February 14, 2006

NEXT VII OF 2005: FINAL SCORE

So here we are, with the Final Score for the 2nd Annual Next VII. During the inaugural Next VII, where I offered up seven stories (predictions, really) to watch for in 2004, I had a 43% success rate. Let's see how I fared with the Next VII of 2005.

World News: A Nuclear Accident Will Occur in Either Iran or North Korea
Verdict: Wrong
Thankfully, I was wrong with this one. But can you see where I might think something is up. Iran just recently got pissy and started up the nuclear research programs and are objecting to UN inspections. If the U.S. had the 3 Mile Island incident, and the Russians had the Chernobyl accident, and we're the alleged superpowers, what chance does Iran have?

Technology: The DVD Format War Doesn't Happen
Verdict: Correct
The battle lines were drawn. After failed negotiations between Sony and Toshiba to perhaps work on a single DVD format, the movie studios lined up to offer their library exclusively on either Toshiba's DVD HD or Sony's Blu-Ray DVD. Then, the studios that were in DVD HD corner, decided to cover their bets by releasing their titles in both formats. That changes everything because instead of two formats with exclusive contents battling it out for the hearts and minds of the consumer, Blu-Ray DVD will have close to all of the available movies, while DVD HD will only have half. Now, this isn't to say that this issue is over, as both formats will still be released initially. Obviously, things could change at a moment's notice, but right now, it looks like the format war isn't happening.
On a side note: in Technology category for the Next VII of 2004, I predicted the coming of the iPod Phone. I was a year early. But who called it first, baby? That's right, the Next VII did!

Politics: The Attempted Recall of President Bush
Verdict: Wrong.
Didn't even come close to happening, but out of curiosity, I would have like to have seen how things would have played out.

Health: The Re-Introduction of Smallpox Vaccinations
Verdict: Wrong
I'm was concerned that paranoia might get the better of us. Cooler heads prevailed, but suddenly there is clamoring for bird flu vaccinations. I had the right idea, but wrong disease.

Science: NASA Unveils Replacement to the Space Shuttle
Verdict: Wrong
The Space Shuttle fleet is still set to be phased out in 2010. And still we wait for their replacement. Still we wait. They do know that they only have 4 years now, right?

Business: The Ever-Changing Face of Mobile Communications
Verdict: Wrong
While SBC did purchase AT&T, and Verizon did purchase MCI, nothing major came about on the mobile front during this last year. Sure, Amp'd Mobile has debuted on the scene, but that wasn't really the big action I was predicting, so I'll have to mark myself wrong.

Sports: The Use of Replacement Players in the NHL
Verdict: Wrong
Color me baffled on this one. With the heavy talk from both sides that the lockout would go more than one season, the players turn around and agree to the owners' demands, essential making the lockout unnecessary. Asses. Nonetheless, with the return of the NHL, there was no need for replacement players.

Final Score for the Next VII of 2004:
Correct: 1
Wrong: 6

For your review:
Here was the Next VII for 2005
The Next VII of 2006 is coming on February 15.

February 12, 2006

GETTING BACK UP TO SPEED

Since the passing of my friend, the World of Demosthenes has fallen silent for the last month. The traditional 40 days of mourning have passed, and it's time to stand up and speak up. Bob's passing has highlighted a few things in my life. First and foremost is that I'm lazy. I mean lazier than even I thought was humanly possible. And I think I'm getting tired of it. Like to a point, where I might even do something about it.

Shocking, I know.

Look, I've been in a nasty funk these last couple of weeks. I didn't initially think that it correlated to Bob's death, but the timing is noticeable and we all know I don't believe in coincidence.

So, let's see if we can turn on the jets and get things moving again. If not now, when?

January 8, 2006

I'VE NEVER LOST A FRIEND BEFORE

New Voicemail 1
About 8:30 a.m. on the morning on Tuesday, January 3, I step out of the bathroom, freshly showered and readying myself for work. I check my phone for the time (odd, given that there are no less than 5 clocks in my one bedroom apartment that can do the job just as easily) and am greeted with "New Voicemail 1" on the display. The first thing to run through my mind is, "Who the hell is calling me in the morning? The last time I got a message this early in the morning was when I got word that the Christmas tree at the Grand went en fuego in the middle of the night." I check the last received call; it's my good friend, Amber. I have a feeling this can't be good. I retrieve my voicemail.

"Hey D-mo, it's Amber. I just heard some disturbing news this morning, and wanted to call and see if anyone has tried to get a hold of you. Give me a call and tell me if you've heard, and if you haven't, then I'll tell you but I don't want to leave it on your voicemail. Talk to you later."

