most precious resource, and wars will be fought for it. Indigenous farmers in the region use the water, they provide the second largest source of income for the area and there is no unemployment.

Under the glaciers has been found a huge deposit of gold, silver and other minerals. To get at these, it would be necessary to break, to destroy the glaciers - something never conceived of in the history of the world - and to make 2 huge holes, each as big as a whole mountain, one for extraction and one for the mine’s rubbish heap.

The project is called PASCUA LAMA. The company is called Barrick Gold. The operation is planned by a multi-national company, one of whose members is George Bush Senior.

The Chilean Government has approved the project to start this year, 2006. The only reason it hasn't started yet is because the farmers have got a temporary stay of execution. If they destroy the glaciers, they will not just destroy the source of specially pure water, but they will permanently contaminate the 2 rivers so they will never again be fit for human or animal consumption because of the use of cyanide and sulphuric acid in the extractionprocess.

Every last gram of gold will go abroad to the multinational company and not one will be left with the people whose land it is.They will only be left with the poisoned water and the resulting illnesses.

The farmers have been fighting a long time for their land, but have been forbidden to make a TV appeal by a ban from the Ministry of the Interior. Their only hope now of putting brakes on this project is to get help from international justice.

The world must know what is happening in Chile. The place to start changing the world is from your own place.

We ask you to circulate this message amongst your friends in the following way. Please copy this text, paste it into a new email adding your signature and send it to everyone in your address book. Please will the 100th person to receive and sign the petition send it to noapascualama@yahoo.ca to be forwarded to the Chilean government.

No to Pascua Lama Open-cast mine in the Andean Cordillera on the Chilean-Argentine frontier.

We ask the Chilean Government not to authorize the Pascua Lama project to protect the whole of 3 glaciers, the purity of the water of the San Felix Valley and El Transito, the quality of the agricultural land of the region of Atacama, the quality of life of the Diaguita people and of the whole population of the region.

My first thought was that the email might be a misguided phishing email but as it turns out the Pascua Lama project is happening and is something of great concern for that region of the world. Instead of responding to the email if you want, you might just want to take the time out to write the people at Barrick Gold themselves and let them know how unpopular their pursuit of this project is.

It’s Hyde!

Last night on my way from work and out to dinner, who goes riding past me but That 70’s Show’s Danny Masterson. Everytime I manage a celeb sighting (and it’s a rarity just because of how oblivious I am to my surroundings), I am always amazed by how much tinier people are in real life than they appear on TV, just in terms of gauging their height and all.

Danny, riding against traffic down 10th Avenue over by Fifteenth Street (across from the back door of Chelsea Market) seemed quite happy to be enjoying his anonymity - until of course I yelled out, ‘DANNY, BABY!’ causing him to look around to figure out who was yelling at him (LOL).

That’s been the second celeb sighting I’ve had in the last few months, I was walking along 9th Street between 5th and 6th one beautiful day a few weeks back when I noticed this strikingly beautiful, if familiar petite girl walk past me. I was a few steps up the street when it suddenly struck me I walked by someone I had seen on TV or knew from TV even though I couldn’t quite figure out where. Sure enough, later on I checked and remembered it was from one of those shows that was really popular but I didn’t watch. Turned out the woman’s name is Keri Russell a very tiny but beautiful young lady.

Catches theives, just like flies.

If you are in and around Manhattan tomorrow (Sunday) - they will be filming Spider Man 3 in and around Madison Square Park. The posted signs say from 6am to midnight.

A brief respite.

I think I will be taking a bit of a break from blogging for a little bit. I went back and was looking at my original post and my intent had been to limber up my writing muscles in preparation for a larger project. Now, I find myself in the beginning stages of just such a project and so, the blog has served its purpose in that regard. The feedback I’ve gotten from the blog has confirmed something in my heart I already knew - namely I can string together groups of words into a cohesive thought. So, there’s really nothing left but to get about the business of actually sitting down and forcing myself to write or at least get all the brilliant snippets, fragments and ideas that have run around inside my mind unrealized down on paper.

It’s not to say I won’t continue to blog, because I think I will. It’s just it will no longer be a main focus of efforts. Time to make the leap and start writing about things and getting paid for it.

There will be new stuff from time to time just nothing extravagant because efforts are better focused in other directions.

A big shout out!

Congratulations are in order for Mister Dean (and Janet who did all the heavy lifting)! Welcoming Benjamin Charles into the world - nice to hear the news. Now Adelyn has someone to look after!

More from Flickr.

Where the hits are rapidly outpacing the blog...

Salam Pax is dead, long live Salam Pax!

Nothing new has been posted on the Where is Raed? blog since August 18th of 2004.

If you were paying any attention, the Where is Raed blog was one of those noteworthy places to go and hear what life was like on the ground in the days leading up to the invasion of Iraq and the weeks and months that followed. The blog was useful because it gave an unedited view of daily life in Baghdad, a view that wasn’t filtered through media outlets like Fox or CNN. It was one of the blogs of note, a place where people began to sit up and take notice of the blogosphere.

Salam Pax and Raed’s corner of the web has been quiet for quite some time no doubt their lives have progressed and they’ve moved on to other things but, it doesn’t mean things haven’t continued to happen in Iraq. Fortunately, while there hasn’t been a wealth of new entries on the blog, it is still a terrific gateway to other voices from that part of the world.

Personally, I’m a bit jaundiced by the whole Iraq thing as are many others no doubt. However, we live in a nation with a short attention span and currently we’ve moved on to another issue - what is it this week? Immigration?

Even so, I wonder sometimes whether or not any good is coming of this whole situation. I’m trying to look for that silver lining in the dark cloud. Funny thing is, I come to realize we are all of us very much the same no matter where we live. It all boils down to a matter of wanting to live a life in peace, free of conflict and availed of a certain level of comfort. So, it’s interesting to see what the reaction of bloggers from Iraq is on the latest news (the death of Zarqawi) - interesting because here we get a lot of spin to either justify or contest the decisions of our government and there you can hear about whether or not there is any positive impact on people’s lives:

Whatever it is that Zarqawi was planning, he succeeded. The civil war he so earnestly wanted has a life of its own now, and that is what Iraqi politicians should be concentrating on, instead of more military games. His life or death won’t matter anymore in Iraq; some would say he is a martyr, some would say he was irrelevant.

