Watchmen

Word of the impending Watchmen movie has been getting me more and more interested in reading it over again. So, today while I was spending my birthday giftcard at Barns & Noble I picked up a copy. -- I seem to recall that my original reading was from a copy borrowed from "the Cop." Remember him, Cats? -- But I digress...

Thanks to some incredible writing graphic novels like the Watchmen & The Dark Knight Returns are much more than just stuff that kids picked up at the local corner store. Indeed, Frank Miller's Dark Knight is on my personal top-ten favorite books list. The impressive Watchmen was voted by Time Magazine as one of the All-Time 100 Novels. Imagine...Great story-telling, amazing plot, wonderful dialog, gripping moments AND it's got pictures!

The story of the Watchmen is a story of one-time heroes, forgotten by time and forced once more to slip on their spandex to fight the good fight. It's a story of regret & lost direction. I'm looking forward to sitting down, rediscovering these legends and reminiscing about my own days of youth.

If you're a fan of comic books, murder mysteries, gripping story-tell and tragic heroes, then pick up a copy OR borrow mine. If you don't like any of these things, what's wrong with you?

Caught in the Act!

Proof that he's not as good a dog as my family thinks he is!

NFL Network Link

This is the link...

NFL Network Live

I make no promises that it will work. I can't find the blurb that suggested it would work anymore. But give it a try.

It's the Enterprise!

Sometime before Thanksgiving both cordless phones were left off the hook. We didn't have a corded phone plugged in. So few phone calls come into our land-line I didn't even notice until today. Well, I searched around and plugged in the old Star Ship Enterprise phone. My college friends will remember this contraption. It looks like NC-1701. (Notice the lack of letters after the name.) I figure hearing the red-alert sound once or twice will be enough incentive for us to finally activate the 3rd cell phone and dump the land-line for good.

Gosh, I wonder what the dog will do when he hears BeeeeeePPP!!! BeeeeeePPP!!!

NFL Network - A Rant

I would like to give a big middle-finger to the NFL, ESPN & the NFL Network for taking prime-time football out of the reach of the "common" man. The NFL's decision to move their major events to Cable & Satellite companies forget the millions of hard-working Americans that have made their services so popular. Hey, perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps they've done the research and decided that the poor and middle-class trying to save a few bucks aren't worth their time.

Sunday Night Football has become my new MNF. Besides, I saw MNF at a bar a few weeks ago. I love Stewart Scott, but he can't hold a candle to Madden and Co. I was completely unimpressed with it.

Note: Why the hell does NBC need 9 on-air personalities to produce a football game? Give me 4: A Play-by-play, a Color-commentator, a roving reporter & 1 poor slacker back at the studio for "game-breaks."

Let's get to the match that lit this fire. Tonight's game is Cowboys vs Packers. I would love to watch this game, but it's on NFL Network. The good news (for me anyway) is that NFL Network is apparently going to show the game online for free. I'll get back to you on how that works. But the fact remains that people with only broadcast TV will not be able to watch. Also, apparently Comcast Subscribers who won't pay extra for sports packages are equally screwed.

Question for the day

Should I feel dirty checking my hotmail account on the Ubuntu box?

On a related note: The biggest failure of the Ubuntu box experiment are the Netflix "Watch Now" option & CBS "Innertube" TV. Netflix "Watch Now" does not support any other browser but IE, period. CBS Innertube will run on Firefox, but not in full-screen. I also tried Opera, but Innertube will not even play on it.

iDad gets WiFi

So, here's the latest iDad tech watch news...

iDad's wireless router showed up today. He was nervous but got it installed. He called me a few times with that harried "what do I do" voice, but basically I just held his hand as he walked through it on his own. Seriously, he's more tech-savvy than he thinks.

Once the router was up and encryption was on, he finally understood the pulse-pounding power of iPhone. He talked to me on the iPhone (on speaker) while I emailed him a large picture attachment. The fact that he could get a picture, show my mom & still keep talking to me was simply spellbinding to him. He's always made fun of me and my "Toys." Now maybe, he understands my world.

His new Dell laptop arrives later this week. He still keeps going on about how he wishes that he had gotten a Mac. But his Dell broke the bank at $200 less than the base MacBook. I think he'll be happy when he's got his iPhone plugged in to a USB 2.0 port and he's loading his Duke Ellington & Mozart fast, fast, fast.

Life w/ Ubuntu

I am typing this from my Vista machine, but I've gotten things setup on the Ubuntu machine well enough that I could easily be doing it there.