Shit.

Something bad has happened.

I immediately went to worst case scenario. One of my friends was in the hospital and near death. I promptly call Amber back. I was prepared for the worst, but wasn't really expecting to hear it. But the news came.

Robert Conway (a.k.a. Uncle Bob; a.k.a. DJ Bornoc), a good friend of mine, was hit by a car the night before.

He was gone. He was kept on life-support to determine what organs could be harvested for donation, but he was effective gone (he would officially pass later that day).

Stunned. Baffled. Bewildered. Almost not believing what I was hearing, but somehow prepared that something like this would be the case. Details were coming in sporadic and their accuracy was questionable. Amber told me what she knew, but admittedly, it was third and fourth hand information. She wasn't sure what do with herself. I advised her to go to work, as that might be the best way to hear additional info. Besides, staying at home would accomplish nothing except exacerbate the feeling of uncertainty. I, too, finished getting ready and took the most surreal commute to work ever.

Here's What We Know
A lot of information was flying around on Tuesday, but no one has legitimate details. But this article made the rounds on our e-mail on Wednesday. I went to ocregister.com to confirm it. Here's how the press reported it.

Anaheim man dies of injuries
Robert Conway, 31, was hit by a car on Monday.
By JOHN McDONALD
The Orange County Register
ANAHEIM - A 31-year-old Anaheim man died today of injuries he received when he was hit by a car while crossing Katella Avenue, police said.

Robert Conway was crossing Katella Avenue from north to south, without protection of a crosswalk, just east of Lewis Street about 9:40 p.m. Monday, said Anaheim police Sgt. Rick Martinez.

A 1996 black Infiniti, eastbound on Katella, struck Conway. He was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange where he died early today.

The Infiniti's driver was identified as Lourdes Orea-Lopez, 25, of Anaheim. She pulled to the side immediately after the accident but left a short time later without attempting to render aid to the injured man or to identify herself to police. At least one officer was on the scene of the accident at the time it occurred, Martinez said.

She was chased by a police officer and pulled to the side about a quarter mile from the accident scene, at State College Boulevard and Orangethorpe Avenue.

Martinez said Orea-Lopez was arrested on suspicion of felony hit and run and driving without a license. She was booked into the Anaheim city detention facility pending a court appearance. Alcohol and speed are not believed to be factors in the in accident, Martinez said. The case remains under investigation.

Bearer of Bad News
On my way to work, I had to come up with a plan to tell Jerrod. A friend of both me and Bob, but also a man in the next cube to mine. As we aren't in the Hotel, I wasn't sure he would know.

I walk into the office, not really sure how to break it to him, but I as turn the corner, Jerrod is standing in the aisle and turns to face me, and I can see his bloodshot eyes.

He knows.

I point to his cube. We walk there without saying a word. We quickly exchange stories of how we heard. He heard from Diana at the Hotel, about the same time I heard from Amber. Apparently, he too, spent the time leading up to my arrival trying to come up with a way to tell me the news. Fortunately, he didn't have to.

But I would have to be the bearer of bad news. I waited a bit and called Jenny. She didn't answer, and I left a voicemail along the lines of Amber's message, but probably not as eloquent. She calls back, but I missed the call. Checking the voicemail, it is apparent that no one has called her. I call her back and tell her that our good friend, with which we had both play soccer, has passed away. That was hard.

Stu calls later in the day. He has heard indirectly of what was going on from Jenny. He calls me and Jerrod and left messages. I call him back and break the news and share any details I know, which at this point are still inconclusive, but based on the various accounts I've heard, try to pass the most consistent information. That's two.

As the day comes to a close, I assume that everyone knows, but I give my phone one last look to see if anyone in the address book might have slipped through the cracks. Yes. Jessica. I call her, and of course, no answer. I leave a message to call me back. Oh, by the way, we haven't had a chance to talk in oh.... 14 months. She calls back, I miss the call, but leaves a message along the lines of, "Hey D-Mo! How are you? I haven't talked to you in ages and I've missed you..."

Shit. She doesn't know. And now, I call her out of the blue, get her all excited, and then have to call her back and ruin her day. By far, the hardest call I had to make.

From my wedding reception. L-R: Judy, Jessica, Sara & Roby, Bob & Morgan

Sadness?
I was shocked and stunned on that first day. Perhaps that's why I wasn't saddened. I was in disbelief, and I admitted repeatedly that I was denial.