---

The reactions have been different. There's a general consensus amongst family and friends that he won't be missed, whoever he is. There is also doubt- who was he really? Did he even exist? Was he truly the huge terror the Americans made him out to be? When did he actually die?

---

The Prime Minister of Iraq Mr Al-Maliki just announced that the criminal and terrorist thug Abo-Mpusab Al-Zarqawi was killed by the Iraqi forces in the last few hours.

Zarqawi who is Jordanian from Palestinian origin was responsible for thousands of crimes against the Iraqis and the MNF as well as against humanity. He appeared recently in a video challenging the American and Iraqi forces. He beheaded by his dirty hands many Iraqis and foreigners.

This is very good news indeed and we will bring you more detail from the local sources when we get them.

---

An arch zombie has been blown to smithereens. You know, I am the sort of guy who gets distressed at the sight of blood and cannot bear the sight of even a dead animal, believe it or not. But you know, I was shocked at my own feelings of pleasure on beholding the photo of the dead face of Zarqawi. I would never have thought that possible. I have never felt this way my whole life. Yet the atrocities and outrages that these pseudo humans, these misanthropes, have perpetrated have engendered such anger, such sorrow, such rage that not even the most peaceful of souls can control their hatred of these criminals. My only regret was that the death was fast and sudden, and I felt pain that the true martyr of our country our beloved Ussama Al-Jadaan could not witness this day which he had predicted and played a big role in bringing about.

Are you an old fart?

Check for yourself - this MP3 file is the ringtone adults are supposed to not be able to hear but younger people are - if you can’t hear anything, you’ve crossed the line!

The mysterious ringtone of youth.

(Of course I didn’t hear it but then again, I already knew I suffer from significant hearing loss)

File under things I love.

I’ve only recently caught the podcasting bug. I’ve found myself enjoying various offerings via podcasting and iTunes. So much so, it’s making me rethink my initial resistance to getting an iPod. I’m sure there are a lot of you out there who already have the bug and for those of you that do, I wanted to share with you my latest guilty pleasure.

NOVA Vodcast

Watch NOVA and NOVA scienceNOW where you are with our video podcast, offering excerpts from our T.V. programs, outtakes, animations, and more.

and,

NOVA scienceNOW RSS Feed
Keep up-to-date with the intriguing stories our correspondents are investigating on air and online for NOVA scienceNOW.

Interesting read.

Came across this by way of Elayne’s blog. A very interesting article on the subject of Iraq, the oil business and dollars as a basis of trade and how the three are all interconnected. Worth taking some time out for:

Thus, the U. S. effectively controls the world oil-market as the dollar has become the “fiat” international trading currency. Today U.S. currency accounts for approximately two-thirds of all official exchange reserves. More than four-fifths of all foreign exchange transactions and half of all the world exports are denominated in dollars and U.S. currency accounts for about two-thirds of all official exchange reserves. The fact that billions of dollars worth of oil is priced in dollars ensures the world domination of the dollar. It allows the U.S. to act as the world’s central bank, printing currency acceptable everywhere. The dollar has become an oil-backed, not gold-backed, currency.

If OPEC oil could be sold in other currencies, e.g. the euro, then U.S. economic dominance-dollar imperialism or hegemony-would be seriously challenged. More and more oil importing countries would acquire the euro as their “reserve,” its value would increase, and a larger amount of trade would be transacted and denominated in euros. In such circumstances, the value of the dollar would most likely go down, some speculate between 20-40 percent.

Loving the new toy.

A week or so back the optical mouse gave up the ghost. It had been a long time coming I guess. In the old days, this usually meant popping the ball and doing some quick x-acto surgery to get all the accumulated gunk out of the housing. X-acto surgery never really worked forever, but it did alleviate the problem for a bit of time.

Now with the optical mouse, I never thought I would be confronted by something like ‘jerky mouse’ syndrome again but, sure enough over the last few weeks (months?) I had been noticed a lack of responsiveness. I tried blowing canned air into the ‘eye’ of the thing but, that didn’t work. What else was there to do? The thing is supposed to be sealed up tight as a drum the only other thing I could imagine the problem being was a short in the USB connection running from the mouse to the keyboard.

I have a big reluctance to go the whole wireless route - don’t ask me why and I had to admit to being quite happy with the optical mouse for the most part. I liked the styling too! It’s not as if the styling makes any realy difference but, I confess I was a sucker for it’s ‘Flash Gordony’ looking see through husk.

So, finally in frustration I bit the bullet and looked around for a new mouse. I got this:

The Apple Mighty Mouse



My inner geek has embraced this little sucker! I’m not as crazy about the ‘Sleeper’ styling but the damn bugger is so frikkin’ handy I find myself consumed with great glee while using it.

I have to get a hobby.

The wrong mailing list.

This week I got one of those fervent emails that pop up in my inbox from time to time:

Republican Family Values

On this page I will be exposing the hypocrisy of the Republican Party when it comes to family values. Theyclaim to be the party of family values, but in reality often have reprehensibly low standards when it comes to family values. This is not to say that Democrats are perfect whn it comes to family values...

I hate things like this - aside from the horrible spelling errors of which there were a few.

See, while I can’t admit to loving the job the current admin has done, I don’t like when things descend to this level.

I must confess to being a bit of a swing voter. I rarely if ever vote strictly along party lines. Voting along party lines just never seemed to make much sense to me. You vote for the person, not the party. You vote for someone who is going to do a job. Party affiliations are all fine and good but, at the end of the day it’s people who make up the government and people are a lot more complex than what is put down on a party platform.

Just the title of the email made me cringe.

I’ve admitted to being a registered Republican before and this seemed like another one of those very broad based attacks. Something along the lines of making one party the party of the white hats and one party the party of the black hats. If that is as simple as your world is, a world so starkly black and white, I have to profess to being a little amazed. Amazed and at the same time I find my opinion of anyone who views the world in such a simplistic way is immediately lowered a great deal.

After the election in 2000, I lost a friend over an email like this. It was a histrionic email about how the country couldn’t survive the results of the 2000 election, how we were facing the end of days. It was just so incredibly aggravating and demeaning in tone I responded to it in an equally sarcastic manner. The unfortunate thing is when you’re dealing with someone who is caught up in that kind of emotional frenzy, you’re probably not going to have much luck in having any kind of dialogue with the person so, that was that.

Here we are, 6 years into the Junior legacy and we’re all still alive. Imagine that.

We’ll survive another two years too. Why? Because we’ve suffered through worse and made it through, that’s what we do, what our nation does, survive the good as well as the bad.

