You knew it had to happen, the new Imacs are out with a design strangely reminescent of the ill fated 20th Annivesary Mac from Apple.

Twice in the last week, during the course of a conversation, the person I was speaking with turned to me and said, “You’re not really a Republican.”

I think part of the reason it was said in each instance was because I don’t fall lockstep into position with some of the planks with the party’s platform. Surprisingly enough, I’ve run across a fair number of people who consider themselves Republicans but, also have views on certain issues which differ from the strict party line. In my peer group and among the people I’m usually around in my profession, it’s just not fashionable to be a Republican.

Republicans are bad!

They’re just the most evil people on the face of the Earth. As a matter of fact, if you could believe much of the commentary by people who run with the pack of the donkey (I was going to use another phrase but figured it wouldn’t be right to sink to the same level), the Republicans are responsible for all of societies ills.

So today, thousands descended onto the streets of Manhattan to display they’re righteous rage.

But hey, it is after a free country (last time I checked) and even though I’m usually dismissed for my views, everyone has a right to their opinion.

There have been a bunch of acts of civil disobedience over the last several days. I had heard Friday night one demonstration culminated in the people demonstrating throwing garbage onto the police from rooftops. Got to love it, from heroes to zeros in three short years. People held firefighters and police in high esteem for their actions on September 11th and now it’s okay to throw garbage on them.

Way to make a point, folks.

Anyway, the news this evening gave a lot of coverage to both the build up to the convention and the demonstration which was held today. I loved some of the signs, one commented on the wrongheadedness of a “war for oil.” Probably drove down from Massachusetts in their SUV.

Want to change things in this country?

Hey, approximately 120,000 people managed to get it together today to demonstrate about their unhappiness - think you’d be able to round up that many to do something like feed the homeless or volunteer in a local school?

Just curious.

I watched this demonstration and the one prior to the war in Iraq and thought I saw a bunch of people who were disappointed they had missed out on the sixties.

Most of the anger and rage I’ve been seeing while I’m sure it’s genuine felt comes across as ‘posing.’ Oh are you going to the demonstration on Sunday? What are you going to wear?

It’s as if all the anger and frustration people feel can be directed at a single person.

It just doesn’t wash.

People speak about the economy but economies run in cycles and the previous administration was fortunate enough to experience the fallout of a new technology boom the likes of which hadn’t been seen in this country since the 50’s. Take away the internet boom and how good do you think the American economy was during the 90's? Also, prior to the 2000 election, the bubble had burst. The writing was on the wall and I don’t think it’s fair to lay the blame for the downturn on the administration in office now.

Terrorism? Junior took office on or about 1/16/01 and in just under nine months we had the worst attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor, you really mean to tell me this all came about in those nine months and the people in office did everything in their power to ignore it at the peril of the American people? Do you really mean that?

Did anyone think something so horrific as flying planes into the sides of buildings as a terrorist act could’ve happened before that day? (by the way, if you go back and watch the John Carpenter movie Escape from New York, you’ll see a plane crashing into a skyscraper and a glider landing on top of the World Trade Center).

Here’s another one for you (which I had also heard in recent weeks), if the guy had gotten up from reading to a class of children he could’ve somehow changed the course of history.

Look, let’s get real.

Today, I saw the junior Senator from my state on TV doing her level best to pour rain on the parade. Funny thing was I remember the biggest accomplishment she was supposed to achieve at one time was the reform of the health care system. People seem to forget what a failure that was.

The other senator from our state doesn’t appear to like taking a back seat to his colleague but it seems as if he’s given little choice. And of course, when it’s coyly suggested during the rounds this morning if the donkey’s favorite son can’t get it done this year, well, then maybe she could be the candidate designate next time around. Oh, pshaw! Let’s just talk about this election - wouldn’t it just be so horrible should Kerry lose this time round.

It makes me sick.