As the week wore on, I had come to accept that Bob was gone, but I didn't feel as sad as I thought I should, and that kinda bothered me. Doing the little tribute graphic above made me feel better. But I don't know if I'll feel sad, or have the need to feel sad. By the end of the night on Tuesday, I felt relatively normal.

I don't think I necessarily lament the loss of Bob. He was a good man, and apparently God needed a DJ. I do hurt for the effect of his passing on other people. I hurt for Morgan, who barely in her mid-20's is already a widow. I hurt for his family because no parent ever wants to bury their child. I hurt for all the wives of people I know, who also knew Bob because it could have easily have been me, Jerrod, Roby Brown, Zach Boisineau, Ray Acosta, etc., instead of Bob. I hurt for the kids at the hotel, because all of a sudden, there is a hole in their environment. It's a blatant and obvious hole.

But after all that, I don't hurt because we lost Bob. He will be missed, but his life will be celebrated, and perhaps... that is why I'm not sad. I tried to be sad, but every time I thought about Bob, I laughed, because he was fun guy and any memory of him made me smile. Since I've known him, 9 times out of 10, he had a smile/smirk on his face, and the tenth time, he had a "yeah, whatever" look.

On Thursday night, I made a stop at the impromptu memorial that was set up on Katella Avenue at the site of the accident. It was 9:45-ish at night. And after going the past couple of days not really believing that this was happening, it became very real. While I never did see a body or a casket that I could point to and say, "Yes, Bob is really gone," this was close enough to make it real. I knew what the memorial was, and who it was there for. Sadness started to sink in, but Amber rolled up. Richard, Maria and Xenia also rolled in. We spent the the next two hours on the side of road, laughing, regaling in stories of our friend, and toasting our friend with a can of Heineken. Once again, I found myself, not sad.

The Big Goodbye
Today, Sunday, January 8th, was a memorial service at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel. Service started at 8:08 a.m. (BOB time). I rolled in about 8:25, and it was packed. I was pleasantly surprised at how many people were there.

The eulogies were being given as anyone who wanted to went up to the podium and said some very nice words. I found myself taking a step forward to say something, but I pulled my foot back, because what could I say that hasn't been said already. Bob was a good man. He will be missed, but he will be praised.

It felt very awkward for me. Seeing everyone fighting back tears, made it official. I did lose a friend this week. His ashes will be scattered at sea, so I will not be afforded an opportunity to see him again. Even just to say goodbye. I'm told that's a type of closure most people seek. Maybe that's why now, even after attending this service, and accepting that Bob is gone, I can't wrap my mind around it.

Even after saying that it was real, saying it was official, I still find myself hoping that this is all some sort of mistake or joke. I saw people whom I haven't seen in years, and the only reason they would be in Anaheim, on a Sunday morning, would be to pay their respects. Hell, even Greg Rybeck flew out from New Jersey for this memorial.

I guess, now that I think about, I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to feel or how I'm going to accept it. I have never lost a friend before.

But I did lose a friend this week. And the world lost a good man.

Uncle Bob

November 16, 2005

THE PRICE IS RIGHT, BITCH!

Come On Down!!!

So we actually went to see The Price is Right tapings at the fabled CBS Television City in Los Angeles (which is just down the street in the grand scheme of things).

So for those that don't know, I'm here to inform you how the whole Price is Right thing plays out.

First, you get tickets. You can write in for tickets, or you can go online to cbs.com to get them. Important thing to know: a ticket does not guarantee entrance into the show. As they tell you at the studios, the only way you know for sure that you're going to get in, is when you're actually sitting in a seat in the Bob Barker Studio. No joke.

On an average week, they have two tapings on Monday (1:15 pm & 4:30 pm), and then one taping on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday (2:00 pm), with Fridays dark. You may hear stories of people getting to the studios at 4 or 5 in the morning, in order to get in. As the show is on a "first come, first served" basis, getting there early is advised. We got to the studios circa 7 am. When you get to the studios, you receive an "Order or Arrival Number." We got #299 and #300. That pretty much lets them know when you came. They distribute those between 6 am - 8 am. At about 8 am, they seat you on benches based on your Order of Arrival. From there, you are given a new "Priority Number."

I figured that would be redundant on the days that only tape one show, but for us on Monday, when they had two shows, it help the staff separate the parties into the two audience groups. We were now #93 and #94. We were then left to our own devices and we had received instructions to return at 12 Noon. That gave us 3 1/2 hours to blow at the L.A. Farmer's Market and The Grove (the new trendy shopping thingy. It's outdoors, has an Apple Store, Cheesecake Factory, Nordstorm, etc. Also will feature the tallest Christmas tree in Los Angeles. Allegedly.)