Ubuntu's leg up on my previous Linux experience is that everything is graphic-interface. I've not had to type anything into a code window yet. That's good. The trick has been learning how to find and download software. Slowly, I've been getting the hang of downloading and installing. The files are not "executable" but must be run through a package manager.

Ubuntu itself loaded with all the drivers I needed or found them in an automatic search. Again, this is much improved over my previous Linux experience when I had to find every driver bit by bit before I could get the GUI to load.

Ubuntu also came pre-loaded with Firefox 2.0, OpenOffice & most of the utilities I needed. Thus far, I have successfully installed: Firestarter (Firewall), Pidgin (Multi-Instant Messager tool), Google Desktop, Picasa2 & flash plug-ins for the browser.

My big issues are now:

1. Integrating the machine into my Home workgroup for file and printer sharing.
2. Turning the machine back into my main entertainment center PC. This is a challenge since several online video streaming programs require or function better with internet explorer. I am exploring the options here.
3. Understanding the need for and installation of Virus Protection.
   
4. Learning about available software and the pitfalls of installation.
   

Anyway, it's a fun and stimulating exercise. I can't live without Windows since I'm a gamer and games run on windblows, but I'm impressed with what can be done thus far.

I'll keep you posted.

P.S. I was also able to use my card reader to load photos from my camera. So, that's another success.

No Going Back Now

Since the HP box needed a re-image, I thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to play with Ubuntu. I worked with Linux & Unix a few years ago while I was still in the I.T. profession. It's been a while, but I've also read that Ubuntu is a lot more "user-friendly" than those old /root command days.

Everything was simple enough in the beginning. I downloaded the *.iso image to my Dell and made a CD-image. I then got to work on the HP. The splash screens are rather simple, except that I was having problems with the partitioning. I really wanted to keep the recovery partition. Unfortunately, I screwed up. Keeping a partition requires the user to manually select the boot & swap partitions. While doing this, I allowed myself to become distracted and deleted the wrong partition. Still, that meant I could go back and start over with the automated process.
So like Cortez, I've burned my fleet and am now stuck with either figuring out Ubuntu or having a really big doorstop.

Welcome to the new world.

Good OpEd Piece on Marriage

Taking Marriage Private - NYT

The above link is a quality Op-Ed piece with a short history lesson about the use of Marriage Licenses and the questionable melding of government & religion for the purpose of legal documentation.

I've been saying (to anyone who will listen) that I don't give a rats ass about the government's opinion about marriage as long as they make no laws to infringe on my (or anyone else's rights.) My marriage is something determined by Slick, myself & God. I don't want or need some politician to tell me that my marriage is more moral or proper than someone else's.

While I personally think that the anti-gay rhetoric in some religious bodies is rather appalling and hypocritical, I also believe that my friend NothingNew is right when he routinely says, "People are entitled to their own wrong opinions" as long as said opinions do no harm to others.

Too much "sacred" stuff has been twisted by well-meaning people in government. Yes, a person's religious believes must be a moral compass to the decisions they make. Yes, this holds true for Government. But again, I want Government to stay out of my marriage. I believe, as does the author, that there are reasonable ways to determine ownership, dependency & beneficiary without getting involved my (or anyone else's) marriage.

Anyway, enjoy the link and I'll get off my soapbox now.

Warcraft tip of the day!

You get new abilities at even levels. Go train you n00b!*

* This means you, Cainam. Good lord, how many toons have you leveled?

Important Life Lessons from LRNs

It's very important to cut the vent hole in your spaghetti squash wide & deep enough to allow for proper venting while microwaving. A simple steak or paring knife is insufficient. Use a larger implement and make sure to go deep enough to reach the center of the squash. A second "cross" cut might also be appropriate.

Next time on Important Life Lessons from LRNs we will explore proper cleaning of a microwave.

It...Must...Be...Mine!!!

The Spork of the Gods

I can not explain my love of the Spork or my flashlight obsession. But man, I need an excuse to buy this! ;-)

Writer's Strike Must End Soon

Anyone remember the 80's? Well, Hollywood better fix the strike soon, because we're about to relive them...

NBC pumps up for "Gladiators" redo

Be afraid...be very afraid!

Will someone please tell me what's going on?

OK, this is amusing. One of my favorite "fake" blogs is The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs. The author -- pretending to be Steve Jobs -- is really Daniel Lyons of Forbes Magazine. The blog obviously lost much of it's hype and thunder when he was outed earlier this year, but it's still got some funny posts for techno-geeks like myself.