Now, let’s sit up shall we? All those forward thinking and intelligent people out there who really are unhappy.

The current admin... they’ve done a horrible job! They have failed to lead this country into any kind of positive direction. They have wasted the nation’s resources and money. They have shown themselves to be devoid of any kind of inventiveness when it comes to dealing with the nation’s poverty, they have spent money and squandered one of the largest surpluses on record, they at times have found themselves at odds internally over a disjointed and ill prepared foreign policy. We’re not talking about people who are necessarily doing a good job, they’re not.

My point is, why is it necessary to frame the argument for a change in the context of ‘family values?’ There is a wealth of missteps the administration has made through six years, it’s there all for the listing.

Hello?!?!

In a word, Katrina?

How about the latest slap in the face with the misallocation of funds regarding ‘Homeland Security’ (don’t even get me started on how even having a branch of the government called Homeland Security immediately makes me think about Germany in the 30’s).

All I’m saying is this, people in this country aren’t stupid - look at the president’s approval rating. People look around and can tell when things aren’t going right. Let’s try to focus on substantiative arguments rather than simplistic attacks. The reason I’m asking for this is because when you get right down to it, none of these guys are all that appealing - be they R or D. They’ve all got they’re own foibles and if you’re going to base your argument in a simplistic fashion, you’re more than likely to wind up offending the very same people you want to convince.

A jewel in the rough.

I know Sun from the semi regular trips to a favorite store - she logs days working behind the counter there. Over the course of time, I got to talking to her and found she was an alum of my old school. Consequently, turns out she is an incredibly talented artist. She just set up her Deviant Art site, check it out:

The Flypup Deviant Art Gallery

Another Wednesday night out.

Don’t know what it is, lately Wednesday seems to be the night out. Last Wednesday was an evening at the ballpark.

Presenting television!

The RCA film from 1939 trumpting the new invention of television! Worth watching, RCA’s television!

The Dildo Song!

If you remember the old Slinky ads from childhood, you’ll certainly appreciate this commercial for the toys for the new millenium - the Dildo Song

nsfw unless you wear headphones or have the sound turned down.

Life’s crossroads.

You ever come to a point in life where you feel you are at a monumentous crossroads? You’re looking for a clue of some kind to determine which road to take but, you can’t find one or if you do it’s not something that makes the decision any clearer or easier?



Just a crop of another photo I had put up in the Flickr stream. The resolution of the cropped image is too low to be of any use but I wanted to share it nonetheless.

Deserving of a good punch in the face.

I’ve seen a bunch of photos lately, where people are flipping the bird to the camera (flipping the bird, giving the finger, f.u.). I’ve seen it so much, I imagine there is something of a movement going on - a thing where such a gesture is ‘cool.’ I’m probably dating myself by even using the phrase ‘cool.’

Thing is every time I see a picture like that, it annoys the sh*t out of me. So much so, I think if I were present at the moment the shutter clicked I’d be punching someone in the face.

Like I said, maybe there is this cool factor that escapes me - or maybe the whole one finger salute has metamorphasized somehow and I was unaware of it. It’s just, I remember growing up if you got flipped off like that, it meant you needed to throw someone a beating - seriously. I don’t use that kind of vernacular often (the throw the beating thing) but, it was very much a part of growing up and the neighborhood I grew up in.

I’m just figuring how I might be thinking twice before making the gesture is all.

Hot day, wasn’t it?

In thinking of cooler times:

Mark your calendar.

A Benefit for Planned Parenthood
Presented by Molly Crabapple and Kate Black
Hosted by Carmen Mofongo

The Lucky Cat Lounge
245 Grand Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Wednesday, June 7th 8-10pm

Giving new meaning to the phrase ‘Hot Technology.’

I was just reading this article about the MacBook Pro - been thinking about getting one but, once again it has been proven to me never to go for the 1.0 version of anything.



Reports are surfacing that laptop batteries have become a cause for concern. A report on CBS-affiliate WCCO talks about how a boy’s Apple G4 iBook burst into flames. Dave Brown, an 11-year old boy left his iBook in the living room only to find that the carpet beneath the laptop had started to melt when he returned. In fear, his parents took the laptop outside only to find it in flames several minutes later. Other users on Apple’s discussion boards have reported that their power adapters have caught on fire and even the FireWire ports on some units.

We’ve got them on the run!

Do you dare miss the adventures of Saddam and Osama!

What becomes a legend?

If you’re like me and you’re a child of the sixties there are some things you can tap into - vivid memories, touchstones of childhood. They are the things you can look back upon fondly and they are only enhanced by the prism of memory.

I imagine every generation since mine has grown up with their own Satuday Morning Cartoons. Consequently, I think those cartoons are the things which tie us into others of our generation. When I was growing up, Spider Man was a decent cartoon (at the time done by Ralph Bakshi), the Fantastic Four, the Banana Splits, there are others to be sure I’m just throwing a few out there.

One of the really good cartoons was Johnny Quest. Johnny Quest has managed a pretty long shelf life, I don’t know what they’re doing with the property right now but, I can remember the theme music to the cartoon, remember that the stories were always really good and that the animation was superlative. It came on towards the end of the slate of cartoons, I think it was on ABC at the time and it ran sometime after noon. It might have even been the last cartoon on the schedule before ABC switched over to Wide World of Sports r some other sports programming (of little interest to me as a kid).

Still, it was something to look forward to and savor.

If you get a chance or if you are a regular watcher of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, the current series they broadcast, The Venture Brothers, is a tongue in cheek jab at the whole Johnny Quest thing. I love it for that very reason.

Years later as a teenager, I would buy these black and white horror magazines. They weren’t comics per se, but they always had great stories and great art. I had my favorites among the artist but, theree was one guys’ work which stood out so noticeably different from anyone elses. It was the simplicity of line, the clarity of storytelling, the deft use of tone that all combined to make something that was exceptional and extremely difficult to pull off look deceptively easy.

The man responsible for the work just passed away this weekend. Alex Toth, part of an ever dimmishing group of creators who blazed trails in a number of worlds. Click on the image below to be taken to a site where you can see some of the man’s wonderful work - his is truly a legacy to be admired.

Soft focus.

Giving a sh*t.

I was trying to think about what it is I give a sh*t abour these days. I say this because it is very difficult to hold onto righteous indignation for any length of time. Government can’t find weapons of mass destruction? Check. Government eavesdropping on the personal privacy of its citizens? Check.

