Calmer than you are

I don't want to know

2008-01-02T12:48:00.000-05:00

We have too much information now. I do not want to know what is in the food I eat. I do not want to know what the CIA is up to. There is no honor among thieves any more. That is why the Mob sucks. People like Sammy "The Bull" ruined it for everyone. Americans used to be able to keep a secret. The JFK assassination, Area 51, who shot JR?

I like not knowing things. I am not talking head-in-the-sand, ignorance here. Some things are just better off unsaid. Let the CIA and NSA do what we need them to. Boo hoo, civil liberties... You never really had them, buddy. It is all a facade.

Americans need to start keeping their mouths shut. I do not mean on a local level, if you see a crime, you should report it, but if you happen to be involved with some secret arms shipments between 2 third-world countries, keep it to yourself. Why do you think North Korea and China are so scary? Because we do not know what they can do. We have some google-earth pictures of some buildings, but we have no idea on what is going on over there.

Maybe Steve Jobs and Apple should take over the NSA, or put the producers of LOST in charge. There is a reason that "Benedict Arnold" is a derogatory term.

The Editors "An End Has a Start"

2007-09-20T13:06:00.000-04:00

I don't think that it's
Gonna rain again today
There's a devil at your side
But an angel on her way

Someone hit the light
'Cause there's more here to be seen
When you caught my eye
I saw everywhere I'd been
And wanna go to

You came on your own
That's how you'll leave
With hope in your hands
And air to breathe

I won't disappoint you
As you fall apart
Some things should be simple
Even an end has a start

Someone hit the light
'Cause there's more here to be seen
When you caught my eye
I saw everywhere I'd been
And wanna go to

You came on your own
That's how you'll leave
With hope in your hands
And air to breathe

You lose everything
By the end
Still my broken limbs
You find time to mend

More and more people
I know are getting ill
Pull something good from
The ashes now be still

You came on your own
That's how you'll leave
With hope in your hands
And air to breathe

You lose everything
By the end
Still my broken limbs
You choose to mend

You came on your own
That's how you'll leave
You came on your own
That's how you'll leave

You came on your own

You came on your own

"I hope that's bubble gum, dear'"

2007-08-16T08:29:00.000-04:00

30 years ago today, Elvis Presley died at the age of 42. His life was the epitome of the American Dream. A poor kid from the South goes on to change popular music and to influence the world.

I was never an Elvis fan growing up. I felt his music really did not fit with the Metal bands I was listening to at the time. Then I heard the album "An Afternoon in the Garden." This is a recording of a daytime concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It is more of a sound check than a full-blown concert. After that album, I started to collect more and more of his live recordings. After he left Memphis and Sun Studios, I feel his records were a bit over produced. Too clean for the King of Rock'n'Roll.

Several years ago I was able to go to Memphis and visit Graceland. It is a weird place, part museum, part shrine. You have to see it for yourself. I could not possible describe it. Today, 30,000 people are there from around the world to pay tribute to a kid from Mississippi. Strange days indeed.

I would tell you to look past the kitsch. Ignore the stories of excesses and focus on the music. You must hear for yourself why Elvis is the king. Long live the king!

Take it to the Bridge

2007-08-03T12:41:00.000-04:00

On CNN.com the headline reads:

"Bridge victims: Athlete, 'chatterbox,' student"

Although we are saddened by the loss, we are quite relieved because they just would not shut up. I mean really. They went on and on, it was very annoying. Did we want them be on a bridge that collapsed? No, not really. I mean who thinks a bridge is going to collapse?

When wishing harm upon someone, I really do not think that the whole "collapsing bridge" scenario comes to mind. Car accidents, fires...that sort of thing is more your usual go-to harm wishes.

Plus it's difficult to really work into the flow of conversation. "I hope they are on a bridge that collapses and falls in to the Mississippi river." That's tough.

The lesson here is to really be nice to everyone. Because some day you could die when on a bridge that collapses and the media will be looking for someone to say something about you. Do you really want your online epitaph to call you a "chatterbox?"

Eine wirklich dumme idee

2007-07-25T14:45:00.001-04:00

A really stupid idea

“The German Car Blog is reporting that VW chief Martin Winterkorn has decided to give the logo a freshening, making the symbol larger while also better separating the V and the W from the outer ring. The new look will be more 3-D, but the branding itself will retain its central location on the grille. Look for the new VW ornament to bow on the Golf VI.”

The Volkswagen logo is one of the world's most recognizable designs. I own a VW, and while it has not been the most reliable car, the logo works fine. I have never had trouble with the logo since I bought the car. I have had to repair or replace every other component, but the "VW" on the grill runs like a top.

I did some research (research meaning I googled some stuff) and found that there is some controversy surrounding the now classic icon.

The headline in the English newspaper The Telegraph reads:

"Nazis stole my idea for VW logo, claims designer"

The story reports that Nikolai Borg, 86, claims he was commissioned by the Nazis to design the VW logo for Volkswagen in 1939. Mr. Borg is suing Volkswagen not for financial compensation, but for formal recognition that he did, in fact, design the logo.

He is proud of his past work with the Nazis and wants to shout it from the rooftops! Listen here Herr Borg, you are lucky that is all the Nazis stole from you, you nut!

I also found this little tid bit:

"The original design featured the letter V above a W and surrounded by a cog. After the war, Britain had the cog changed to a circle and submitted that design for copyright protection in 1948. The Volkswagen or "people's car" project was part of the Nazi Kraft durch Freude propaganda scheme run by the Deutsche Arbeitsfront (DAF). The logo of the DAF was a swastika surrounded by a cog – from which the VW logo appears to be derived."

I really hope that VW does not decide to retro and switch back to the swastika. I am thinking that would be a bad PR move. I mean, look what happened with Coke Classic. That was a disaster.

I feel that when established companies update logos and redesign branding it comes across as a desperate attempt to remain relevant and "liven up" their products. Same company, new crappy packaging. VW has a great brand and their cars are very well designed (I did not say engineered, or put together) and I really hope they leave well enough alone. If they are really bored, I could send them a list of things they could improve upon, their image is not one of them.

Now the Nazis, they need a new image.