(more on this when I have the energy)

Speaking as one of those swing voters, I'll be watching the behavior of the protesters this week.

At this point the rhetoric has actually done more to make me think about voting for Bush - out of spite if nothing else (and I'm proud I didn't vote for him in 2000).

I can't say I appreciate being told if I don't vote the way someone wants me to, I'm wasting my vote. It strikes me as extremely condescending - nevermind downright wrong.

I don't like hearing my registered party painted as villains - if you want to paint people with a broad brush, don't be upset by the results.

I've been hearing all kinds of ridiculous things over the last few months. Even though I don't like the guy, the arguments are so patently ridiculous it's insulting.

Mmmmmm, let's see - if he had gotten up immediately from the classroom on 9/11 it would've changed something?

The guy is rich and got a pass by serving in the National Guard (hey, the guy before him didn't even serve - all of a sudden a person's military service matters)?

Oh those nasty ads that are running by that 527 group - seems to me all sorts of 527 groups have been pumping money into nasty ads against the current administration for quite a bit of time now (let's not even go into the movie which though purported to be factual had an extreme editorial slant).

Well, yell, scream, get apoplectic if need be. Act brutish and boorish and be sure to pepper your argument with insults and double standards - I have to say the only thing it will succeed in doing is making me consider the other side. If you want four more years of the idiot be sure to scream a little louder and behave more badly.

Today, I sat and listened as people discussed with glee and villified anyone who didn't share their views - it's not about having a different opinion in this country anymore, is it?

So, I’ve been on something of a little vacation.

In spirit that is...

I had taken the last few weeks off from writing and just focused on trying to be productive. Throw in a smattering of work and the days were full enough. There have been a couple of things I wanted to write about but, I haven’t had the opportunity so maybe everything will come out in one big spurt.

First up:

Why isn’t there some kind of Olympic Ass Picking event?

I think I’ve just gotten over the Olympics at this point. They’ve been running various events on NBC, MSNBC, USA and Bravo. I’m never that sure when something is going to be on so channel surfing can be interesting at times.

The sexist pig in me was spending a few minutes watching the women’s volleyball event. Really fit, tan women jumping around in sand in bottoms that do a bad job covering their asses.

I can watch this.

Is it a big time sporting event for me?

Not really - isn’t this the stuff beer maker promotional tours are made of?

Then I saw there was some Olympic Badminton event on - I even caught some kind of special short focusing on the American Team. I thought they were nice people (both immigrants) but up until that point I had never thought of Badminton as an Olympic sport.

What’s next? Olympic Lawn Darts? Bowling? Horseshoes? Paper football?

I always remember the drama of the opening sequence of Wide World of Sports with the “Agony of Defeat” skier spiraling off into a world of pain. I just don’t see Olympic Badminton or Olympic Beach Volleyball as having this big “Agony of Defeat” thing going on.

Nevermind the fact that at a lot of these events, you see many, many empty seats in the stands. I guess people in Greece don’t find themselves compelled to blow their week’s salary on watching the obscure Olympic event in person.

The other thing that strikes me as well is the “medal count” in the paper. It’s like we’re supposed to be gassed or something if the U.S. wins the most medals or the most gold medals like it will matter somehow - “we’ve won the Olympics!”

The whole thing just seems a bit stupid.

Normally I don’t take much interest in what happens in the Yankee universe being a reformed Yankee fan but, this year has been the exception. First, one of my all time favorite ballplayers returned to the fold and became hitting coach. While I don’t pay more attention to the Yankees than I did before, I can quietly root for the success of Donnie Baseball (could he be Joe Torre’s heir apparent?).

Now, Johnny Baseball has returned to New York. One of Steve Phillips biggest mistakes was letting John Olerud come up for free agency and return to his hometown environs of Seattle. As a Mets fan, the only thing sadder than the day Olerud left was the day the Mets let Edgardo Alfonzo walk out the door.