I have to say, I have gotten to the point where I am no longer surprised by the latest transgression - I feel something more akin to, ‘wake me when it’s over,’ as in come and get me when we’re heading towards the fall of 2008. I just want it to be done.

It’s Memorial Day weekend and if you can’t find it within yourself to be thankful for all those people who have sacrificed themselves for the rest of us, plainly put - you’re a schmuck.

What makes that sacrifice even more special is the fact that it is done whether or not the individual agrees with current policy. Roll that over in your mind for a second if you will. A society where even if a person disagrees with the decisions made by a current administration, they defend and carry out those decisions because they have faith and regard for the underlying tenets of the society they are a part of.

That’s a tremendous thing.

Maybe the point I am trying to make is this, whether or not you agree or disagree with the policies and decisions our government makes, at the very least appreciate the people who go forth and defend our way of life. If someone in your family is a veteran, recognize their contribution and if you know someone who is a veteran, make it a point to let them know you appreciate what they have done.

Just a thought for this Memorial Day weekend.

And how is your holiday weekend going?

My Wednesday night out.



What a busy week it was. One of those weeks where you look up not feeling much at all got done but still having managed to get some things taken care of.

I took my friend T to the theater, if only to show appreciation for all the good turns she has done by me through the years. We got to see Sandra Bernhard’s latest show Everything Bad and Beautiful which is running over on Union Square through July. Not knowing what to expect, I went in with no expectations. In a small, intimate venue it was quite the good show.

A running monologue (more spoken word than comedy routine) punctuated by song. I had not known Sandra Bernhard possesses such a wonderful voice! The band was tight, her voice was great and the humor was biting. I walked away thinking perhaps SB has missed her calling and if Air America was at all smart, they would grab her for a slot - she has the acerbic and intelligent wit that would build a devote and loyal audience.

Views on a rainy day...

Brokeback, brokeback, brokeback...

You know it was going to happen. If you haven’t already seen Brokeback to the Future, you’ve missed a good laugh.

Now in advance of the release of X-Men III this weekend we are treated to Brokeback Mutant!

Turd science.

Kitty is sooo small, soooo tiny. What never ceases to amaze me is how such a small creature with such small turds can release something about three inches long that manages to produce a stink that is overwhelming - it defies logic. I guess that is why X called her stinky!

Images from a rainy day.

Are you prepared!?!?

For the astonishing adventures of that amazing new hero GHETTO MAN!

Bringing anti establishment pinkoism to your door.

Well, since I’ve already damned myself as far as the right is concerned (for today anyway). I thought I would pass this along by my friend Triborough - it’s great at large size and Triborough has been kind enough to provide a link to a pdf of the file so you can print your very own!

Speaking of video...

I just had to pass this one along, anyone who has been watching the ramp up by the Bush administration towards Iran will get a kick out of it.

Friday Cat Blogging.

What better way to indulge in Friday Cat Blogging than by watching The Cat News!

How stupid are you?

The Debt To the Penny
Current Amount
05/15/2006 $8,332,524,238,683.71

Don’t look now...

The deficit is the fiscal year difference between what the United States Government (Government) takes in from taxes and other revenues, called receipts, and the amount of money the Government spends, called outlays. The items included in the deficit are considered either on-budget or off-budget. (The off-budget items are typically comprised of the two Social Security trust funds, old-age and survivors insurance and disability insurance, and the Postal-Service fund.) Generally, on-budget outlays tend to exceed on-budget receipts, while off-budget receipts tend to exceed off-budget outlays.

So, with tax cuts, the expenses of rebuilding after Katrina, the Iraq war, Afghanistan and now this:

Bush said the federal government will pay for up to 6,000 National Guard troops to be deployed to the southern border. They will serve in two-week rotations, meaning that over the course of a year a total of 156,000 troops could be involved. He said Guard units will not be involved in direct law enforcement activities; that duty will be performed by the Border Patrol. Guard units will work in support positions.

I wonder where all this money is magically appearing from? Doesn’t anyone else get the feeling that this whole debate on immigration is only being made into a hot issue to keep people in this country distracted from the lousy job being done by the executive branch?

Speaking of baseball...

I set foot in Yankee stadium again tonight. I have seldom been to Yankee stadium since I stopped being a Yankee fan many years back. However, it would appear I couldn’t have picked a better game to go to:

Posada’s homer capped the wild, three-hour, 49-minute game which featured 34 hits, 11 walks, two hit batsmen and two errors. The Yankees overcame an early 10-1 deficit, tying the franchise record for the largest comeback in a game.



“It had everything,” Teixeira said. “It had a lot of runs. It had good pitching, at times. It had defense. It had balls caroming off runners.”

The Yankees overcame a nine-run deficit for the fourth time in their storied history. The last time was a 12-11 win in 10 innings against the rival Red Sox on June 26, 1987. Boston's starting pitcher in that one was Roger Clemens.

It was the largest lead Texas has squandered in its 35-year history.

Always nice to attend one of those historic games.

He’s a fat man with a thin skin.

Tonight I was out with some friends enjoying an evening at the ballpark. A beautiful, warm evening where you could sit in just a t-shirt and just enjoy being outside somewhere and watching a game. You talk about myriad things and something came up - I found myself explaining something.

What do you bring to the table?

It’s a question I’ve asked myself more and more as the years pass. In trying to reconcile the distorted self-image with the image the world around me perceives, I find myself questioning just what I put out there. What do I bring to the table and how does it affect my interaction with the people around me?

Further, what kind of a person do I want to be? What kind of people do I want around me? Can I recognize situations that are unhealthy and toxic? What steps can I take to correct prior patterns of destructive behavior? How can I improve my own behavior to make the world around me a better place?

All of us struggle with these questions I imagine to one degree or another. It’s how we choose to deal with them that determines how much we enjoy or don’t enjoy our lives. I don’t think I’ve ever been as successful as I would like to be when it comes to dealing with these problems. Mainly, I haven’t been as successful because these are not easy things to confront but, the choice is to either avoid confronting them and repeat the same miserable patterns or really attempt to make a change and move forward and grow.

Some people need drama in their lives. I’m not sure why, maybe they’re bored with their own lives or tired or insecure but, they need something to feel better about themselves. Specifically, they need to feel superior to the people around them so, what they do is they create drama. They create excitement. It’s a desperate cry for attention, a desperate cry for help - usually it’s done to offset the person feels about themselves. They look in the mirror and they are unhappy with what they see staring back and rather than try to work on making themselves better, it is easier for them to blame the world around them.