Recycle this

2007-07-19T12:48:00.000-04:00

Lately, I have been tempted to throw in my recycling towel. It has become too much of a burden and I feel I am wasting other resources (gas, water) in order to meet all of the regulations.

The other day I was scolded by the recycling guy for not meeting all of the guidelines. Knowing what I know about organized crime, I am very hesitant to argue with any sanitation worker, but this guy was put off by the amount of recycling I had. Watertown only collects this stuff every other week, so I am left with trash all over my house until they come.

The official list of acceptable material states:

No plastic bags or soiled paper.
No junk mail, office paper, cereal boxes, juice or milk cartons.

Now hold on...No junk mail? No plastic bags!? How is that possible? There is a bill in the Massachusetts legislature that proposes making businesses charge customers for plastic bags. So I will now have to pay for something I do not want AND throw them in the regular trash bound for a landfill where they will sit for 8 zillion years.

Another thing the guy complained about was that I did not break down a box. I told him that I used the box to hold more paper to be recycled, so in a sense, the whole thing could be recycled.

He then told me that I need to breakdown the box.

I then restated that the box was filled with paper to be recycled and would he please just take the box and throw it in the paper section of the truck FOR THE LOVE OF GOD?!!

Another source of Green-aggravation is the bottle return. Here in Massachusetts we pay 5¢ deposit on bottles and cans. Growing up, my mom used to have a sticker on her refrigerator that said "If a $50 fine won't stop a slob, neither will 5¢" The point being that no one turns the bottles back in which creates a ton of waste and litter. I look at it as someone gets to keep my 5¢. So, I save up all of these cans and bottles in my house, load them in car and drive over to the supermarket to return them and get my money back.

Here is the rub...if the supermarket does not sell that bottle or can, you can not return it at their store. So now you are left with a few odd bottles that can not be returned and you have two choices; bring them back home and put them in the bin, or just leave them at the store. I think it might be easier to dispose of asbestos then a Wachusett Blueberry Ale bottle.

Why do they have to make this so hard? The point of the 5¢ is to make me inclined to recycle, but when I try to recycle I can't. They want me wash the stuff I am to recycle. That wastes huge amounts of water, which will soon be a pretty scare resource itself. So when they finally come out and tell us it's true, the planet is doomed, don't blame me. I tried, but they just will not take my empty box of Honey Nut Cheerios.

Buffalo Rob

2007-07-12T19:45:00.000-04:00

Buffalo Tom is my favorite band. I love their hard-edge pop songs that stick in your head for days and weeks after hearing them. They are not pop, alt, or any other buzz word. They are a rock band the way a rock band should be. A little hard, a little soft and a little rough around the edges. Their songs are toe tapping jams that are full of great riffs and hooks that sound great both live and on record.

Last Tuesday was momentous occasion for BT fans everywhere; after nine years, their new album Three Easy Pieces was released.

Today is my birthday and it seems that Buffalo Tom always celebrates with me. Almost ten years ago my girlfriend (now my wife) and I went to Cape Cod for my birthday and we saw BT at a dive called The Beach Comber. It was like a private show. I think the bar held 100 people total. At that show, they previewed new songs from the (now old), album Smitten. It was fantastic.

In true fashion, BT will be playing at the Paradise in Boston Saturday. My wife got a bunch of tickets and we will all be there so they can wish me a happy birthday.

-DISCLAIMER- My friend MM already calls me a BT groupie, so when she finds out that I literally have ticket #1 to Saturday's show she will no doubt give me crap. But, she will be giving me crap at the Buffalo Tom Show!!

It used to be worth the trip

2007-07-11T12:30:00.000-04:00

In the land that is New England, Dunkin' Donuts is the king of coffee. Say what you will snob-o's, but they do have good coffee. It seems to me that DnD is getting too far away from its original business model. The reason: they have too many choices.

Human beings don't respond well to having choices. They become confused. If you go to Starbucks, you expect to wait a bit for a cup of coffee. DnD used to be the anti-Starbucks. Three sizes (in English; small, medium, and large) and only basic options such as cream and sugar. These were the good ole' days. Now you will hear something that sounds like this:

"An iced Great One, with 2 squirts of blueberry, a little cream, and 3 Equals. Oh, and can you 'Turbo Charge' it?"

Huh? I just want a medium regular. Regular at DnD was once known as cream and sugar. Now when I say the word "regular" the employees look at me like I am insane. The have Coolattas, and Fruit Coolattas and all sorts of wacky drinks that take foreverrrrrrr to make.

I am very close to imposing a ban DnD.

Sometimes we take our daughter out for a walk. Well, me and my wife walk, Lucy just rides in the stroller. Occasionally, we stop at DnD to get Lucy 1 plain Munchkin. (A Munchkin being a donut hole.) It seems we can no longer purchase just 1 Munchkin. We have buy 4 or 5 (it varies by store.)

I do not want 5. I want one.

I bet some manager somewhere realized that the costs of the wax paper and the bag were more that the profit from selling one Munchkin. After getting some math on, they came up with the price point for squeezing the most profitability out the sale of Munchkins. Kudos. Well done.

Listen up Dunkin' Donuts- you are hereby on probation. One more incident and you will be banned.

All thumbs

2007-07-10T20:30:00.000-04:00

So I said I would start blogging more...well, I was gearing up to then the other night I sliced my thumb while trying to cut a lime. They really do not make band aids for thumbs. Which is odd because I would bet the type of cut I sustained is pretty common.

I am not sure which sucks more, the large flesh wound on my thumb or the MLB All Star Game Pre-Game show on FOX. I was looking forward to seeing this game, but I have been burned once more by FOX Sports. As I write this both teams are following Willie Mays around the field. It looks like something from Police Squad. I think I just saw Barry Bonds try to hold Willie's hand. "Say hey!!"

Now they have Willie in a pink convertible cruising around the infield. The car has tail fins! God help us all. All I have to say to SF Giants fans is get over yourselves:

"May 11, 1972: Willie Mays was traded by the San Francisco Giants to the New York Mets for Charlie Williams and $50,000."

How do you trade Willie Mays? I do not care if he was dead, you offer him a contract.

OK, it is now 8:51pm and not one pitch has been thrown. I may cut the rest of my thumb off and send it to Rupert Murdoch.