Over the holiday, the posts were all authored by someone claiming to be Bono of U2. This had the effect of both feeling like the old fake-steve & being extra irreverent. It must be Lyons being funny right? Well, not according to him. On Sunday he issued an apology suggesting that the site was hijacked.

If it was, it was perfect. If it wasn't, it was perfect. Frankly, I think FSJ is full of crap. Still, I just don't know.

How do Philadelphians feel about the QB controversy

Well...

Thus far the responses on Philly.com have looked like this:

Who should start at quarterback for the Eagles against the Seattle Seahawks next week?

Donovan McNabb, if he's healthy (17.0%) = 803
A.J. Feeley, if McNabb can't go (9.3%) = 440
A.J. Feeley, no matter what (73.7%)= 3482
Total votes = 4725

No, I'm not going to start a campaign for AJ

Tonight's Eagles vs Pats game was exciting. I'm glad I watched. I'm disappointed, but not surprised that we lost. I believe that AJ showed us two things. He showed us, with his late-game mistakes, why he'll always be a back-up. He also proved to us that the Eagles are faltering because of McNabb. The offense can play. The receivers can run and get open. The line can protect the QB. Thus the bulk of the blame must rest on his shoulders and on the shoulders of Andy Reid.

I have no doubt in my mind now that this team would have a better record if they could have kept Jeff Garcia. This is a health & skills thing. McNabb's strengths have always been his mobility and his creativity. Both are gone because of his injuries. Perhaps he can get them back. Perhaps not. But today we learned that the Eagles are good enough, better actually, without him.

Well, that was a waste of time

This is another story about my further experiments in digitalizing my TV experience.

Today's story is about my 3-hour (14-day) free trial of Vongo. Conceptually, my television/computer setup is perfect for getting direct downloads of movies to watch. Netflix has generally been good to me, but there are times when the lag between shipments or the occasional scratched DvD means that I'm paying a higher average cost for my DvD's. The idea of a flat-fee digital download system is appealing.

I read a lot of reviews of the different services. Even though most of the Vongo reviews were unflattering, (to say the least) it's fee structure and general concept seemed to work best for me.
Well, my experience was such a resounding failure, I thought I would share.

Strike 1 - There is no way to preview their movie selection without downloading their software.

Strike 2 - Right after downloading and setting up the service on my entertainment PC, I rebooted. Now the box will not boot back up except in SafeMode. Since the only thing I did on the machine was load Windows Media Player 11 (must have to run Vongo) and install Vongo, I'd call this a bad sign. Thankfully, Safe Mode w/ Networking is functioning. After recovering the few files that weren't part of last month's backup, I'll be re-imaging the drive.

Foul Ball - Since the clock is ticking on the trial period, I decided to cross my fingers and load Vongo on my new Vista machine. It loaded fine and I was browsing their selection in a matter of minutes. The interface & browsing functions are the worst shit I've seen in ages. The selection is everything I've read, i.e., worse than the DvD collection at your local library branch.* And big selection? Where? I saw all the screens and saw maybe a few hundred titles. I tried their "search" function. I tried over a dozen titles spanning my lifetime without a single hit.

Strike 3 - But what the hell, let me download a movie I've never seen. I randomly picked a SciFi movie called "the Covenant." Well, it "flew" through 40-50% of the download (in about 20 minutes) before suddenly and inexplicably canceling the process with a completely unhelpful error. There's no "partial" download. The file was completely gone from the list and my new attempt had to start from scratch.

I canceled on the spot and uninstalled the crap from my machine. I never saw the actual video quality, but by that point it could have been HD and I wouldn't have given a rats ass.

Game Over!

* Note: My mother-in-law is the President of her local library board. Her town library has a wonderful DvD collection. Heck, I wish I lived near "the Queen" so I could watch movies with her.

Highlights from a Joyful Day

Here are the highlights from my day...

Slick & I took Princess Kitty (my niece) to see Enchanted today. What a surprisingly delightful film. It was funny, sweet & showed that Disney still knows how to make fun of itself. Really, this is a family find. Cute enough for the kids but intelligent enough for the adults. Slick and I were laughing just as much as Princess Kitty. The message was also a good one: Women can be strong & have their fairytale endings.

For dinner, Slick & I also went out w/ Cats & Hubby for dinner in downtown New Haven at a really fabulous Irish Pub. Glasses of Guinness were raised & great food was consumed.

iDad sent his "thank you" email from his iPhone. He admits that the touch screen typing is not easy, but he seemed to do rather well.