Basically, it comes down to a situation where the Yankees have scored big in getting Olerud. After watching Jason Giambi butcher the position with his hands of stone over the last several years, Yankee fans will be pleased with the soft target Olerud will provide at first. Not only that, I can’t help but think Olerud will rediscover his hot bat after working with another former Yankee first baseman. And to top it off, the Yankees only pay Olerud the minimum! If the Yankees are smart, they’ll look to trade Giambi (a failed experiment) and keep Olerud around until they can groom themselves a new first baseman.

In the meantime, baseball fans of both teams should enjoy watching Olerud play in this town once again.

Some random thoughts about rhetoric (during the Democratic National Convention):

There are some of us in this country who don’t think putting troops on the ground in Iraq was such a mistake. Hard as it may be to believe. We never left Iraq after the Gulf War and were flying sorties over the country on an almost daily basis. Throughout 8 years of a Democratic administration, we lobbed missle after missile into the country and did little to achieve our foreign policy goals.

While I am perfectly willing to acknowledge intelligence on the existence of WMD was overstated, up to that point nobody could contradict it since UN weapons inspectors hadn't been in the country in over two years.

I’m not going to put myself in the position of being a GWB apologist but, if we’re going to make an issue about his military service, what about the military record of that media darling BC our last prez? What’s with the double standard?

Also, it’s a rather disingenuous argument to have about the safety of the American people. I don’t think we were particularly unsafe before September 11th, although it is obvious there was a failure in the common sense quotient of the people responsible for our safety (I still can’t believe a bunch of middle eastern men buy one way tickets with cash in a small Maine airport doesn’t arouse any kind of suspicions). I don’t want to live in a police state and if being safe means I have to forego my civil liberties, I’ll take my chances. It’s a lot harder to get those civil liberties back once you’ve given them up.

If you think I’m overreacting, try this little exercise: next time you‘re out and about, make a note of how many security/surveillance cameras you come across in your daily travels. Include all those innocuous lobby cameras, elevator cameras, highway cameras, atm cameras - once you start looking it becomes alarming to see just how often one is “on-camera” nowadays in our so-called unsafe, free society.

I’m always hearing people talk about their lives...

The most common lament I hear, is something along the lines that a persons’ life is boring, they want more excitement in their life.

Personally, I’ve never found excitement to be a good thing - give me a fairly uneventful life and I’ll be content. I’ve had enough excitement in my life, thank you very much, to last me the rest of my lifetime. I’m not saying I don’t want to enjoy life, I just could do without the really high peaks or deep valleys that having an exciting life seems to encourage.

Interestingly enough, my life has at times resembled the movies.

Awhile back it was:


image courtesy of: www.reelartgallery.com

You see, there always seems to be something around the house that is causing a problem. This comes from years of little or no maintenance performed by the EYOC who doesn’t seem to think things ever need to be fixed or replaced. A few summers back, I noticed there was this really nice smell over by the windows in the dining room. Of course, I thought it was the flowers or something coming into bloom because it was summertime.

Wrong.

The really pleasant, overly sweet, perfumy smell was just a way ants let you know they are in the process of setting up shop in your house. So, over the next few months there was this kind of war between me and the ants as I tried to figure out where they were coming from and to put a stop to the “Ant Invasion” (Adam Ant eat your heart out).

I plugged holes in the wall, did research on the net, put out cayenne pepper on the trails, scrubbed and scrubbed to no avail. I would be sitting at my laptop when they would rather boldly make their way across my work table. After a few unsuccessful months, I finally was able to track down their home base, which in fact turned out to be the relatively new work table I had gotten from Ikea.

In the process of setting it up to work on, I had drilled holes in the bottom of the table to mount a surge protector on. There was an open drill hole and the interior of the table was hollow which was all the invitation needed for the ants to move in. To prove my theory, I put a little bit of insect spray around the hole and was rewarded by the swarm.