Hear ye, hear ye

2007-07-02T21:31:00.000-04:00

I am back. Did I go anywhere? Nope. Just stopped blogging. I am really going to try to post more often. Scouts honor.

So check back soon for some real hard hitting blog action.

Even cowgirls get the blues

2006-12-03T09:45:00.000-05:00

Driving the other day I was behind a car with a large sticker/sign on the back window that read:

"Cow Girl attitude is not for City Girls"

What does this mean? How "cowgirl" can you be driving in Cambridge?

Radio Flyer

2006-10-20T13:53:00.000-04:00

More on moving preparations:

In addition to trekking over to City Hall, paying the fees (see previous post) and hanging up cardboard signs, I also have to distribute flyers on the cars parked on my street. This is to inform my idiot neighbors that there will be a large truck coming and that they should think about parking elsewhere on that day because they will be blocked in. Not only is our street very narrow, but it is also a dead end.

In the five years I have lived in Boston, I have rarely seen many people pay even the smallest attention to these flyers. Inevitably, the moving truck arrives and they begin loading it up. About half way through, rude-inconsiderate-neighbor-person (RINP) will appear and will tell you in no certain terms that, “I have to get out!” This means that the poor moving guys will have to close up their truck and try to maneuver it so that RINP can get by. This operation can take upwards to thirty minutes. And seeing that I am paying them by the hour, it will end up costing me money. Did I mention I hurt my ankle?

You can’t fight City Hall.

2006-10-20T13:48:00.000-04:00

As we hit the one-week mark until “Operation: move all of our crap,” I was tasked with going to Boston City Hall to obtain a moving permit. No, they do not charge you to move in and out of Boston…wait a minute, yes they do! This permit is for the moving company we hired to block a portion of our street in order to park their truck.

Arriving at 9am this morning and heading up to room 721 I was greeted by, you guessed it, no one. There were several people in the office that appeared to work there, but after many years working for the city, they have learned the fine art of never making eye contact with anyone from the outside world. Finally, at 9:20 a guy shows up (we will call him "Sunshine") with his city-issued Dunkin Donuts coffee and his pissy attitude and grunts, “Who’s first?”

Here is the deal. You go see Sunshine. You must show him that your moving company is bonded with the city. Then you need to give him a check for $8 for two signs. No cash. No credit cards. A check. For $8.

Sunshine does something with his computer and sends you to another office down the hall to get the permit. Mind you, I do not have the signs yet; I have to come back for them. I go to the other office and they want $20 for the permit. They take cash, cards, checks, Best Buy Bucks, whatever. I get some paperwork from these people and then go back to the original starting point. I take a seat.

Sunshine sees me and says (no lie) “You’re back already?”

When I was kid my brother and me used to read MAD magazine. They had this feature that was called “Stupid Answers to Stupid Questions.” My mind raced.

I chickened out. “Ya,” I said, “you told me to come back and get the signs.” Is it just me or do city and state workers always make you feel as though you are 10 years old?

In true bureaucratic fashion, the printer that made the signs was not working, so Sunshine wrote them out by hand. I grabbed them and beat it out of there. On the way out I also twisted my ankle pretty badly. Good times.

Dinner update

2006-10-12T12:06:00.000-04:00

Things have not been too bad during the early going.

*Baked Tilapia with corn and black beans and rice

I bought a big bag of Tilapia fillets at Costco a while ago and it has served us well. You can basically do anything (within the law, of course) with Tilapia. Perfect for grilling as well.

*Bacon and eggs

A no-brainer, but very good.

Create a custom screen saver using Flickr

2006-10-12T11:43:00.000-04:00

Using Flickr (www.flickr.com), search for pictures of whatever you are interested in.

For mine, I wanted cool pics of Tokyo at night. Make sure you search only for pictures that have a Creative Commons license(creativecommons.org). This allows you the right to use the images for non-commercial uses, and to download the high-res images from Flickr. As you find images you like download them into a local folder. Using your OS's preferences, set up your screen saver to run a slide show using that folder. You can also use this to set your desktop image as well.

This may seem time consuming, but if you are looking to see some really cool photos and need to kill an hour at work, this is perfect project.

Are you dead?

2006-10-09T19:20:00.000-04:00

Have you ever been scanning radio stations in the car and hear the same artist being played on several stations at the same time? Do you immediately think that they have died?

Hot-diggity-dog

2006-10-09T19:14:00.000-04:00

Steamed hot dogs with some chips and semi-frozen salsa.

This meal started as a BBQ, as I still have some gas left in my grill bottle. I was going to cook what appeared to be a burger as well, but it was very suspect. By the time I made the descision to nix the mystery meat it was too dark to grill.

We are now out of ketchup.

24

2006-10-05T18:56:00.000-04:00

That is how many days there are until we move. For the next series of postings, I will be describing what we have been eating for dinner. Why, you ask, will I be describing what we are eating for dinner?

We have decided not to go grocery shopping until after we move. It is our goal to use up as much stuff as we can before 29 OCT.

There is no way we have enough food to provide 24 meals, but we will give it a shot. This is not a test of will power as so much it is pure laziness, so there will be the occasional pizza thrown in. It also does not cover items such as milk. So, please join me in this culinary journey where in two weeks I may be using coconut syrup that someone gave us as a side dish.

DAY 1 (5 OCT)
Being the first day, it was not a bad meal overall. Baked chicken with some Stove Top stuffing that may or may not have been opened in the 90's. We "marinated" the chicken with Parmesan peppercorn salad dressing. Why? My wife wanted to get rid of it.

Yum.

Half Baked

2006-09-20T20:36:00.000-04:00

There are five bakeries within walking distance of my front door. These are my neighborhood’s equivalent of crack houses.

I have never been much of a chip-man. And you can keep your greasy food like chicken wings and pizza. I want the combination of butter, sugar, eggs and flour. I pretty much like anything made with these ingredients. The place closest to my house has the best croissants I have ever had. I have never been to Paris, but these are pretty damn good. Looking into that glass case is like looking into heaven. And hell.

“Hello, my name is Rob and I am hooked on baked goods.

I can see the head-baker-guy coming over to me, cleaning a glass with a towel . . .