I leave you with these words from my current book...

One of the central elements of the Christian story is the claim that the paradox of laughter and tears, woven as it is deep into the heart of all human experience, is woven also deep into the heart of God.
- N.T.Wright, Simply Christian

iDad

Happy Thanksgiving!

The big news around here is not my birthday (yesterday) or the moistness of the turkey (mouthwatering) but the surprise early birthday/Christmas present for my Father (from everyone.) Since we're all together and mom wanted to do something extra special for Dad's 65th, we got him an iPhone. And yes, it pwns all other phones.

The hardest part about the gift was talking to him last night. He was actively verbalizing his desires for a way to get easy access to email while on the go. But he was also asking me all these questions about iTunes & YouTube. He was seriously considering a Laptop purchase. The more he talked the more I realized that he was describing an iPhone to me without realizing it. It suddenly dawned on me that iPhone was not made for me, but for him. I'm just a gadget nut. He's actually going to use all the features.

OK, desiring all these things is fine, but navigating these little devices is a whole different story right? Wrong. His old computer did take a while to load everything, but setup was a breeze. He was flipping to wide-screen & zooming with his fingers like a pro in the first hour. At one point he called me back into the room excitedly to show me how he could find a contact (from his imported contact list) and use Google maps to get directions to their house in a matter of seconds. Imaging the value of this for a busy pastor trying to do visits. For the first time in my 35 years, I saw where I got my "new-toy" giddiness.

Now, if I could get his attention for a moment, maybe we can play some cards or something. Hmmm...maybe I should try calling him. :-)

Motor Trend Just Doesn't Get It

OK this might seem like an odd topic for my blog, but today I'm going to criticize Motor Trend's selection for the 2008 Car of the Year.

This year's selection is the Cadillac CTS. Yes, it's gorgeous. Yes, they've done a phenomenal job of incorporating some very nice features into a well designed & well-appointed vehicle. Given it's competition, it's great to see an American car win. Surprisingly, there have been a number of positive steps happening in Detroit this year. The big three are finally starting to deal with their financial issues & are starting to focus on their products. Years of focusing solely on the bottom-line while forgetting that it's the products that drive a company not the stock options has taken it's toll on American car companies. It's good to see the things they are doing.

Unfortunately, the auto industry still doesn't get it. Yes, the CTS is "affordable" luxury. Yes, it's going to have some serious get-up and go. But with an EPA estimated MPG 17 city/26 highway, it just doesn't fit the bill. Yes, they are able to make a 304 HP 3.6L V6 get 26 MPG highway. But why not have a 204 HP engine get an average of 30?

The simple truth is that current tech is here to allow for a powerful & smooth driving experience while conserving fuel & lowering CO2 emissions. The ability to turn off pistons, use fuel-injection & integrate batteries into the vehicle aren't just possible, they are techniques used by General Motors. Heck, GM vehicles have used fuel-injection & engine performance techniques for decades. They even have vehicles using these options now.

But all this is beside the point, more than blaming General Motors for making one sweet ride, I'm blaming Motor Trend for failing to get with the times. I love a gorgeous car just like the next guy, but this is a new era.

With gas prices over $3/gal, Slick and I chose the vehicle for our Thanksgiving trip not on comfort or room, but on fuel efficiency. Yes, we are not the demographic for the CTS, but look at the big picture. Gas prices continue to rise. Consumer discretionary budgets are tightening as the economy slows. The Environment has finally become relevant. These are the things that should be on the minds of Automakers & the people who earn a living off the auto industry.

I'm beginning to see signs that Ford is starting to get this point. Several of their latest ventures have been around building quality into affordable & fuel efficient vehicles. This is what all of Detroit should be focusing on. And thus, Motor Trend should be giving their awards to those kinds of vehicles.

Perhaps, I should do my own research and pick my own car of the year.

Milestones

So, with the holidays coming up my family and I have been going back and forth via emails about birthdays & Christmas. Over the last few years I've been really trying to come to terms with my materialism. I love gadgets, things w/ zippers & pockets &...did I mention gadgets? But I like to think I've tempered this craving with a certain practicality.

Listen and you can hear is my wife rolling on the floor with laughter.

But I digress...

This week, I'll be 35. My mother has told me that 35 is not a milestone. My attitude about birthdays has always been simple: I don't really care about the year, I'm just looking for some new tunes or a gadget. In the online gaming world we call this "Phat loots!" Sure, I welcome any excuse to get free cake and maybe get out of doing dishes, but it's never really been about the need to celebrate. Birthdays are birthdays. But 35?