What’s the old saw, the fault lies not in the stars but in ourselves.

I’ve seen a few of my friends go through some incredibly difficult times over the last few months. I myself have gone through some tough times but, coming out the other end I can see very readily who I can depend on and who I can’t and more than that, what I can overcome and what I can abide.

I don’t mind being there for my friends and I consider myself fortunate for the ones I have because they are wonderful, generous and glorious people. I appreciate them. I hope to have been as good a friend to them in their time of need as they have been to me. It is with their help, I realize I can overcome quite a bit. But, I can’t tolerate or waste my time on petty people whose sole purpose is to revel in the misfortune of the people around them. Life is far to short to waste my time on morons like that - hence I no longer find myself having the time for fat men with thin skin.

And I find life is much, much better for it.

Monday blues.

I f**kin’ hate OS 10 - not all the time but a lot lately.

Before the news.

I heard an announcer talking about Megaballs - sounds like a horrible condition to be stricken with.

No new tale to tell.

You would think I had more to write, seriously. Funny thing though is life proceeds in an uneventful way these days. There are storm clouds on the horizon in some ways to be sure but, for the most part I’ve been content to be a passenger in the car of life just staring out the window and taking in the scenery.

Sounds incredibly boring but, it isn’t.

Right now, I’ve spent the last few days enmeshed in one of those sisyphean jobs that come my way from time to time. The kind of job which at the outset seems so insurmountable because you just need some time to go back and mull it over figuring out how you will attack it.

And, when I say enmeshed, I mean enmeshed as I spend several days with my ass parked in front of the computer slowly chipping away at the “pile.” Today when I got up, I could see an end in sight. Of course I got up at a little before 9 am but this was after being up until 3 am working to get to a logical point at which to stop. The thing is I’m working from home and I know I couldn’t (or wouldn’t) want to work these kind of hours in an office.

At home the TV is on if I want it, the refrigerator is mere steps away, I can lounge around in the uniform of the day (I will refrain from sharing what the uniform of the day is just to spare the more delicate sensibilities of those among you and not conjure up a frightening image) and take a break when I need to or if I just get too fed up with the project.

I’ve got a big pile of my own stuff to address - like this ever goes away - but I seem more inclined to at least make some of that diminish by being around the house. Right on the tail of this project, I have another small one lined up... simply amazing!

So, consequently I find I have little time to rant about the goings on in the world around me. Excuse me if you will.

Taking satisfaction where you find it.

The things that I find myself really taking pleasure in, really deriving satisfaction from my efforts are a varied and odd lot. They cover a broad range of personal likes to be sure.

One of the things I take great pride in is a well adjusted kitty. When kitty and I first met we approached each other warily, neither confident in our trust of each other. Now, I am alone with kitty and while I am sorry that I am the sole source of attention for her (at one point her having had three humans around to lavish her with love), I do take pride in the fact she does genuinely seem to be very happy.

Most days start off and finish in a very similar fashion.

Mornings find kitty perched in some spot atop my sleeping form or close at hand. If she is not happily sleeping, enjoying the heat I give off (and I am told I do run hot) - she sits, sits! Quietly studying me for any hint I may be close to awakening and thereby close to feeding her.

Sometimes she will become impatient and she will take it upon herself to torture me. By this I mean she will discern the most uncomfortable part of my body on which to perch herself applying the cat form of accu-pressure in order to force me from dreamland. Or maybe it will kitty-krazy time (cat owners are all too familiar with kitty-krazy time as it is displayed by the cat darting around the house for no good reason) and she will run across the room using my lower abdomen as a trampoline in the process hoping to burst my bladder.

It’s a dance we do. She will sit there and if it gets to be too late she will begin to whine incessantly, making the most woeful cries imaginable as if she is in the throes of the greatest sorrow a creature can bear.

After bounding upstairs leading the way towards the glory of the foodbowl, she will chow down afterward looking for her post meal petting and stroking. There are times she anticipates this and is so happy her little body vibrates due to the very strong purring her happiness brings.

At night there will come a point when the cat thinks it is well time I went to bed and she will come over to me, stand on her back legs, swat at me and cry. If she does not jump atop me, she will impatiently wait for me to make my way down to the bed so she can crawl up at my side. Once I am settled, she will again be purring very loudly as she makes herself comfortable next to me.

Quite the pair we two and truthfully I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Spring cleaning.

I’ve managed to figure out a way to just have all my drafts displayed in the que and so at some point over the coming weeks I’m going to give it a go to take all those unfinished thoughts and weave them into something of a coherent thread - won’t be easy, I’m sure.

In the interim, I’ve been taking a lot of pictures and spending altogether too much time devoted to the Flickr side of things (see badge at right). The flickr stuff is fun and surprisingly enough I have enjoyed getting the feedback I have been getting as well as making friends with people all over the world.

The other thing is, I’m finding things have been very busy lately but, busy in a good way.

Happy birthday!

I have to send out big time Happy Birthday wishes to not one, not two, but three remarkable women.

First off is my cousin Jill who is closest to me in age (and who I have a picture of the two of us taken back when I was five and she seven where the family resemblence is unmistakeable - we look like brother and sister). I was digging through some more of the big pile of sort and found a list of family birthdays and I noted frantically Jill’s is tomorrow! She sometimes lets me edit her newspaper column which I enjoy doing.

Second and third respectively are two glorious women who I know only peripherally.

Audacia Ray of Waking Vixen fame who I had the very pleasant occasion to meet several weeks back. I have a partially done entry about that experience hiding away in my drafts que - needless to say Dacia was even more incredible in person than I could have possibly imagined. A tremendous Happy Birthday to her - she was writing on her birthday and I’ve no doubt she has long since celebrated.

Second is the inimitable Cherry Bomb! A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to her! I am anxiously awaiting the opportunity to attend her next burlesque performance, I’ve meant to go to several but work obligations and other things have always seemed to get in the way. Cherry I must note was incredibly kind enough to link to me and I find I sit in a prime position on her blog just below Wassabusco and Dacia - actually a very good place to be! Maybe she will one day model for Mr. Sketchy’s or I’ll get a chance to take some shots at her next performance and post them up on the flickr site.