“OK buddy, you have enough. Why don’t you go home?”
“Come on, one more scone, half a scone. A cookie, for the road.”
“Sorry, but you have to go, I can not serve you any more.”

I would then be reduced to eating a muffin from Dunkin Donuts, the bakery world’s skid row.

While Congress rallies against internet gambling, and states place astronomical taxes on tobacco, bakeries are left unregulated. Free to fill us up with buttery goodness without having to answer anyone.

While this may be a bit sarcastic there has been a lot of talk in the last few years about how fat we Americans are getting. The movie “Super Size Me” showed what can happen to the human body when it is given nothing but garbage to live on. There was even talk of taxing junk food. All I know is that I am moving in a month and I am pretty sure there are no bakeries that close by. Hopefully, I can kick this monkey off my back.

Nickels, nickles, nickles!

2006-09-15T11:12:00.000-04:00

So far I have made $3.49 by readers clicking the ads on this site.

Sweet.

I want my MNF

2006-09-10T20:27:00.000-04:00

Football season is once again upon us and there are a few things to keep in mind this year. I am writing this after seeing the Patriots squeak by the Bills this afternoon. If the Pats do not get some receivers, it is going to be a long season.

Most of the changes this year deal with the TV schedules for Sunday and Monday nights. Monday Night Football (da da da daaa) is now on ESPN and the Sunday night game is on NBC. I am already confused. To make matters worse, some games this year will be on the NFL Network. I am not really sure if I get this channel. Does anyone get this channel? Did they just make this up? This is going to be as bad as when NBC changed from channel 4 to channel 7. This happened about 10 years ago and I still cannot figure it out.

I do like ESPN, but I don’t get it on the TV in my bedroom. A typical MNF game is approximately 18 hours long so, I doubt I will be watching many games past the half. Tomorrow, ESPN will actually have a MNF double-header. My friend sums this up best by saying,

“…If you live on the East Coast and can stay up past 1:30am for the end of Raiders-Chargers, you deserve either to receive a prize or to be locked up.”

The thinking behind all of this is to spread the NFL gospel and to allow some flexibility with the MNF games later in the season. That is fine, I just want to know when things are on. Is that too much to ask?

On a different note:
None of you deadbeats are clicking the ads that appear above these posts. No clicky, no money. These ads are legit, I think. I cannot click on them myself, I promised Google and if I make them mad they will make me disappear. They can easily delete any trace of me.

Good luck and good luck.

2006-09-06T20:01:00.000-04:00

Tuesday marked the first night in which Katie Couric hosted the CBS Evening News. It also marked the first time in which a woman was the lead anchor for a network newscast. According to the Associated Press, the ratings were very good:

"The ratings for her initial broadcast Tuesday were 86 percent above what CBS averaged on the same day last year, according to a preliminary measurement of the nation's 55 biggest markets by Nielsen Media Research"

Of course, this was for show #1. Time will tell how well Ms. Couric will do in the coming months. The reviews were mixed on her debut. I missed the whole thing because I was out doing my fantasy football draft (more on that later.)

I think that ABC, CBS, and NBC are back in the Stone Age with their nightly, thirty-minute newscasts, and many times they are simply used as teasers for shows like "48 Hours" that can devote two hours to a single story. These guys can not be blind to the fact that 24-hour news channels and the internet have hurt ratings for the old-boy network of the nightly news. There are simply so many news outlets now that it is very hard to draw in new viewers. I believe that within ten years, the 6:30 news will go the way of the dinosaur.

The true test for Katie Couric will be during her first "major" story as anchor. Dan Rather was always my go-to guy for breaking news such as the events of 9/11. Will the country put Couric's last 15 years of morning cooking tips and "perkiness" behind and trust her to inform them? Time will tell, but she'd better hurry up, TV and the web are becoming more and more integrated, and she may soon find herself up against hundreds of other nightly newscasts instead of just two. **Cheap shot warning** Well, if ratings get too bad, she could always let the camera up her butt again.... **I told you it was a cheap shot!**

Steve Irwin, we hardly knew ye

2006-09-05T15:13:00.000-04:00

So the interweb is abuzz with the news that Australian "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin died after being stung by a Sting Ray over the weekend. I am sorry for his family, but this is not all that shocking to me.

I have watched a handful of his cable TV shows over the years and he was very passionate about animals and nature. But he also screwed around with it. Can't you enjoy animals and work to protect the environment without having to play with deadly snakes and wrestle with grizzle bears? That was his schtick. That is how he made a living. That is what killed him.

I also see online that there is video footage of him actually being stung and dying. Do yourself a favor, do not watch this and discourage anyone you know from watching this. Watching a man die is not entertainment and the sites hosting this should be ashamed of themselves.

Steve Irwin was a colorful character that may have taken things a bit too far to get people to hear his message of protecting animals and the enviroment.

NetFlix, the second shooter?

2006-08-30T19:45:00.000-04:00

One of the more intelligent people I know recently tried to persuade me that NetFlix flags its so-called “heavy users” and adjusts their shipment times to slow down the number of movies they can rent each month. The plan in question offers “Unlimited rentals - up to 8 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $47.99.” The answer to this debate lies somewhere in the words “unlimited” and “up to.” Shouldn’t unlimited mean "having no limit?” How can you say unlimited and then set a limit? Semantics? Conspiracy?

As a full-fledged conspiracy theorist I still have a hard time believing that NetFlix somehow generates billions of dollars in revenue by “sticking it to” the handful of users who actually have the time to watch 100 movies a month. I am terrible at math, but out there in internet-land someone must have figured out the maximum number of movies one can rent in a 30-day period. This calls for complicated factoring and algorithms to account for pick-up and drop-off times with the Post Office, Sundays, holidays, and shipment times to and from the nearest NetFlix distribution center.

Then the number of hours required to actually watch all of these movies must be calculated. If you have 8 movies, around 2 hours per movie, that is 16 hours that you must devote to watching TV. That does even not factor in the bonus features that are included on most DVDs. Now, let’s get some math on:

There are 720 hours in 30 days, if you have 8 movies a day for 30 days that comes out to….carry the 3…480 hours (20 days) of TV.

That equates to about 67% of the month (actually .666666%, spooky)

If someone has 20 days free a month to do nothing but watch movies, then NetFlix should cut them off. They would be doing them a favor. Maybe go out for a walk, get some fresh air. Go to a movie.