Part of why I haven't been writing for a few days is because I've been busy trying to ignore the big-picture. At some point along the line, 35 became my personal cut-off for having kids. I stuck with that number both as a point of no return and as a motivator. Until I got sick, I still assumed that Slick and I would beat that deadline. Well news-flash, we aren't going to have a kid before Wednesday.

So, much like the U.S. exit strategy, I'm going to have to avoid time-tables for a while. I'm not ready to give up on the whole kid thing. But the reality of yet another unrealized goal in my life also frustrates me. So yeah, 35 is a milestone for me. And no, I'm not particularly happy about it.

So, there's the other reason for the limited postings last week.

Dear family, if you're reading this: A Wii or a PSP would totally help my emotional state. ;-)

Odd Silence

Sorry about the odd silence. My muse must have gone on holiday. I just haven't been inspired to really post about much.

The big personal news this week was our anniversary date. Slick & I went to Firebirds on money from the inlaws. I had a really nice piece of filet mignon.

We then went "uptown" (that's what they call downtown here) to see the Wailin Jennys concert. It was in a small arts theater built from an old Baptist Church. The acoustics were wonderful. I was a touch disappointed w/ the turnout. It wasn't well-publicized and they aren't really well-known. A lot of the concern-goers were clearly theater patrons, but there was a good selection of folk/bluegrass fans. Admittedly, I'm reminded that very few people our own age are into this kind of music. Mostly x-hippies. Folks in the 25-35 crowd (besides us) look like they should be in Asheville or in the Austin City Limits crowd.

Anyway, the Jennys were great. Their blend of A-Capella songs & folksy harmony is great. Their mix of musical instruments is rather need to see. Their token male plays a mean fiddle. The highlight of the concert was definitely when the came away from the microphones to close the show and sang "the Parting Glass" at the front of the stage. The stillness in the room and the way they filled the one-time sanctuary was worth the price of admission.

Looking for the best word

Today, I'm on a search for the word to best describe the recent actions of the Toyota Co. Here are just some of the words I've come up with so far:

- Disingenuous - Giving a false appearance of simple frankness
- Two-Faced - Action contradictory to a professed attitude
- Hypocritical - feigning to be what one is not

What's got me on this tirade? Toyota is lobbying against higher fuel standards? I've been reading blurbs about this for a few weeks now. Seems that, just like other big automakers in America, they are worried about their truck sales. Big shock! Here's a recent article about it at Newsweek:

Toyota's Green Problem

Yes, Toyota has the best consumer hybrid vehicle in the world. But, it turns out that just like all big businesses it's all about the bottom line. Their recent ad campaign really is full of crap. So, I too have to ask the question: Why not?

Higher fuel standards can be achieved.

Cowards! Hypocrites! Liars!

OK, I feel better now!

What's For Dinner?

Slick is away visiting "King M" & her new baby. Since I spent most of the day working in the attic & organizing electrical equipment, I'm entitling myself to a guilty pleasure that she won't eat...meatloaf. Yes, meatloaf. I love it. And not just any meatloaf, but my father-in-law's super-awesome meatloaf. Yup, meatloaf, mashed potatoes & beer! I ate yogurt, fruit and veggies all day in mouth-watering anticipation of this "manly-man" meal.

To wash it all down, I've got a double-feature of action-flicks from Netflix.

It's fun to play bachelor for a night.

ZOOM

And now, I am the master AV geek. Yes, I'm writing this using my TV as my display. The "old" computer is now a multimedia device. It's not perfect. The wireless mouse & keyboard do not have sufficient range to really sit at my couch and relax. I'm considering options there. Maybe an extra-long USB cable?

There were several challenges with this project. Wiring the ethernet cable was the big challenge, but it's a lot nicer than using wireless. The other issue was setup: picking the right cables and isolating the ground loop (speaker hum.) I fixed the ground loop by carefully choosing how to connect everything and made sure to plug the whole system into one high-end surge supressor.

Anyway, now my TV project is complete. I can watch online video and download stuff straight to watch on the TV. MLB.TV should be awesome for the '08 season.

Damn, I've got a ton of cleaning to do.

Not as painful as I thought

Well, the new computer setup was not as painful as I thought.

- Adjustment #1: Getting Vista to talk to XP. I couldn't for the life of me figure out the problem until I checked the web and found that Vista will only talk to XP-boxes with a special update loaded from Windows. Why was this update never simply added to all XP Automatic updates?