I would certainly buy both these ladies a drink if the opportunity were to afford itself - hell, I think I have a couple of bottles of champagne around here I would be willing to throw in the mail if only I knew where to send them to. Anyway, they are both incredibly charming women and I send out heartfelt birthday greetings their way.

More Friday Cat Blogging...

...OR HELP ME MY CAT IS POSSESSED!



Anna pre-haircut, in the carrier and moaning woefully. I hate hearing her like that but, she is generally a lot happier after the clipping.

Big brother would be proud!

The police cameras will constantly keep watch over neighborhoods plagued by crime and monitor potential terror targets as the city moves to put another 1,200 cops on the street, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

The exact locations of the cameras were not revealed, but the electronic eyes will be set up in 253 spots, including many Operation Impact zones - high-crime areas already targeted by teams of cops.

One night (when I was working nights), on the way home I was stopped by the police. I was driving up Broadway trying to get over to H&H to get a bagel to take home when the lights came up behind me. I was really annoyed.

See, I had seen the cruiser when I stopped for the light going up Broadway at Columbus Circle. I hadn’t paid particular notice of it. As I made my way up Broadway, I have to say I was more tired from a long shift than anything else. Being just after 5am, my main interest was getting a bagel and getting home. The drive home is always more leisurely than the drive to work. Broadway is bumpy in the sixties so I didn’t feel like going fast (banging up the car in the process) but, I imagine my slowness must have piqued the curiosity of the boys in blue.

After following me for a few blocks in their cruiser (ironically which had a defective non-working headlight - an equipment violation), I was pulled over.

At this point in life, it’s the exception rather than the rule when this happens. It’s never something I eagerly anticipate but, at this moment in my day it’s just plain aggravating, especially when I'm not speeding or doing anything else. I turned the car off, turned off my headlights, rolled down the window and lazily leaned back against the headrest as the officer warily approached the car (his partner flanking me on the passenger’s side in the very best police trained fashion). In between getting pulled over, shutting off the car, I pulled the lap belt over and latched it. I don’t often ride with the seat belt in use and it’s become just another reason to get a ticket.

The officer approached. I initiated our dialog, “Is there a problem, Officer?” My voice was laced with no small amount of impatience at the interruption of my journey to a welcoming bed.

“Um...” there was a pause as the officer tried to come up with a reason for the traffic stop. “Well, you didn’t have your shoulder belt on.” He could plainly see the lap belt strapped over me stymying his ability to write a ticket for that specific violation. “Can I see your license and registration please?”

When I was looking for the registration, I had thumbed open the glove compartment, prompting the officer‘s partner to shine his flashlight into the glove compartment. Meanwhile, on the passenger’s seat in a misshapen pile were my warm winter coat, my bag, another bag containing remnants of whatever food I had taken to work with me to snack on and the newspapers. Quite the unshapely bundle next to me there. I didn’t have the registration but forked over my license. As I waited, they went back to the cruiser and performed whatever intrusive magic PO’s perform in this brave new electronic age.

I must to point out, now, when the rare occasion presents itself and I am pulled over, the officer is usually much younger than me. There is something less fearsome in being pulled over now than there was as a teenager or a younger man. Then, the officer was a bit of an authority figure, now they are just another wet behind the ears eager beaver.

A few days prior to this I had been walking along the street and had another officer yell at me after I approached him regarding a continuing nuisance out in front of the building I’ve been working in.

A string of loud profanity to erupted from the officer when I interrupted his contemplative moment. Staring off into space, he looked as if he was trying to mentally note where the closest Krispy Kreme or Dunkin Donuts shop. It seems, I was the third person who had inquired as to whether or not the police could provide some respite from our problem. As the third person in a string of people, I had lit a fuse in the young man hence the barrage of the profane.

My traffic stop, happening as closely on the heels of my prior negative experience, found a certain amount of residual contempt for my present blue stalwart. He returned indicating everything was in order and all the while I am thinking - DON’T YOU HAVE SOMETHING BETTER TO DO WITH YOUR TIME?

In the interim, I get a phonecall from work (of course). I loudly rant into the phone about being stopped for no reason and about the idiocy of even being stopped in the first place. I am speaking in very loud, easily audible tones, as the officer sheepishly approaches my car to return my documents. Rather than get off the phone or better still, start to drive off while continuing to talk on the damnable phone (a sure moving violation), I remained sitting in the stopped car with the cruiser behind me. The officers impatiently waiting for me to start my vehicle and pull out so they can continue forward without backing up.

Needless to say, I stayed on the phone long enough for them to get antsy and back into one of the side streets and turn around and go back down Broadway. Now looking back, I wonder what I was thinking but, at the time all I was, was very tired.

Friday cat blooging.



A soon to be rare sight as today kitty goes for a haircut.

Memories of a bygone era.



Just came across this series of IBM ads from years ago up at the DigiBarn website. They’re interesting not only for the design of the ads which captures the sensibilities of the era so very well but also, because of the way they position the product. The story of the DigiBarn itself is an interesting one since it’s a museum of the computer. Worth taking a look at.

Work and you.

This previously unfinished entry was started back in the beginning of March. I thought it still had some value so, I finally got around to getting the damn thing done...

So much to do so little time to do it all. The old saw applies today in the workplace more than anywhere else. A couple of long days on the job and I find myself looking at work through a jaundiced (if tired) eye. It’s not so bad, except for the long hours and at this point in life I find the body can only do so much before it rebels.

Speaking of which, something happened the other day which was quite interesting...

A co-worker, a friend if you will, has been toiling away with me on and off for the last few days.

I’m no longer gung ho about work anymore, not that I’m surly, I just won’t buy into the rah-rah stuff. I’d probably buy into it a bit more if any of the places that tried to foist it on me would have figured out you need to reward people for going those extra miles but, it’s been my experience the whole employer/employee relationship is often a one way street. You put in your hard work, toil and sweat and in return you should be thankful to have a job.

In previous generations people would spend their entire working careers with an employer. These days, it’s the exception, not the rule. The economy slows down and expenses have to be trimmed, so people must be cut, they don’t keep you on just because of years of good service. Hell, if you’ve managed to work your salary up to a respectable level, it may mean you are even more of a target because of it.

The result of this is a dysfuntionality in the whole work dynamic, people are understandably worried much of the time, job security for people today can be termed tenuous at best. This results in people doing things that just aren’t good for them.