Netflix has become a target because they are tremendously successful, widely used, and somewhat secretive about their company’s practices. (Full disclosure) I use NetFlix and find it very convenient. I can understand how people could think that NetFlix would manipulate shipping times to maximize profits. But the effort and man-power it would take to figure out which orders to hold back out of the millions of envelopes flying around would no doubt negate any savings in postage the company might see.

Later today I will be swinging by MIT to see if I can get someone to help me figure out if my gym membership is losing me money. I am pretty sure it is.

NOTE- Now that I am an blog-whore, I wonder if the ad above this post will now be for Netflix. If it is, click on it and Netflix will pay Google and Google will pay me, and you can get back at NetFlix for holding back the 4th disc for season 3 of "The West Wing" that you have been waiting on.

Shameless

2006-08-27T16:24:00.000-04:00

I just signed up for some program that will pay me for posting ads on this blog. If I clean and store all of my cans and bottles to get the deposits back, why not try and make a buck online as well?

Uhell

2006-08-25T13:59:00.000-04:00

The reason I am selling things is that I am getting ready to move. Moving sucks, there is no possible way to sugar coat it. Such is life. My company is also moving to a new office within the next couple of weeks and I had to over to UHaul with a coworker to get some boxes. I decided that no matter what, this time, I will hire professional movers.

UHaul is the worst run company that I have ever seen. I have been to many different locations and it is the same deal every time. They always crew up the reservation. You almost are surprised when they actually hand you a set of keys.

"Do you mean these actually are for a truck that is physically present? In this country?"

Most of the action goes down on Saturday mornings. Most people moving have a very limited window that they can actually move items from one location to another. You would think that Uhaul would know this, considering they have been in the moving business for quite some time. So Saturday morning, at 6:55am there is a line of people eager to get going.

Then the disgruntled employees show up, see the line and take their sweet time opening up and getting ready. They usually look the door behind them so you have like five dads and their college freshman kids peering in the window like a toy store at Christmas. Once they decide to open the door it is a scene reminiscent of the 1979 Who concert in Cincinnati.

Then there are the extras. You need some boxes, they cost extra. Packing tape, extra. A steering wheel for the truck, extra. I am not blaming them for trying to make a buck, but there are fees on top of fees. By the time you get your truck and your supplies you have no money left for electricity at your new place.

Although I have personally never rented a truck from Uhaul, I have been there several times while helping my friends move. It has to be one of the most depressing places on the planet. It's like a refugee camp. A bunch of homeless people dragging their possessions around from place to place. Soon thousands of students will begin the trek to Boston and they will all need vans and trucks. Uhaul will make piles of cash while their customers get grey hair and ulcers.

Auction Hero

2006-08-25T13:28:00.000-04:00

Why does selling things on craigslist always seem so shady? When you sell items on ebay, you take the anonymity of it for granted. You send email back and forth, ebay plays moderator, telling you when and where to ship the item. Everyone polices themselves with feedback. Granted, the fees ebay charges can be a little much and the number of items for sale is astronomical, but overall it is a great system.

But you want to save a couple of bucks and you use craigslist. Craigslist works in theory because it is local. If you have larger items that would be impossible to mail, you can still find a buyer. The problem is that when you sell on craigslist, you usually have to actually meet people. This is where it gets weird.

These meetings usually take place in public places such as parks or near subway stations. I once sold an old printer to a guy and had to meet him in the parking lot of the Hilltop Steakhouse in Braintree. As I waited there in my car, I could not help but feel that I was doing something illegal. Now granted, this particular deal went down at 10am on a Sunday morning, but it still seemed wrong. The other thought that went through my head was if this was worth the effort for $50?

I think that from here on in I will stick with ebay, or just ship everything. So what if it hurts my bottom line? I am selling crap from my basement, not trying to start a company.

There is just something inherently wrong with a business transaction that requires either party to describe their appearance so as to find one another in a crowd.

"I will be wearing a blue coat... carrying a red backpack... and I have a wooden leg... "

*Oh yeah, and the guy who bought my printer paid me $50 in one dollar bills

Must be Monday.

2006-07-17T09:55:00.000-04:00

It has been over a month since my last post. I really have not been that busy, I just have had nothing to really talk about. Maybe I am buying into the media hype, but lately I do not have a good feeling about things. Everyone in the world has gone completely nuts. The war in Iraq, North Korea, Iran, Israel, global warming, and terrorists…what is next? locusts?

Having a very young daughter, I think about moving away from Massachusetts, and from the U.S. altogether. I would like to go somewhere where things move a little slower and people are not so completely angry and miserable. Maybe a small farm in the Netherlands or a studio apartment in Stockholm. Just to put things in perspective, to put my family and myself first. I am not saying other places do not have their share of problems, but I have been becoming disenchanted with America for some time now.

I honestly believe that America is the greatest country in the world, but we are totally blowing it. With all of our wealth and our vast resources we could be so much better. Imagine taking the billions of dollars we have spent on the war in Iraq and investing it the nation’s schools? The cost for one month in Iraq could completely pay for the rebuilding of New Orleans. The money Washington has wasted could have paid for the beginnings of a universal health care system. The list is endless.

There is no perfect place in the world, there will always be disease, poverty and crime, but something has been wired into us in this country. We are losing our souls. Envy, greed, gluttony…those are words that can be used to describe us. It may be too late for me, but I really do not want to raise my daughter in a country that just does not seem to care about itself anymore.

Hat Trick

2006-06-06T19:56:00.000-04:00

I just received a letter from Hotels.com saying that a laptop was stolen and my personal "may" have been on said laptop.

I mentioned before that the VA lost my information as well and a few months ago The Boston Globe decided that in lieu of any real news stories, they would just print customer's credit card numbers and send them out with the paper. The Globe did issue an apology, but they blamed it all on the Republicans.

Here's the rub, I have been out of the Army for almost 15 years. I only used Hotels.com once and I only get the Globe on Sunday. I am going to start demanding better comps from these companies for losing my info. So far all I keep getting are passwords to get free credit reports which need a UN interpreter to understand.

I should be entitled to several free hotel stays, free papers for a year and an M1A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle. An Abram's Tank just would not fit in my parking space.