Needless to say I removed the tables’ legs, took the tabletop and put it out by the curb. Like a lot of things around here, it never made it to the trash truck as someone came by and seeing the pristine tabletop (with only a few drill holes in the underside) thought it was the junk connoisseurs prize. At least the little beasties found a new home with someone else (a cautionary tale for all you dumpster diving hipsters out there).

After the smaller ants moved out, some time later the bigger boys on the block made a sporadic appearance (those nice large ants) but it appeared a good spraying around the houses perimeter did the trick.

So, my life was that fifties horror classic Them for awhile, as I battled the ants.

Recently, my life has transformed once again to follow the path of another movie:



The other day I noticed a bee in the window in the dining room so, I swatted it.

Saturday morning I had my coffee early and when I came back upstairs, I noticed there were six or seven bees in the dining room window (this reminded me of that scene in “The Birds” on the monkey bars). I got out a trusty can of bug spray and gave each critter a little spritz.

I went outside just to look around the outside of the house and sure enough there seemed to be one spot which had a heightened frenzy of bee activity. If I had a household version of the Department of Homeland Defense this would’ve caused me to put the house on the highest level of alert.

When I got home that night there were about 30 or 40 dead bees on the windowsill, on the floor by the window. I should qualify that, some of them just weren’t totally dead yet and sat there in the bee equivalent of a death throes.

Some selective taping and a quick vacuum later the problem was addressed - so much for excitement in my life - excitement a thing I can certainly do without.

Today was another attack on the bees, it’s war, war I say!

Last week I was walking along a street in Manhattan on the way to the dentist (more on that whole experience another time).

It was a beautiful day (Thursday) in stark contrast to the day before which had been overcast and slightly chilly for a July day. Well, as people in the city are, there were a bunch of people just out in front of their stores, watching the day progress.

I was on a side street not one of the Avenues. As I neared the corner of 2nd Avenue, I could see two of the white capped traffic officers making their way up along the cars parked on the side of the street I was on.

The street I was walking along is one of those Manhattan streets which has alternate side of the street parking in mid block and meters up towards the avenue. So, people were just out there staring at the traffic agents as the agents looked over the cars and figured out who to give tickets to.

It used to be these traffic people wore brown uniforms and I always equated them to the fascists of World War 2, something which was easy to do because of the agents boorish behavior.

I can acknowledge being a traffic agent is a thankless job. Their main goal in life is issuing summonses. Consequently, their dealings with the public rarely border on fun.

It had gotten so bad in NYC a few years back they changed the traffic agents uniforms so they more closely resembled those of police officers and the city also enacted legislation making traffic agents “peace officers” so, the attacks which grew out of adversarial encounters with the public took on a more serious tone as viewed by the courts (I believe it’s a felony now).

As I got closer one of the agents broke off to walk further up the block and his companion set about preparing to write a summons. There was a wagon parked at a meter, the meter had expired and had become a target for the traffic agent. A guy was standing in the doorway of his store, taking it all in idly.

I walked over to the meter, dug through my pockets, found and put a quarter in. I don’t know if I stopped the agent from writing the ticket or not. I did hear his exclamation of astonishment as I walked away but I didn’t hang around. He hadn’t started writing the ticket as far as I could tell and there were witnesses that the meter had money in it. I”m sure he was annoyed.

But, in as plain language as I can put it - f**k him!

I hate those guys, there’s just no other way to put it. A few weeks back I met a friend in the city for lunch, put my money in one of the muni meters, paid for parking until 3 pm and got to my car two minutes after the time had expired to see an agent just finishing writing a nice $65 ticket and placing it on my windshield.

If that quarter saved someone $65 it was well worth it. There’s no way the city can justify giving out tickets like that to people - it’s only another way for them to milk money from people. When you think about it, anyone who is well off and has a nice car garages it, they’re not parking it at a meter. That leaves the rapidly vanishing middle class to bear the burden of expired meters.

