-
-
Search
Archives for July 2001
Excellent Indeed
Just returned from NYC. I was there for Erin’s high school debate reunion. So many people are east coast that they had it in NYC instead of Kansas.
Erin and I stayed with Phil in Astoria in Queens. His roommate amuses me. Very fast and sharp guy.
While we were there we saw Adam Hartman. The four of us went to The Excellent Dumpling House. I’ve always wanted to share that with Erin. Needless to say, she thought it rocked.
I had my yearly recommended allowance of smoked fish on a bagel on Saturday morning. They put a freakin’ inch thick piece of Nova on it.
I also saw three giant steel spiders by Louise Bourgeois in Rockefeller Center. Very cool. I want one in my apartment, although Erin might veto the idea. I can just imagine Basie and Charlie climbing on it.
What A Coincidence
Has anyone else noticed that The Simpsons has never really taken a stab at Scientology? Today I found out why. Nancy Cartwright (Bart Simpson’s voice) is a Scientologist. Who knew?
A National Crisis
An e-mail from Phil, who is now writing financial news for Reuters:
“Chuck E. Cheese shares are plumetting. The stock is losing 15 points, or 32 percent.”
www.rapistfinder.gov
It seems that you can log right onto the Metro Police website and find out how many convicted sex-offenders live in your neighborhood.
Could someone please explain to me why they don’t have an online registry of convicted murderers?
Gopher Hunter
I went to a shady small-arms range in Virginia with Erin, Tadd, and Gary last week. The place was–and I am not making this up–under a Chinese restaurant. I was amused to discover gopher targets. What will they think of next?
Erin and I met with the DJ for our wedding on Monday. We had to truck out to BWI, and it was a pain in the ass, but at least I’m not worried anymore. I’m pretty confident the company we’re hiring is capable of steering clear of cheese (Chicken Dance, Electrtic Slide, etc.)
Wise words from CJ: “Making coffee is like cooking with dirt.”
You Better Tell the Folks at Shure
“That guy’s not gay. Everyone on NPR sounds like they’re gay. It has something to do with the microphones they use.”
Thus spake the C.J. Hellwig
In other news, I just received email notice that Homeruns.com is ceasing all grocery delivery operations effective today.
This is going to suck. I hate grocery shopping.
F*&% Ballard
Downloaded The Lillywhite Sessions by The Dave Matthews Band with the Bear. It blows Everyday out of the water. They made a big mistake ditching Steve Lillywhite. There’s been quite a bit of talk as of late about how musicians need to evolve to stay fresh. I agree, but Everyday just made The Dave Matthews Band more conventional and ordinary.
Hopefully the label will actually release the album so the band can make a red cent on it.
Useless
Looks like we might be obsolete.
Tough break.
It Shall Be Mine
Mickey Kaus in the NY Times:
“The Aeron chair was the symbol of the dot-com boom, and now that it’s bust I hear you can get the chairs at fire-sale prices.”
I still lust for for an Aeron. Where can I get one cheap?
Yeah I Do My Little Turn on the Catwalk
So Erin and I thought it would be fun to buy a leash for Basie and take him for a walk.
Basie, however, was apprehensive. We took him in the yard between our apartment building and the one next door. He proceeded to crawl through very narrow bars on a ground level window on our building. We were stuck, holding the leash while he was inside a crawlspace. Basie, being the stubborn cat he is, refused to budge. I eventually had to squirm through the crawlspace to get him to come back out through the bars
We will train him to walk on that leash. Whether he likes it or not, we have dog-walking envy and our yuppie Dupont-area-couple need will be satiated
I also installed DoSomething, a plugin for Winamp that uploads a file to my web server with info on what I’m listening to at any given moment. I put an include call to that file in my navigation bar include. Voila! You can now see what I’m listening to at any moment. The only problem is that it only supports ID3v1 so there’s a short character limit on field length. As a result some names of artists and songs will get truncated. Don’t worry though, I’m sure enough people will complain to the developer that he’ll be forced to fix this in a future release.
It’s amazing how you can provide a free product and people will still complain about inadequacies
At least it’s not a webcam.
Are You Talking To Me?
Bernhard Goetz is running for mayor of NYC. His platform, according to the National Post: “Give the power and salary of his office to Mr. Giuliani — who cannot run again because of term limits — so he can keep running the city; ensure schools, hospitals and jails offer vegetarian meals; show tolerance in drug cases and be harder on street crime.”
Little Surfer Girl
I love the 4th of July. It’s very cool that we celebrate the founding of our nation by holding flaming sticks of magnesium.
I hired Iconfactory to do some icon design for a client site. They do great work.
Saw a Brian Wilson tribute on TV tonight. It was your typical indulgent all-star television tribute. It occurred to me that Paul Simon, like Bruce Springsteen, is a dish best served alone on stage with an acoustic.
Looks like [National Propaganda Radio][1] redesigned their web site. I think I like the new look. They hired [a user experience consulting firm][2] and it does, in fact, seems quite a bit easier to navigate. It also seems like they’re finally taking steps to let their listeners know when content will be available after programs first air. [1]: http://www.npr.org/ [2]: http://www.adaptivepath.com/
Not Another One
First John Lee Hooker, now Chet Atkins?
I remember the first time I heard “Yankee Doodle Dixie.” I was completely blown away. I think I wore out the tape it was on in my car during high school. I forced all my guitar friends to listen to it.
And now I feel like a schmuck because I never saw him live.
Joe Pass all over again. I suck. I need to make a priority of seeing these old cats before they die.
What a Disappointment
Saw A.I. last night with a few friends at the Uptown. If and when you decide to see it, walk out of the theater at the precise moment when David (Haley Joel Osment) jumps off the building into the ocean. Trust me on this. I won’t spoil the ending because I’ve forced myself to repress it.
I’m really hoping someone pulls a “Phantom Edit” with this film.
I’m going to write a letter to NBC. I’m going to threaten a buycott unless they agree to pay Maria Shriver enough money to adequately feed herself.