Are you kidding me?

2006-05-23T14:16:00.000-04:00

As a Veteran, I get no real benefits other than a free funeral. But I am proud of having served and respect those who do so as well. It now seems that the personal data of over 20 million vets has been stolen from the Veteran's Administration (VA).

"The computer disk contained the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of every living veteran from 1975 to the present, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said Monday." CNN.com

Super. Thanks. Fantastic.

If you read the story, you will learn that some meatball brought home a laptop filled with personnel records and then the laptop was stolen from his home in Maryland. You will also learn that the VA kept this quiet for 19 days in hopes of recovering the stolen data before the thief realized what was on the computer.

I am stunned. There are not enough swears that I can rain down upon this man, and VA that could describe how I am feeling. Those who know me, know I can swear with the best of them, but this is beyond comprehension! When will the government see that it is time for a national ID system and to retire the social security number that has been used for all of the wrong reasons since its inception.

You know what? Screw it. Send me back to Iraq. At least then I will be able to shoot back at the bad guys instead of having them lurking, undetected in cyberspace taking out loans and getting credit cards in my name.

And for the REMF who took home this computer... he should have to direct traffic in Baghdad wearing a George Bush costume while holding a caricature of Mohammed drawn by a guy at Six Flags.

Patsy

2006-05-22T14:37:00.000-04:00

What exactly crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11? The Department of Defense has released video of the "crash" and there does not appear to be a large, commercial aircraft anywhere present at the time of the explosion. I love a good conspiracy, but this one boggles my mind. I have to do some more research, but why in the world would the government cover up a missile attack on American soil?

In true Orwellian fashion, many believe that security camera video released is missing frames. Watching it, you can see a "jump" in the film that screams "conspiracy!" But the bigger question is how only one camera was able to pick up this event. Isn't the Pentagon supposed to be one of the most secure places in the world? My local 7-11 has at lease 4 CTV cameras that I can see. Are they trying to tell us that and entire side of the PENTAGON is covered by one lone camera that is in a parking lot? Get Oliver Stone on the line.

There is a cool clip that someone made that raises some pretty good points about the events at the Pentagon on 9/11. You can see their Flash movie here:

www.freedomunderground.org/memoryhole/pentagon.php

I will be revisiting this subject at a later date when I get some more info. Unless of course, I am arrested at a movie theater in Dallas and subsequently shot in the Police Department's parking garage by a small-time crook and nightclub owner with connections to the Mafia while surrounded by police.

Video Killed the...Buffering 10%

2006-05-19T15:21:00.000-04:00

The Internet is video crazy these days. The problem is that it takes way too long to watch anything. YouTube is getting like a zillion hits a day (that's zillion, with a "z"), but if it takes me 20 minutes to watch a clip of "The Family Guy" singing "Shipoopi" I am going to have to give up.

I have a T1 here at work and DSL at home and yet even the smallest of videos creates a log jam. I have not even tried checking out ABC or CBS's new video content. It takes 15 minutes to watch a 3 minute SNL skit online, can you imagine trying watch an hour long episode of CSI, with commercials? Forget it. I would rather work. Or do taxes. Or do taxes in the car on the way to the dentist. Basically the point is, it's not fun.

As a coworker said to me the other day, "I hate buffering." Buffering is the lamest thing on the web. What the hell is it doing? Why is it taking so long to get to 100%. One hundred percent of what? 100% pain in the butt.

Everyone wants to stream the videos to you. God forbid they should just zip it up so you can download it. No way. That is piracy and arrrrrr matey, piracy is illegal don't cha know? And if you do it, they will tie your scurvy-dog neck up the yard arm.

The internet needs to be as easy as cable TV. Plug a device into the wall and you get your content. Immediately. No settings, no IP addresses and no buffering!! Just 24 hours of mind numbing entertainment. Mmmmm, TV.

The Walking Dude

2006-05-18T10:11:00.000-04:00

I am reading Stephen King's "Cell" about civilization being wiped out by some kind of subliminal message sent via cell phones. Is it me or is King simply writing the same book over and over again? People stuck in New England, bad dreams that become real, lame references to the Red Sox and pop culture. Yawn. This story actually reminds me of a great book called "Virus" that is pretty much the comedic version of "Cell."

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0972372415/qid=1147961618/sr=1-13/ref=sr_1_13/104-1159834-0164737?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

If you are not watching LOST, you are wrong. Probably the best show on TV these days. Unless you like this season of the Soprano's, AKA "Queer as Mob Folk." Pauly Walnuts is still the major draw and should have a spinoff when The Sopranos ends. I am thinking sitcom, with a laugh track and some zany neighbors. It could be a huge hit. Pauly gets in a jam at the supermarket and whacks the deli guy. Gold.

It has been raining for 40 days and nights. It sucks.

You can't look cool...

2006-04-27T12:40:00.000-04:00

Here is a partial list I have been working on. Most of these are geared toward men, but I would imagine some could cross over to women as well.

I am not saying you should not do any of the things on the list, just that please do not expect to convey coolness to others while taking part in such activities.

You can't look cool:

Eating cotton candy

Sitting three across in the front of a pickup truck (Gender of passengers does not matter!!)

Carrying any large case containing a brass, wind instrument such as a trombone

In the lingerie department of any store

Ordering any alcoholic drink that has whipped cream

Buying wrapping paper

Reading Redbook

Waiting for anyone outside a public restroom (male or female)

Having a Blog

This guy is nuts

2006-04-20T20:58:00.000-04:00

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is one scary dude. Is anyone paying attention to what he is saying and doing?

Big Brother is Watching.

2006-04-14T14:41:00.000-04:00

Look busy…

Your privacy is going away so you might as well deal with it. Me, I have no problem whatsoever with the Government tracking my movements or companies watching what I purchase. Who cares? If someone somewhere wants to actually sit down and monitor what I am up to, then I say, “Have a blast.”

I have a FastLane pass on my car for paying tolls. I use my ATM card for everything possible. I have a RFID key fob for buying gas and I buy as much stuff as I can online. I am an open book. If the powers-that-be really did sit down and analyze the “digital fingerprints” I leave around, they should be able to paint a very accurate picture of my life. And it would bore them to tears.