I’m not sorry and my most fervent hope is it screwed the agent from making his quota - I just wish more people would dig out a quarter instead of watching these guys write these extortionist tickets.

I was home today.

Everyday when I’m home, I have certain habits which have become part of my routine. Usually, between 3 and 5 there are a couple of those court shows, Judge Joe Brown, Judge Judy and The People’s Court. I’ll flip between the channels depending on how entertaining the case may be.

There is some kind of perverted fascination (akin to rubbernecking passing a bad car accident) which compels me to watch these things.

People’s Court tapes in Manhattan and I had great fun attending a taping with a friend a while back - truly one of those great free things there are to do in New York.

After the court show are over, it’s right into the days’ news. New York is unique in that there are four channels running local news shows at 5pm. Most markets don’t have that kind of coverage, so in that way New Yorkers are lucky that they have all these outlets for information.

Still, if someone could explain what the significant news value in Martha Stewart’s sentencing was and her public statements afterward I’d appreciate it.

Truth to tell - if it continues I’ll have to say I’d rather stick with the court shows before 5pm - they don’t purport to be news programs and they’re a helluva lot more entertaining.o

I saw Spider Man 2 over the weekend...



There are moviegoers who make a point of missing superhero movies, and I can't blame them, although I confess to a weakness for the genre. I liked both of the “Crow” movies, and “Daredevil,” “The Hulk” and “X2,” but not enough to recommend them to friends who don't like or understand comic books. “Spider-Man 2” is in another category: It's a real movie, full-blooded and smart, with qualities even for those who have no idea who Stan Lee is. It's a superhero movie for people who don't go to superhero movies, and for those who do, it's the one they've been yearning for.

I never thought in my lifetime I’d see them be able to capture the excitement and feel of a comic book on the big screen. Certainly, I never imagined they would be able to do it with Spider Man but, I have to admit this is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.

I’ve resisted the urge to talk out of school - it’s been hard but, up to now I’ve done it...

So, I’m a bachelor again. I can’t say I‘m completely happy about it, if it were my choice it wouldn’t be the case but, I didn’t feel like I had much say in the matter.

On one level, I am very fortunate - I got to share my life for seven years with a truly wonderful person. Things weren’t always great, granted, in relationships they rarely are, but I was very, very happy with the person I was with.

Somehow, I was fortunate enough to be graced with this wonderful, intelligent and beautiful creature who came into my world and made it a much better, nicer place. Not only that but, for the first time I felt a connection with the person I was with, I felt like we were a family and when it was good I can honestly say nothing else in my life has ever come as close to the joy I felt being with her.

Well, as many people find these days, somehow we lost our way. There was a subtext to the relationship, we both knew was there but, neither if us had the tools to deal with it. I’d like to say there was a clear way to assign blame to one party or another but, the truth is there really wasn’t (at least from my vantage point - you’d have to ask her to find out if she agreed).

Anyway, it was “the elephant in the room” if you get my drift and it hung over us for awhile - and with an elephant in the room it was hard for there to be movement of any kind. I imagine, a relationship is a bit of an organic thing, it needs to grow and change (hopefully for the better) or it dies. Our relationship stopped growing.

I even think we got to a point where there was a bitter truce if you would and neither of us would give ground anymore. So, we stared across that divide that separated us, not enemies but certainly not friends, just combatants at an uneasy truce. Maybe we both felt there was no more ground to give, no more sacrifice to make and so inevitably, one day we wound up going our separate ways.

I cried, I was angry, the whole range of emotions I went through, for a lot of the time I hoped it was just a period we were going through - a storm if you will and one day we’d get to that place where the waters would be calm, the sun would be shining and we‘d be sailing clear seas again.

But, that’s not the way things go.

I still love the person dearly - there may be times when I descend into bitterness or anger but, I’ve been trying hard not to let it get the better of me and I’ve been trying hard not to dwell on it (or at least the more negative aspects of the situation) knowing it will do me little good.