- Adjustment #2: All the jokes and complaints about the permissions box are true. It got old in the first 10 minutes. There's no way to train it to automate. The worst is when I started a 20 minute software install and try to walk away. Nope, every "element" of the install wanted another approval. I sat through the entire thing.

- Adjustment #3: (Actually, this is a good one.) This computer is so much more powerful than my old one. World of Warcraft rendered FAST FAST FAST!!! I turned on all the video shading and all the sound effects. Woosh, Bang, Frames!!! I don't know how much Vista slows stuff down, but going from a Low-End AMD Athlon 64 w/1Gig RAM to a Intel Core Duo E6550 w/ 2Gig RAM is like going from a Yugo to a BMW.

- Adjustment #4: On my old box, I avoided using "fancy features" like Google Desktop. Well, now I've got all these gadgets floating around. It's really kind of cool. I admit to liking the sidebar. I loaded the Google Talk, Calendar, Email & Notepad. It's nice.

Anyway, it's late and I should hit the sack. Lots of unfinished chores to complete. Yes, I dropped everything to setup the computer. Did you expect anything different?

How a Geek has Fun

The new computer showed up today. (You can see it near the bottom left of the screen.) Anyway, busy learning how to integrate Vista into XP network and trasfer files from old PC (box on right.) Laptop is for show & emailing. ;-)

Sad But True Eagles Humor

Before you read, here are my comments on the latest news from the IgglesNest. Did anyone see the remarks by "Bounce-Pass" about sharing the blame? Dude, you're the QB. Take it like a man! Sigh! It's gonna be a long season! Well, on with the funny...

My buddy Crash just sent me this and I just had to share.

Q: What do you call 53 people sitting around a TV watching the Super Bowl?
A: The Philadelphia Eagles.

Q: How do you keep a Philadelphia Eagle out of your yard?
A: Put up goal posts.

Q: Where do you go in Philadelphia in case of a tornado?
A: The Linc - they never have a touchdown there.

Q: What do you call a Philadelphia Eagle with a Super Bowl ring?
A: A thief.

Q: Why doesn’t Camden have a professional football team?
A: Because then Philadelphia would want one.

Q: What's the difference between the Philadelphia Eagle & a dollar bill?
A: You can still get four quarters out of a dollar bill.

Q: What do the Philadelphia Eagles and possums have in common?
A: Both play dead at home and get killed on the road!

Q: How many Philadelphia Eagles does it take to win a Super Bowl?
A: Nobody knows and we may never find out.

And Finally:
Q: What do the Philadelphia Eagles and Billy Graham have in common?
A: They both can make 70,000 people stand up and yell "Jesus Christ".

New Feature

So, I've started using the Google Reader (RSS feeds) for my news and blog reading. On of the more interesting features is the ability to flag a story that I want to share & sync it with my blog (also a Google product.) What does that mean? It means that I'll be able to randomly note stories from MSNBC, Digg, Slate or wherever and you'll be able to see them on the right-side bar. Sometimes, a whole blog post isn't worth your time or mine. If you see a headline that sounds interesting, simply click the link and read.

Speaking of Google Reader & RSS feeds in general...

NothingNew has been bugging me for a while to read my news and favorite blogs via a reader for years. I tried a while back and hated it. Well, I like it now, but there is one draw-back. It's too damned efficient. Seriously! There's something mind-numbingly relaxing about visiting all your favorite News sites and checking to see if there are new posts on your favorite blogs. But now, I know if there's something new to read at a glance. I can skim through the headlines really fast and pick the stories I want to read even faster. I did 30-minutes worth of news surfing today in under 10 minutes. Where's the fun in that?

"Yea! We did our civic duty!"

These words were uttered by Slick at approximately 7pm as we drove home from the polling place. I put on my best, mock Irish tenor voice and sang a few lines of "God Bless America" for her. Laughter & a round of "God Bless My Underwear" ensued.

Everything was local: Mayor, 2 Town Council Seats & 2 County-Wide votes. The controversial one was a new tax on property sales paid by the owners. I swear we got a card in the mail every day for a month to vote "No" on this new tax. By the middle of the second week, I realized that the concerned civic organization was really a lobbying group of developers. Duh!

Properties are being turned over at an alarming rate around here. Our region is still booming. The house across the street from us is working on it's third owner. It was built 2 years ago! Developers have been building mega-sized house-farms as far as the eye can see, but with no incentive or requirement to help with infrastructure, schools or consideration for the effects of increased traffic. The county finally realized that we're screwing ourselves and realized that we've got to generate income to pay for these much-needed services. Options include raising property tax, sales tax or this home sale tax. Of course the developers don't want to pay this when they sell new homes. Slick pointed out that this particular tax (unlike so many local taxes) will be progressive since it's based on the value of the property sold.