SETTING: A secret, underground, government bunker. In a vast “war room” hundreds of uniformed men busily work on computers. In the center, a large round desk where several military officials and undercover CIA operatives look at a briefing:

“It shows here that on Saturday afternoon he withdrew $100. That same Saturday, at 3am he used his credit card to buy $30 worth of Chinese food.”

“If you look at page seven, you will see that he bought several items at CVS, including some shampoo, a package of razors and some half-off Easter candy.”

“All intelligence indicates that I this could be a terrorist sleeper-cell.”

This type of information gathering is a joke. Why do I care if FastLane knows if I went through the Allston/Brighton tools at 5:15pm on day and at 4:45 the next? Why do I care if Star Market keeps a record of me buying a frozen chicken potpie and some Cheerios? Why should anyone care? I admit that medical and financial information should remain private, and that identity theft is real. But I am not so sure that tracking our everyday electronic transactions really is, in fact, giving up some of our privacy.

Try to imagine living “off the grid.” Try to provide yourself with food, clothing and shelter without opening any kind of account. How do you get a lease/mortgage? How do turn your water on? It would be impossible to be an active member of society. You could go live in the woods, cut off from the outside world, but what does that prove?

Once you accept the fact that you cannot really hide, the question becomes what people are doing with all of your information? I honestly do not think the government or corporations have the time and resources to data-mine down to individuals. No yet anyway.

Do they keep all of this data for some master Orwellian plan? Is it simply that they cannot throw anything away? Is your information being used to protect you from fraud? If so, who is watching the watchers? The Bush administration has been defending illegal wiretaps and using our vast intelligence gathering capabilities on American’s own citizens. I am on the fence on this one. It is time we woke up and realized that the enemy does not have a uniformed army with tanks and planes that we can spy and keep tabs on. We need to change. I am not sure how, but I am pretty sure that keeping a record of your video rentals does not matter in the grand scheme of things.

Hell Phones

2006-04-10T15:09:00.000-04:00

"...Cellular phones soundin' a death tone/Corporations cold turn ya to stone before ya realize"
"Bullet in the Head" by Rage Against the Machine

I like having a cell phone. I find it very useful and convenient, but trying to get a new one without signing your life away is a huge hassle. I have T-Mobile cell service. Although Catherine Zeta Jones has never once stopped by to help me out, I have no problem with the area coverage or monthly costs. Recently however, I wanted to get new phones for me and my wife, ours were falling apart. T-Mobile wanted me to sign away my life and only offered me a junky phone that looked like it would last all of one phone call before crapping out.

Many people in this situation opt to switch carriers and get free phone when signing up. I really did not want to go down that road. I hate talking to cell phone people, which may or may not be ironic, I have to check. I decided to cut the cell companies out and blaze my own trail.

Ebay lists about 40 spagillion cell phones for cell at any given minute of the day. That is a lot. Most of these phones are "unlocked" which means that you can technically use them with any network. Our current phones have a little card installed in them called a SIM card. The card not only stores your phone book numbers, but it allows your network to recognize the phone. If you buy an unlocked phone you usually can just take your card and put it in the new phone and you are good to go. Your cell company will not know the difference and you will not have to re-up your plan for another 100 years. Unlocked phones on ebay are not super cheap, but you can get models that your particular cell company does not carry. Some networks use a different type of technology and do not have SIM cards.

Locked phones are a different story. Cell companies can "lock" a phone to an individual's SIM card, rendering the phone useless to anyone else. My sister-in-law gave me a Cingular phone she had and it would not work with my SIM card. After about thirty minutes with Google, I was able to find the unlock code and directions for getting the phone to work. So now I have a newer phone with a Cingular logo on it that says "Welcome to T-Mobile" on the screen. This is called tech-white trash.

So the next time you want a new phone and do not feel like singing a new contract, check out ebay or craigslist. You can find many phone models and most will work straight out of the box. If you get a locked phone, a little research online usually will fix the problem.

Things

2006-04-06T09:29:00.000-04:00

Some things that you may or may not know. Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves.

1) The population of Italy is 58,103,033
2) The human body produces its own supply of alcohol naturally on a continuous basis, 24 hours a day, seven days a week
3) It's against the law to pawn your dentures in Las Vegas
4) The billionth digit of pi is 9
5) The airplane Buddy Holly died in was named "American Pie"
6) In 1659, it was illegal to celebrate Christmas in Massachusetts
7) The Nobel Peace Prize medal depicts 3 naked men with their hands on each others shoulders
8) The glue on Israeli stamps is certified kosher
9) The U.S. eastern seaboard consumes almost 50% of all ice cream sandwiches.
10) The U.S. Government spent $277,000 on pickle research in 1993
11) I could not come with anything better than this today.

Are you sirius?!

2006-04-03T09:18:00.000-04:00

I just read that Howard Stern is mad because only 4 million of his fans have followed him to Satellite radio. Did he really expect the 120 million people who listened to him each morning to pay $12.95 a month to listen to the radio? I liked the show, but I never once thought about getting satellite radio.

The argument now that satellite radio is in its infancy and just as with cable TV, it will become the norm. I think that at this point it should be compared with HBO. Basic cable is a must-have, but HBO is an added expensive that I am alright with paying for. The shows that HBO puts out are great and not just because they can swear, they are well written and acted. Even if you did not want to pay the extra money for HBO, you can rent the shows at the video store or by Netflix. The Stern show is topical. It is daily. It only works because he can comment on events as they happen. If you can not get his content when it is fresh, why would you want it?

Stern's show also worked because it was free and pushed the boundaries of what was allowed on the air. The way in which he conducted NC17 conversations without actually using offensive language was clever and took imagination and creativity. I do not blame him for taking all of the money that Sirius offered him, but if he thought this move was going to instantaneously change the face of radio, he my have believed his own hype.

I do miss hearing his social commentaries on politics, entertainment, and celebrities, but I really do not think that his satellite show will ever live up to his past work.