Case in point, the aforementioned co-worker/friend. The person in question, has a tendency to put in way too many hours in working than is good for a person. Toiling away through a day shift and a night shift (consecutively), getting very little sleep, surviving on coffee and little else. The job is sedentary, there isn’t a true abundance of physical toil but, that doesn’t mean your body still doesn’t suffer the effects of all those long days.

People‘s body’s are funny in that you can only ignore the signals your body sends you for awhile before the body figures out a more dramatic way to get your attention.

This particular Monday had been a long day and round about 5am I just about had it. A long drive ahead of me, it being Monday (meaning I had been up a bit earlier than I normally would have bee), when 5am rolled around it REALLY felt like it was 5am. I don’t know about most of you but, I’m not really effective after about 9 hours of having my ass parked in front of a computer. After 9 hours or so my mind begins to wander, all I can think about is how the crappy office chair I’m sitting in is really uncomfortable, what it would be like to be in bed at the moment, how many bad life choices bought me to the point where I had to sit in a chair for nine hours, blah, blah, blah, blah - you get the drift.

5am rolled around the shift had dragged out to almost 12 hours and the last three or so hadn’t been all that pleasant. Besides tomorrow’s another day! I no longer buy into the work until everything is done mantra, not since it has become a way to cover a lack of proper staffing and leads to people rapidly burning themselves out.

I scooted out of the office at 5am and started to make my way back to the hinterlands just hitting the cusp of the morning rush hour. Even with the twelve hours I had put in, it was somewhat frowned upon when I announced my intention to leave but, so be it.

As fate would have it, I didn’t immediately jump onto the highway as I would normally. I proceeded to look for a mailbox to mail out a letter (got to pay those bills). I was on a quest, not realizing the corner mailbox is fast becoming a thing of the past. I didn’t realize it but, in Manhattan anyway, the terrorists have won in you can hardly find a mailbox on the street anymore! Something so relatively innocuous and convenient has now become the matrix for terrorist activity on the urban streets. So, I imagine in the name of safety, street mailboxes are vanishing faster than Bush supporters.

I made it up to around midtown when my phone started vibrating in my chest pocket. I couldn’t fish the thing out quickly enough but, when I looked at the number and saw it was work my heart immediately sunk. My first thought was, “Oh no! Only three weeks on the job and already we’ve broken down those barriers where work intrudes on life past work hours. Already we’re beginning the odyssey of the work emergency phone call.”

A lot of people know exactly what I’m talking about, immediately I was thrust onto the horns of a dilemma, to call back or not to call back? The Hamlet-like question of the morning, suffering the slings and arrows... well you get the drift. Finally, I succumbed and I called back only to wind up speaking with a very shaking up supervisor. The friend who had worked a day shift and night shift, still at work when I left, succumbed finally to exhaustion in the form of a seizure!

The guy had had seizures before. While I hadn’t been present when they happened, I was fairly nonplussed by the whole seizure thing having experienced myself a few decades back. Plainly put, it’s more embarrassing than anything else for the person having the seizure. You don’t feel so hot on the tail end of the thing but, the really off-putting moment is realizing how little control you have over your own body. Embarrassing to be sure but supremely terrifying to lose command of one’s own ship of self.

I had intended to speak to the supervisor in question about keeping my friend on a limited amount of hours to avoid exactly what had happened but seeing as how the guy was only on his second day I hadn’t had the opportunity to get around to having the conversation.

The upshot of everything was I wound up getting little sleep that day as I felt obligated just to go to the hospital and be there for the guy. How horrible is it for something to happen to someone and no one is there for you? I mean, I had to make sure the guy was alright.

In the meantime, the supervisor was absolutely, positively freaked out by the whole thing. I’m sure it was an unnerving experience but the guy was just totally shaken up. There had been a bit of a resultant mess from the incident which meant the supervisor had to toss his shirt, socks and shoes. I went back to work to get my friends possessions only to find the supervisor shaking, really out of sorts and unclad. I almost wish I had used my camera (which I did have that morning) and taken a picture to capture the moment for posterity but it probably would have bordered on bad taste.

It didn’t stop me from taunting the shaken and distraut man by observing how I thought he was a truly nice guy - what had he done to terrify my friend so? I would have to rethink my whole approach to him as a person! The next evening when I came in, of course this was the talk of the department. The event that had happened, everyone was curious to whether or not I had been there at the moment and I took the opportunity to equate the supervisor to the incredible Hulk having torn off his shirt and socks and shoes and running around like a madman.

I’m horrible, what can I say.

At the end of everything, I spent a bit of time at the hospital with my friend and explained all the necessary background information to the medical staff. After it became obvious he wasn’t going to get out in the next hour or so I left him with his possessions and a voucher so he could at least get a car home. Mind you, he was looking at his watch while he laid on a gurney in the emergency room of the hospital and when I asked him why he was looking at his watch he responded he was concerned how he might not be able to make it to work that day!

There’s dedication and then there’s something bordering on work insanity. The only thing I can say at the end of all this was, don’t let this happen to you.

On a Sunday no less!

You know, if you mistype the address of my blog you wind up at some kind of Mega Studies bible site! How f**king weird is that!

Friday cat blogging.

Trying to get back into the habit:



What! What! I’m comfortable here!

Wow!

It’s almost May!?!? Where does the time go?

So fitting for Easter?

Mom: Baby, now if you don’t put your coat on, I’m gonna spank you.
Little girl: No! I will tell Daddy and he will spank you.
Mom: No, baby, he will not. Nobody spanks me but Jesus.

—M101 bus

Overheard by: Lucy Sorensen

From the incredible Overheard in NY site.

Lost weekend.

What I call the many hours spent diagnosing drives and reinstalling system software. Watching the computer come up in the shell and really missing simpler days of OS9.

I’m free.

The precipice.

I imagine I shouldn’t sit down and write something while I have White Riot by the Clash playing but, I get this feeling we are on a precipice. By that I mean we are on the verge of one of those periods where our society undergoes significant social change.

Looking back over the course of my life, I think the mid-nineties (93-97) was one of those periods where a lot happened. It was the dawn of the age of the web, the end of the nuclear arms race as we had lived with it from the fifties and sixties with the breakup of the USSR. The late nineties was just the country waking up from all the frenzied speculation as things came back to earth. You think about 98 through 01 and it was more about the bubble bursting than anything else. Everything since September 11th has been about the war on terrorism.

I never think of the eighties as being much of anything after about 82 except a lot of really bad music (hair bands) and all the years of trickle down economics. The mid to late seventies are still those wonderful days of being a teenager and watching the growth of punk and lots of other cool things (which amazingly some of which survives even to today).