I still feel like I missed something (I even said as much well after the fact) but, I know she’s happier and I take some solace in that. Yeah, there are times it bothers me but, she was unhappy for a long time and the hardest thing in the world is to see someone you love unhappy and feel powerless to do anything about it.

I wanted only to be a positive force in her life and I think at there came a point where none of my stories were new anymore, none of my ideas fresh, being together was only a reminder of the disappointment and anger she felt towards me. I stayed away for awhile, I didn’t want to but, it was becoming clear it was the only way she would move forward. I miss her but, it‘s what had to happen.

My only hope is maybe one day we’ll be friends and that’s all I’m ever going to say about it here...

...Oh, and not a day goes by I don’t miss her but, at least I have the solace of not knowing what good things lie around the corner waiting for me — I’m a better man for having been with her.

Got this from Les in an email - worth watching if you have the bandwidth (Marcia where ever you are I spelled it right!)

Last night I had the pleasure of the company of my BlogSensei. Blog Sensei has taken it upon herself to become a somewhat secret operative (of what I cannot say as I’m not sure if she wants it to be common knowledge). Suffice to say, when I found out I came away very, very impressed by her commitment. If more people in this country would follow her lead, our nation would be a better place.

Now if I could just get Dean to run for the city council.

There are times when I write a long post and somehow, somewhere along the line I hit the wrong series of keys in sequence and just lose the whole thing outright - needless to say it‘s very frustrating.

Today, I was walking in to work - it was unbearably hot as I walked along Park Avenue, a benefit of the beautifully sunny weather we’ve been having.

As I got up to the building where my client is located, there was a young women dressed in jeans and a tight fitting top. In her hands she held a clipboard with a sticker on the back which read “BEAT BUSH!” (exclamation point added for effect). She was stopping people as they walked by trying to catch their attention.

As I approached the door, she turned towards me and pointedly said, “Excuse me sir, do you want to beat bush?”

Are women really not aware of occurs to a man when they have that question directed at them? Needless to say, I responded with the curt nod which indicated I was pressed for time and surpressed a smile and slight laugh as I made my way through the revolving doors of the building.

Just something I came across in my aimless meanderings:

Total bill / Tip amount / Percentage: $365.96 / $0.96 / 0%

What happened: her and her friends (including Paris and Nikki Hilton) got so drunk. they were all singing, and spilt their drinks. when i cleaned up, Britney says to me ‘you missed a spot’ what a fucking bitch. i hope she comes back so i can shit in her food... ugly fat-ass bitch.

Courtesy of BitterWaitress.com

Ssssshhhhhhhhhh...

...be very quiet. As a Mets fan I don’t want to jinx it but, I think the downcast looks are becuase all Mets fans are looking to find their brooms.

Yankees trying to trace cause of parasites

...and here I thought it would be an article about all those fair weather Yankee fans I see when they’re on a winning streak.

At age 16, Kournikova reached the semifinals of the 1997 Wimbledon tournament...

She’s sexy and she’s seventeen!

I was never a big Anna Kournikova fan. I couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about (I just didn’t think she was as attractive as everyone made her out to be). I’ve got a feeling though Maria Sharapova will make everyone forget about Anna - she’s just beautiful and she’s a winner too (which Anna Kournikova never seemed to be).

Damn that girl, she just keeps getting into trouble...

Utah based artist Tom Forsythe said on Tuesday he was “amazed and truly ecstatic” at the judge's ruling that Mattel should reimburse the $1.8 million he had spent defending his work against a copyright lawsuit launched in 1999.

Forsythe incurred Mattel’s wrath with his “Food Chain Barbie” series of 78 photographs featuring the popular plastic doll in kitchen appliances ranging from a martini glass to a fondue pot. Other photos showed the doll stuffed into a tortilla, a fondue pot and a blender.