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w3.31.2003 |
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So, it is really that surprising that the Segway Human Transporter has not been selling very well? I'm not surprised and there's a few reasons why I won't get one:
a) uh, $5,000
b) I spend six months with snow on the ground
c) I'm afraid I'll run over someone who is walking and get sued
It's snowing in Boston, we're at war, our economy sucks and Bush is a monkey-faced moron......but it's Opening Day for Major League Baseball! Whoo! The Red Sox open thier season in Tampa Bay, and I'm so ready for another year of the home-town team tantalizing us with a fantastic start, only to collapse in September, which is as regular an occurence as a Joan Rivers face-stretching.
I stole this directly from my old friend Jilly, but the Lisa Marie Presley interview in the most recent Rolling Stone is a pretty entertaining read. I'd love to meet her, but I'd probably end up staying 50 feet away from her at all times.
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w3.28.2003 |
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There is a difference between one's favorite band and one's favorite singers. For example, the late Freddie Mercury of Queen has one of the finest singing voices any rock act has ever produced. Yet for whatever reason, Queen is certainly not my favorite band, nor would they be listed in my top 20 bands, for that matter. That being said, A Day At The Races is one hell of a great album. So yeah, I have a great appreciation for Queen, but in the big picture, a dominating, terrific singing voice doesn't make the band - and I won't even go into Mercury's choice in clothing. Atrocious. Funny, but atrocious. Have you ever seen the video for "Bohemian Rhapsody," which features Mercury sitting at the piano in one of those grainy '70s live-concert video-type deals? He's sitting there, playing this strikingly pretty piano part and singing like he usually does, but he's wearing a black and yellow leotard or something. Yikes. But enough about Queen. I've exhausted my verbosity here today, and then some, about that band.
So let it be said here that there is a band out there where the voice and the band rank extremely high on my list - that band is The Jayhawks and the singer is Gary Louris. It is very rare that a band can produce six straight albums of incredible material, but they did it, encountering all kinds of obstacles along the way - a car accident that nearly cut down Louris, the departure of the great Mark Olsen (who wrote and sang half of the band's songs before 1995), the merry-go-round of band members - all these are the sum and substance of a band that always seems to be "on the verge." Yet, beyond all those issues, this band just continues to release inventive, terrific albums, featuring Louris, whom I believe to be one of the best singers on the entire planet. Not to forget a band that is so solid and can be so graceful at one point and so beautifully messy at other points. So I'm pretty excited that their new album, Rainy Day Music, is just a few weeks away from my stereo now. I'm also equally excited that I have tickets to see them in Brooklyn on April 10, with Tim Easton opening - a nice bonus......
Song now playing: The Pretenders - "Middle of the Road"
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w3.26.2003 |
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Okay, I give up. I cannot tell the difference between Vanessa Carlton and Michelle Branch.
Song now playing: Dio - "The Last In Line"
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w3.25.2003 |
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It only took 6 days and I am already exhausted by the coverage that this war is getting on television. Have you noticed that every damn media outlet have a "military advisor" on hand to answer all kinds of ridiculous questions posed by the robots who bring us the news on a nightly basis? Even radio stations have military advisors now! Come on! So I asked this very question to Stephanie this morning after I heard a radio station's military advisor speaking - "why does everyone have a military advisor?" Her response: "I don't have one." She's sharp, that girl.
However, that led me to thinking - what if I did have my own military advisor? That would actually be kind of cool, don't you think? In the morning, during breakfast, he could translate all the war news for me, then during work, he might be able to shed some light on a particular way to re-think a business deal or a client issue - one that would make more military sense. At night, he could clear the way in the nightclubs so that six-foot-eight person that ALWAYS stands in front of me will think twice after my personal military advisor puts a boot in his ass - and I'll have a clear view of the band. My very own personal ass-kicker!
This led me to further wonder - does Iraqi TV have military advisors? Just picture that - they're standing there with the big map behind them and they're using the telestrator to draw dumb lines all over the place and a bunch of arrows all point to Baghdad, then they say "right about here is about where we expect to get our asses handed to us in a bad, bad way. We are terribly disoragnized, look at this path from the Tigres to......." Blah blah blah.
Here's the review of the tremendous Soundtrack Of Our Lives show from Sunday night. I'm still reeling from that one.