"This is one from the new album"

2006-03-30T11:59:00.000-05:00

People at concerts all over the world shutter at those words. I enjoy seeing live music, but sometimes you have to wonder what the artist(s) are thinking. With more and more "retrospect" and "comeback" tours in circulation you are able to catch performers that you had all but forgotten about. Just recently, I took a time machine back to my High School days and saw the triple bill of Iron Maiden, Motorhead and Dio. Dio had no right to be there, but what can you do? Iron Maiden has always one of my favorite bands. Granted, they are a lot older now and all of the stage props don't look as cool as they once did, but they played most of the songs I wanted to hear and musically they were on top of their game.

But what happens when you go to hear the hits and you get a mix of new stuff and songs that sound like Spinal Tap's "Jazz Odyssey?"

Hearing some "new" songs live can sometimes change your mind. I was not a big fan of U2's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" until I heard them play some of these songs in concert. Usually though, when the band launches into the new stuff people make for the bathroom or take a seat. New songs during a concert become like commercials. You know they have to promote the new album so you tolerate it.

I remember seeing The Black Crows at UNH and they did not play any of their hit songs. It was a good show. I will give them credit for having the stones to do that, but just because they did not want to play "Hard to Handle" for the 10,000th time does not mean I did not want to hear it.

On the flip side, my wife recalls a show with Buster Pointdexter (he does not get a free pass just because he was in the New York Dolls, I'm sorry) in which he played "Hot, Hot, Hot" like ten times and then left.

You just have to pick your spots with the set list and know your crowd. If you are playing an outdoor venue and it is a Saturday night, please just stick with the ones everyone knows. Save the new stuff and rare covers for a smaller, more intimate setting.

As a member of the audience, you do not even realize when a set list works. You are simply captured by the songs and allow yourself to be lead by the performer. You may not know all of the words or even like the new songs, but maybe you will hear the one you want during the encore.

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

2006-03-26T09:55:00.000-05:00

A very important date is right around the corner.

April 11th, is my my mom's birthday, and to celebrate, the Red Sox have decided to have their Home Opener that day. Baseball's Opening Day is the actually April 4th, but the season really does not begin, in my mind, until the Sox play at home.

I am not a romantic when it comes to baseball, I do not hold the game sacred and I do not despise the Designated Hitter. I just like it. It has not been easy. Over the years, as a Red Sox fan, I have been angry, miserable, joyous, physically sick, shocked, and elated beyond belief. And that was just during the 2004 Playoffs!

There are many reasons to dislike the game. It is slow, the season is too long, the difference between the good teams and the bad, free agency, the Players Union, Barry Bonds, The All Star Game, the cost to see a game (both live and on TV), Bud Selig, steroids, The Yankees, but at its core, it is just a game that I enjoy watching. I may not pay really close attention all of the time and I forget stats and names all of the time, but so what? I am fan.

I usually take the Opening Day off from work even though I never have tickets to the actual game. So I will call my mom in the morning, wish her a happy birthday and start my Summer off in style. By sitting in a bar watching TV. Play Ball!!

iAddiction

2006-03-24T10:55:00.000-05:00

My iPod broke the other day and I am entering withdrawal. I did not realize that I depended on it so much, but I feel lost with out it. It was 2gen 20gig click wheel and it has served me well for the last 4 years. Compared to the NANO, it is like a brick. It freezes all of the time, it lists all of my albums twice and likes to skip the first song of every record I play, but hey it is an Apple product. It does not have work perfectly as long as it is looks cool.

The other night it stopped playing and displayed all sorts of bad icons that the Apple site says you should never see unless there is a nuclear war. What bothers me is that it is going to probably cost me more to have it fixed than if I just by a new one. This has always been the case with consumer electronics. Apple told me that if it had any "visible dents" on it that they would not even look at it. Well, mine is dented like a '73 Dodge Dart so I had to send it to a place I found on the web called "The iPodMechanic."

I have had enough experience trying to get things fixed that the news is almost always bad. Have you ever gotten away from the auto shop for under $500?

The verdict is a bad hard drive. It will cost me $129.97 for a new one. Now I have to decide if $250 is better for only 4GB, but get the Nano or get the 30GB for $300.

I am going to take the weekend and decide what to do. Would I be shallow if I compared this situation to "Sophie's Choice?"

Ya, I thought so.

I see nothing

2006-03-23T13:14:00.000-05:00

I hope not to simply write about my commute to work everyday, but I take public transportation and it is a constant source of humor, anger, and head-shaking disbelief.

There are many blogs dedicated to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA or the "T" for short) and all of it's short-comings. This hopefully will not be one of them, but this week started off with a new initiative from the MBTA.

I take a bus and then the subway to get to work. This affords me the full experience of mass transit every single day. The sights, the sounds and the smells. I can honestly say that it is not that bad when it works, but when things are screwed up, say when the temperature varies by 1 or 2 degrees in either direction, it is horrible. And just when you thought "America's first Subway" could not get any worse, along come the terrorists.

The MBTA, acting quickly from the events of 9-11, started a new campaign this week to help combat terrorism. This campaign consists of handing out "If you see something, say something" pamphlets that basically say, "You find the bad guys, because we can't." I feel that I have been deputized and asked to thwart terrorism. Here is some further information directly from the T:

"...you may witness something suspicious, such as a passenger behaving oddly."

Describe "oddly."

They also ask you to be on the look out for:

"suspicious clouds, mists, gases, vapors, odors or seeping fluid."

I am pretty sure I have seen all of these things on more than one occasion while riding the subway. So now instead of reading the Metro, I must pull watch over my fellow riders. If that is the case I am turning everyone in. People eating McDonalds, taking up 2 seats, wearing a backpack in a crowded train. They are all getting reported. It may not be terrorism, but these offenses are certainly crimes against humanity. Or I could just mind my own business and go on my way.

If a blog falls in the forest, does anyone care?

2006-03-23T12:50:00.000-05:00

If you read enough blogs you start to realize that most people are pretty self-absorbed jerks who blather on and on simply to listen to their own keystrokes. But who am I to judge? Of course it has taken me this long to actually type something, so by the time I get going on this, the blog fad will be over and I will have to do something else while at work. So here it is, in all its glory, my blog.

Please be patient as I get some content posted. It shouldn't take too long as weird shit and bad things happen to me on a daily basis.

This is a Test

2006-03-23T12:35:00.000-05:00

This is a test of the Emergency Blog Network.

If this was a real emergency, this message would be followed by stupid observations and trivial banter.