Needless to say, as a home-owner, I don't want to pay more to sell. On the other hand, I would rather have the new schools & water treatment plants we need AND I would rather not have an increased property or sales tax to do so. Those taxes eat at our cost of living.

The sad thing is that the mail-bomb campaign will probably work. It certainly "scared" me before I got the facts. Many busy and confused people will probably vote "No" to anything that might hurt the value of their home. The housing bust hasn't really reached us, but everyone seems to be holding their breath.

Yeah, God bless America all-right...

Even the Doctors are Amazed

Karen went home from the hospital over the weekend. Her one doctor used the words "divine intervention." I'd pontificate, but I find myself at a loss for words. Don't stop praying for her. She's got a long road ahead. She still needs more Chemo. But for now she's home with her family. To that, I can only say Amen.

WTF - They Cast Who as Moses?

Remember when I said I wouldn't post again today...I lied. - Done to voice of Arnold "Commando" Schwarzenegger

So, some nut-job is doing an animated Ten Commandments in a frighteningly similar style to the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. That, by itself has the burning bush up in flames. Then I saw the casting.

scene: LRNs with gaping mouth of shock and confusion.

Christian "Fuck me, they cleared it!" Slater is Moses?!? I don't mean to type-cast him, but Kuffs? Will Scarlett from the Kevin "can't talk with an English accent" Costner's Robin Hood? Has he actually done anything noteworthy since "Pump Up the Volume?" It could be the best animated Bible movie of all time, but all I can see is Moses saying, "Fuck me, it parted!"

OK, OK...deep breath. Who else is in this movie? Sir Ben Kingsley. OK, he's good. I've seen Gandi. Of course, I've also seen about 5 minutes of Blood Rayne...5 minutes I can never get back!

So, Sir Kingsley is the Narrator. And God is...

Elliott Gould?!? Reuben Tishkoff? Reuben's taking a break from bad casino deals and scams with Ocean to lend his voice to God?

Could this be a sign of the apocalypses? I sure hope so. I really don't want to be around when Sunday School classes start screening the DvD.

Better than Monopoly

This is the danger of my sitting around watching football and nursing a cold, I make a lot of posts. This is the last one today, I promise. BUT, I saved the best for last. ;-)

Slick has been secretly trying to figure our a "large" checkbook error for several weeks now. She finally gave in and started a spreadsheet the other week. Well, she found the error and has authorized my much-needed computer upgrade! --Dance of Joy!-- Of course, I've been researching computers for months and have been watching all the major build-to-order companies for deals. Yesterday, I found my system from Dell and came in under budget (including tax!.) I won't go into specs here, I'm really excited. After I rebuild the hard-drive on my old system, I'm hooking it up to the entertainment center so we can play MP3's on the stereo & stream video straight to the TV.

Joy!

Blogs Worth Reading

I was chatting over gmail-chat with NothingNew today and we started talking about the blogs we like to read. I thought I would post my favorite blogs here. I actually read several more. I assume that NothingNew will make a similar post with a much longer list after seeing this one.

"Professional" Blogs
TreeHugger - This is a great blog with tons of daily posts with news, products and ideas concerning the creation of a eco-friendly society.
The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs - The author of this blog is really Daniel Lyons from Forbes Magazine. He was "outed" a few months ago. It's still a great place to get a combination of snarky humor & slanted-tech news.
Geeks of Doom - Ever read Ain't It Cool News? Geeks of Doom is like a blog version of Ain't It Cool. Regular news posts with news and reviews about Comics, TV & Movies.
Overheard In Philly - My taste of home. One-liners overheard on the streets of Philly. Raw, rude, crude & so very Philly. Don't say I didn't warn you!