Today, reminds me of the fifties and early sixties in a way. Boom times followed by a frenzy of patriotism. Then, the late sixties happened and everything changed. Could we be approaching another period like the late sixties? I think we might be. Two terms of Junior, war overseas with no end in sight, an economy that seems to be in a state of uncertainty. Do people have faith in the institutions of society today? In government? In business?

I wonder, if you put people into a position where they no longer feel secure in their jobs and they find that the framework of the society around them will do little to address their needs, how long will it be before the populace takes notice.

Just some random speculation on my part of course but, I always like to look at analogies throughout history and recent events have me wondering.

What I do with my free time.

Take pictures and screw around with them in Photoshop.

On the flip side.

While I feel a certain amount of regret over the path Dwight Gooden’s life has taken him, I feel nothing but contempt for Barry Bonds.

On the West Coast, Barry Bonds was astounded and aggrieved by the outpouring of hero worship for McGwire, a hitter whom he regarded as obviously inferior to himself. Bonds was 34 years old, had played in the big leagues for 12 years and was known for an unusual combination of speed and power. Before the 1993 season he had signed what was then the richest contract in the game: $43.75 million for six years, and he knew he was on his way to the Hall of Fame. For as long as he had played baseball, Bonds had regarded himself as better than every other player he encountered, and almost always he was right.

The link is to the excerpted portion of Game of Shadows which Sports Illustrated ran a few weeks back. At the time I had started writing an entry only to have the computer crash on me. Hardly forgotten as the season progresses, you can be sure this story will move ever more into the spotlight. Especially as Bonds closes in on the records established by both Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron.

Bonds has been know throughout his career as something of a ‘me’ player. While possessing incredible talents, he has been antagonistic towards both the media and fans throughout his long career making him a hard guy to root for. He is actually the only person who could make someone side with another egotist in Jeff Kent (hard to believe).

It’s worth taking a moment out to read the excerpted portions of the book as it does give a fuller picture into the story and the person Bonds is. Funnier still after witnessing his ‘poor me’ crying scene on the premier episode of his reality show on ESPN.

If he was smart he would’ve saved everyone the trouble and just retired at the start of the season.

Just plain sad.

“This is not a case of a pampered athlete,” Hobson said. “He took it like a man. He took it like any citizen in this situation. He didn't whimper, he didn’t cry, he didn't beg. He took it like a man.”

You had to live in New York during the 80’s to understand just how big an event Dwight Gooden was. He took the city by storm at the tender age of 19 and it seemed as if his career would be nothing short of spectacular. So, this year is the first year Gooden is eligible to be voted into the Baseball’s Hall of Fame and when the ceremony for the inductees rolls around, Gooden more than likely will be in a jail cell.

How very sad.

How big was Gooden at that time? He was one of those rare sports figures who were big enough to transcend sports. On April 7, 1986, he was the cover of TIME Magazine, along with the title: “Doctor K: Baseball's Hottest Pitcher.” And the record will clearly show that the 1986 Mets won the World Series.

Gooden at that moment was a 21-year-old world champion with a Major League record of 58-19 and 744 strikeouts in three seasons. It should have been just the beginning for this once-in-a-lifetime talent. But if it was a beginning, it was the beginning of trouble.

The start of a new day.



Just an image captured during the ride home from work one morning. The city is so incredible sometimes, especially in those quiet moments when you stop to notice it. Looks great big (which you can see by clicking through and checking out the Flickr account).

Just had to pass this along.



Click on the cartoon to read a rather interesting story resulting from a phone call made because of it. Of course, if you’re a woman and find yourself having a tough time making a choice you might want to jot down the number for just such a moment.

Lament for a lost love.

I’ve been liking the Flickr thing, it gives me something to do that is less labor intensive than blogging. With work being so busy and all and occupying so much of life, it is often hard to be able to take a moment out and just think of things other than work and life in general.

To that end, I read this thing up on the Monster blog which was so very relevant:

What scientists have only recently begun to realize is that people may do their best thinking when they are not concentrating on work at all. If you've ever had a great idea pop into your head while you were washing your car, walking your dog, or even napping, you already know what a team of Dutch psychologists revealed last month in the journal Science: The unconscious mind is a terrific solver of complex problems when the conscious mind is busy elsewhere or, perhaps better yet, not overtaxed at all.

Back to the subject at hand though, lost loves.

Is it possible to consider someone you’ve never been intimate with (physically) a love? I think it is.

The reason I bring it up is I keep coming across these pictures of this one Flickr user. Without going into too much detail, it’s a woman whose face I find compelling. It took me a bit of time to realize just how much the Flickr user’s face reminded me of a woman from my past.

The woman from my past is someone I’ve fallen out of touch with through the years, she has long since gotten married and had a kid but, you would be amazed at how often she manages to tug at the edges of my thoughts. It wasn’t easy being around her, she was beautiful to be sure but, she had had a rough life and she carried around a full set of baggage. I can tell you though, when it was good, it was beyond good to be around her, it was wonderful. There are few things that have been able to match it and I can quite vividly remember those days spent together where it was wonderful, they are the high points of life.

A year or two ago I had gotten a call from her out of the blue - she was going to be in my neck of the woods and thought we might meet up. It seemed to be more of a convenience thing for her and as the fates would have it, it never did work out for us to meet. The schedules just didn’t quite synch. I have her number just as she has mine and we each know where the other is. We don’t speak anymore, it’s just the way life is sometimes, you move into the orbit of each others lives the way comets pass in and out of our solar system sporadically every few years.

I just can’t help thinking about the bright light she cast in my sky and wonder when (if) I’ll see her again sometime soon and also wonder if she thinks about me.

Friday cat blogging.

I got a rock.

So, I had this whole big entry in process and left the app running for a few days without saving the thing. Lo and behold eventually the app crashed (yes, it still happens in OS X - you just don’t have to restart the machine). Blogger didn’t do its nifty trick of retaining my half finished entry so that’s one for the wind.

In the meantime more Flickr fun. It’s incredibly easy to take crappy photos (of which I take many) and do something with them, at least bringing them up to the level of viewability with Photoshop. Everytime I do it though I feel like I’m cheating somehow - it’s so easy to pull something out of a photo using Photoshop.. Stuff you would have to labor over in the darkroom when I was in school is nothing now.

You decide if the results are worthwhile or not.