Song now playing: The Clash - "Rudie Can't Fail"
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w3.24.2003 |
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Last night I skipped the Oscars to go see The Soundtrack Of Our Lives. Good move on my part. What resulted was one of the best rock shows I've seen - perhaps ever. I know, I know, it sounds like maybe I'm still in that post-concert haze where you think what you just saw was amazing and Earth-shattering, then a month or two later you realize it was just another good show. But this one was different. Just pure, unadulterated energy - lots of posing, running-around and playing to the crowd. Put it this way - at one point towards the end of the show, they had everybody sitting down (by their request) while they played a thunderous rock song. I've never seen that in a club for a rock show. It was just an incredible show. By the way, I never did let my ass touch the ground when we were all sitting down. I mean, come on - have you ever looked at the floor of a niteclub? I was not going to let my pants absorb whatever is on that nasty floor. One major bummer: I forgot my camera. What a mistake. I could have really put together a great set of photos.....damn.
Song now playing: Tahiti 80 - "I.S.A.A.C."
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w3.21.2003 |
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My number one celebrity crush is easily Julie Bowen. Much to my delight, she was on the Howard Stern show this morning and she seemed pretty easygoing and funny - contrary to her appearance on the David Letterman show a few nights ago, when she seemed a little nervous and neurotic. I can understand being a little jittery on a major late night talk show, though. Oh yeah, I'm no Julie Bowen stalker - I mean, I don't follow her every public appearance or anything. In fact, these last two appearances were the first time I've seen her outside of the great show, Ed, and both of her appearances I didn't even know she was going to be on. Am I getting too defensive? Heh. Anyway, she seems cool. Lives in a studio apartment on the West Side in NYC - I guess Ed doesn't pay too much, does it?
I've never really stated my Howard Stern position here. I think Stern's show, at times, is the best entertainment/mass-media outlet available, particularly when he has celebrities in for interviews. I think Howard is at his very best when he's interviewing celebrities, because he's not afraid to ask interesting questions - it's just a matter of who's afraid to answer them. But when he gets rolling with celebrities, he can be the best interviewer on the planet.. To this day, I think the best interview of all time with Paul McCartney came from the Howard Stern show. He also comes up with some of the best little on-the-air games, too. It's obvious that a lot of other media simply rip him off, so I really do hope he wins his lawsuit, even though he doesn't need the money. On the flip-side, when he's got attention-starved strippers, desperate hangers-on and lesbians on his show, I just turn it off. So boring to hear that crap over and over again.....
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w3.20.2003 |
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So, CNN is reporting that the U.S. believes the television appearance last night by Saddam might not have actually been Saddam. Now, this I love to hear. I already can see the skit coming up this week on Saturday Night Live where there's like 52 Saddam's in the same room or something.
Kidding aside, I do believe that this "war" is just another scrimmage for us. I don't think it's going to take more than 2-3 weeks to achieve the goals our imperialistic government has set for themselves. I support our troops 150%, but I do not in any way support the reasoning behind what they're doing. All I can hope for, personally, is no civilian casualties. Utopian, I know. Anyway, in a somewhat related thought, Bush and others keep referring to what a sizable and time-consuming struggle this could be, citing that we'll be "sacrificing" this and that. Hogwash! It's all posturing. This thing will be over very soon and they're saying all this to make themselves look all the better when it's over.
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w3.18.2003 |
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I think we should have war cheerleaders. Just imagine, you're watching The War (TM) on television, sponsored by the folks at Anheiser-Busch, St. Louis, Missouri, and there's a smattering of scantily-clad women and men doing cheers and making human pyramids just yards from the battle, cheering their country on to victory. Ridiculous, yes, but no less ridiculous than George Bush telling us that "America is a peace-loving country" during his speech on television last night. We knew it was coming.....
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w3.16.2003 |
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This weekend was the weekend for flower shows. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm no flower fanatic so when it comes to flower shows, I'm normally just the patient observer. In this case, we drove two hours out to Western Massachusetts to the Smith College Annual Bulb Show, which to me was just a bunch of flowers and plants. I can, however, fully comprehend and appreciate what a nice target floral arrangements are for a digital camera. So, in my deepest Barry White voice, ahem, "This one's for the ladies..."
Song now playing: Prince: "When Doves Cry"
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w3.13.2003 |
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It looks like it's getting pretty desperate for this whole Bush vs. Saddam thing. I know for a fact it's getting desperate because I got a call from The White House and they sent me over to Iraq to "make friends" with Saddam and see what he was really thinking. Being the, uh, devoted patriot that I am, I waved farewell to my country and headed over to Iraq, undercover, to see what was up. I was able to get some very interesing info out of Saddam. He was convinced that I was on his side after I raced him across the Tigres river. Here you see me at the very end, losing the race. But don't get me wrong, if you want information from Saddam, you've gotta let him win the swimming race. Everyone knows that.......the rest of the details I cannot divulge except for one thing: Saddam loves Cheap Trick.