"Personal" Blogs
FindingAvalon - This is my sister's blog. She started it a few months before me. Surprisingly, we've both taken very similar approaches. We both use pseudonyms. We both mix personal stuff with social commentary. We both have one "big" topic that we come back to. Her "big" topic is the Silent Prince & his struggles w/ Autism.
Sermons at Salem - My sister's blog of her sermons. Technically this could be listed in the "professional" list. Her sermons are an inspiration & often hold more meaning for me than the sermons of my own pastor. Recently, she posted a wonderful sermon about Karen. It was passed around to Karen's family.
NothingNew - College friend, roommate, groomsman & all-around skeptic...I mean...great guy. The problem with this blog is that he --Hint-- doesn't post enough. He posts a mix of personal stuff & really fun/useful links.
Koinonia 21C - My Mother-in-law's Pastor's Blog --No Seriously-- about life, family & his spiritual journey. He's the kind of person with whom Slick and I would just love to get together and drink wine. Insightful, faithful & struggling. He understands that ministry is not about the LAW but about spreading Grace. He's got my in-laws and all their friends feeding the hungry & doing all sorts of community outreach.

f-f-f-football

Ah, football -- America's Pastime -- All Day!

It's a wonderful thing watching the back-to-back-to-back football games in "free" HD. It makes me almost forget this nasty cold that Slick brought me from England. The only thing that would make this better would be beer, BUT the hot tea w/ lots of honey will have to do.

Originally, I was planning a bunch of yard work until the Colts-Pats game, but this cold is nasty. So, laptop, recliner and football...lots and lots of football.

I can't stress how excited I am about the Colts-Pats match-up. Usually, I think the TV networks over-hype games for the sole purpose of ratings. This time, no amount of hype can do this match-up justice. We've got the two best quarterbacks of this generation playing at the peak of their abilities. Their teams are playing the most amazing football. This is the farthest into the season that 2 undefeated teams have met. The next-best team look like AAA college teams next to these two power-houses. I'm really excited. The fact that I've got the Panther's game before & the Eagles game after only adds to the excitement. Unfortunately, the Panthers look like a practice squad with Carr at QB & the Eagles are playing like shit. (Admittedly, I've left the Panthers game in favor of the Jax/NO game.)

What's With Social Networking?

I'm a fairly open person in real life. To talk to me is to know me. That said, all this Web 2.0 Myspace, Facebook & now OpenSocial by Google gives me pause. Yes, I write a "semi-anonymous" blog where I share a lot of personal info, but I'm very mindful about it. I have no interest in plastering my face all over the web or giving out all my information.

I'm from the "old-school" generation of web-browsing & posting. I believe in the philosophy of "Lurking" on sites. Aside from this blog, I only really post on private forums. I'm very cautious and deliberate about when I spend my money online. I believe in the beauty of online pseudonyms. 99% of my online interactions occur in World of Warcraft. Sometimes I play with people I don't know, but usually I usually only play with my real life friends and members of my guild. My guild-mates (most of whom I've never met) are the closest thing I have to the effects of these social networking sites.

Perhaps it's my old-school attitude, but I just don't get social-networking for the sake of social-networking. Then again I never understood the bar scene, blind dates or speed-dating. Perhaps I'm lucky but all of my relationships grew out of mutual interests and day-to-day social interactions. It's due to this lack of prospective that I refrain from completely dissing these sites. I just don't ever intend to use any of these sites and I encourage people to think before they try them.

Canceled due to Bleh

Today's rambling post has been canceled due to an overwhelming sense of BLEH! In addition to still being completely beat up from my trip north, Slick brought me something really special from her trip to England...HER COLD!!! Sharing is caring, right! *SIGH!*

Steampunk in Real Life

Steampunk is a Scifi/Fantasy version of reality where machines are all stylized steam-powered systems. There's a bunch of books, movies & RPGs that use this version of reality. It's very 19th Century Victorian Era British looking with vehicles and gadgets all powered by steam. I've always thought it would be cool to decorate a home in this style. Slick is a huge fan of Steampunk since she's both an avid lover of the Victorian Era & of SciFi. Anyway, I came across a website where they deck stuff out in the Steampunk style.

The Steampunk Workshop

The cool one is the LCD monitor and keyboard.

Waiting With Bated Breath

I'm cautiously waiting to see where this goes. Yesterday, Halloween, Karen made a dramatic turn-around. She's lucid, talking and able to take off her breathing mask to do so. Pooh* spoke to her on the phone. I plan to try calling her later today.

I'm cautious because my experience has shown that sometimes people make a dramatic recovery just before the end. The doctors aren't in agreement either. Some things are greatly encouraging and others remain unchanged.

Do I believe in miracles? Yes, but...

So, I wait with bated breath and I continue to pray.

*Pooh - As you know, it's my usual practice to use pseudonyms in this blog. Only Karen has been exempt from this rule. Pooh was a huge obsession with this friend. I couldn't come up with a better name for her, so she's stuck with it. Sorry Pooh. At least the rest of your family will be easy to name now. ;-)