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I sure hope a lot of people are as utterly astounded and overjoyed as I am about Elizabeth Smart. This, perhaps, might be the best story in the last 10 years in America. How bad did our country need this? Bad. I'm sure this girl was long left for dead by just about everybody. It's only human nature, especially America's human nature, to forget about these things, pessimistically just rule it out and - like a drive-through - plow on to the next story in the headlines. I mean, even her family had to be experiencing horrible pain and severe doubt they would ever see this girl alive again. Suddenly out of the blue, she's home last night, sleeping, eating and breathing right next to them after 8 months of what must have been anguish we regular-folk cannot even imagine. Damn, that's just a beautiful story. Well, the ending is beautiful, anyway.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled ridiculousness. Really, click that link - great stuff.
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w3.11.2003 |
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Can someone please explain to me why I seem to get delivered Yellow Pages phone books like every two weeks? I h ave a collection of these things that can only be described as excessive. Note to the phone company: all I need is one Yellow Pages every year or two. Seriously. Please take Jeff Copetas off of your list of people to deliver 5 Yellow Pages phone books per year. Thank you.
Song now playing: Guided By Voices: "The Id's Are Alright"
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w3.9.2003 |
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Yesterday we went to my niece Olivia's 3rd birthday party. She's just ridiculously cute, and so is my nephew Cameron, who is four.....
 
The day was filled with a lot of innocent joy, and a pretty kick-ass cake, made and designed by my sister......
She'll make one for you, too, if you want......and yes, the trees are frosting, too.
Song now playing: The Kinks, "Shangri La"
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w3.7.2003 |
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For the last month or so, I've been pulling my sleeve up over my hand when opening and closing bathroom doors. Don't know why this new obsession has hit me, but it has. Naturally, I do not want to go into too much detail, but all I will say is that I have seen people exit the bathroom without washing their hands way too many times. Ewww. Of course, it's inevitable that you will unknowingly interact with someone who does this, whether it be through a handshake or sticking your paw in a bowl of candy or a bag of pretzels, but I am now avoiding door handles when using public bathrooms. Gross. I always wash my hands. Always. You should too, it's fun.
Quick music note: if you haven't heard the debut of the 24 year-old Canadian singer Kathleen Edwards, do yourself a favor and get on it, because it's pretty damn good stuff. The album is called "Failer" and if you like Lucinda Williams or anyone in that genre similar to Williams, then you'll love this album. A great find.
Song now playing: The Replacements: "Talent Show"
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w3.6.2003 |
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This is quite brilliant. I didn't know food was even capable of being this deadly!
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w3.5.2003 |
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So, web darlings Google have now decided to branch into content-based advertising, which is putting them on the path to trying to be like a DoubleClick or something. It just proves my point that nobody can make money with just a search engine. Look no further than FAST/All The Web selling out to Overture. All you can do with a search engine is endear yourself to others, which Google has done a brilliant job of doing. However, look at what Google has done over the last few months: introduced a pay-per-click advertising product, purchased Pyra labs, and now this. Do any of those three things have anything at all to do with search? No. I'm really curious to see what else they're up to. The more stuff they pile on, the less percentage they devote to their core product. We'll see if the product is strong enough to withstand that, and more importantly, how quick the quality of other competing search engines catch up to them. Put it this way: it's probably only a matter of time before all the engines crawl as much of the web as Google does. Then you have an even playing field, but Google has quickly escalated themselves to become a verb, and that is one of the most powerful things that can ever happen to a business.
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w3.1.2003 |
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American Airlines redeemed themselves yesterday on my flight back to Boston from San Francisco. They showed a movie called The Truth About Charlie, featuring Mark Wahlberg, Tim Robbins and some J.Lo look-alike. It was a spy caper of sorts that wasn't amazing or anything, but certainly kept my attention, unlike the afrementioned Simone, which just made me me laugh with pity for the actors who accepted those roles.
San Francisco, as usual, was just beautiful. Every time I go there, the desire to move there increases. It may not have the historic scenery of Boston, but it's got perfect weather, easy navigation and everywhere you look the scenery is just stunning. Additionally, I stayed at The Hotel Del Sol, which was quite a treat. I took the following two pictures - night and day - of the four trees in the middle courtyard of the hotel.
Click here to see this picture enlarged.
Pretty cool, ay? You can see the rest of the pictures from my trip by simply clicking here. While I was taking one of these pictures, two co-workers of mine claim that Robin Williams drove by and dropped off his kids for school, then gave my co-workers the thumb's up. I didn't see it happen, but I did see a super-nice car pull up next to theirs and some kids get out, so I'll take their word for it. Maybe.
One more thing - really - please click on this link, which puts the hills of San Francisco into great perspective. This is my favorite picture from the whole trip. Howz about that?
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