After our breakfast at the Farmer's Market (which consisted of Chicken Kebobs and Gyros, of all things), we chill and then head back to the studios. The early audience was being slowed in being processed, so we had to wait a little longer. We get sorted by our Priority numbers, and seated on benches along the studio wall. At this point, we were given new "Audience Member" numbers. We were now #98 & #99 (I don't know how we lost spaces, but the staff said that was normal. ???)

Feeling pretty good about chances of getting in, especially given the rumor that the 4:30 pm Monday show always run thin on audience members (proven by the fact that some folks from the first taping we able to get into the second show on standby), we received the closest thing to assurance that we would get in... the iconic price tag nametags. I'm still impressed that the lady was able to get my name on the tag on the first shot.

After our initial group of 110 or so got numbered and tagged, they processed the groups were in the house. Groups are the only people that have guaranteed seats into the shows, and this is done to ensure a full audience. Anyone on standby are then brought in to fill up an empty spots. Next up, interviews.

Bob

In line, they pull out 10 or so people, and a staffer interviews each person in the group. The questions were, at the fullest: Where are you from?; What do you do for a living?; and What do you do for fun? A total of 20-30 seconds per person, and this is how they pull contestants out of the audience. At this point, I had been up all day, after a night of very little sleep, and I wasn't as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as I would have liked. To cut to the chase, I didn't get picked. Neither did Val. In fact, I don't think anyone from our group of 10 or so did.

Here are the odds to get on the actual show. The studios seats about 320. During a standard program, 9 people are called down to Contestant's Row (4 at the top of the show, and 5 more throughout the show), with 6 of them making it onstage. So, to boil it down, you have roughly a 1 in 35 chance of making it to Contestant's Row. For those who like percentages, you're looking at 2.8% chance.

So we finally get in. I've heard about how small the studio is, and it kinda lived up to the hype. Although it looks huge on television, it's actually quite compact. But by the end of the show, it stopped feeling small, and you can tell that there was no wasted space. Small, but very efficient. Everyone gets seated, we had sweet seats (6 rows back, smack in the middle), and then the show's announcer Rich Fields comes out to warm up the crowd and lay down some rules and tips. He's a jolly fellow, and got everybody into a frenzy, and the next thing you know, the show starts. It was quick and abrupt, and they start calling the first four contestants down, and then all of sudden, out comes the man himself, Bob Barker. And the crowd erupts. Part prompting, part genuine love for a television icon and national institution.

As the show progresses, which is in its 34th year, you can tell it is a well-oiled machine. The one thing that surprised me was how many people were on stage at any one time. On TV, it just looks like Bob and the Contestant, but what you don't see are the dozen or so assistants and stage hands helping to pull the show off without a hitch. Sometimes, you can't see Bob because there are so many people in the way.

All in all, we had a blast. It's always fun to be involved with something that you see on television, and how it all comes together. Val is already talking about making this a regular thing.... up until the point we win something. So, if you watching The Price is Right on January 4, 2006, you might see me in the crowd.

And To Top It Off...
...we went to the Eagles concert at Staples Center later that night. Big shout out to Stu for tickets. The most interesting thing about the concert, was before the first of three encores; I'd say about 15,000 of the 20,000 in attendance whipped out their cell phones to light up the dark arena. An very cool effect, as everyone was waving their phones over their heads.

Cinderella Wears Gold and Green
So did you hear the one, about a .500 team in the regular season, that went to the postseason with the 9th best record in the league, and beat the 2 best teams on its way to a second MLS Cup? Oh, and this was after they had already won the U.S. Open Cup, thus making it the Double.

L.A. Galaxy

Big props to the 2005 MLS Cup Champions, your Los Angeles Galaxy.

And While We're On the Subject
I have been recently asked, who are my favorite soccer players. So here are my Top 5...

Honorable Mention) David Beckham: I like this guy. The fact that he's shagging Posh Spice has nothing to do with it.
5) Sol Campbell: I like the Arsenal and England defender. Not known for his scoring touch (though he will drop one in if you let him), but he is a top-tier defender that'll makes the stops and gives you a sense of security knowing he's back there. If I were to put a player's name on a jersey, I may go with Campbell over Henry.
4) Alan Shearer: This man plays with so much passion and pride, that he makes his team better by just being on the field. The former England captain get the nod.
3) Landon Donovan: I liked this kid when he played for San Jose, and I gave him his props during the last World Cup. He is the face and leader for U.S. Soccer for years to come. And like every Galaxy fan, I was giddy when he signed with Los Angeles.
2) Thierry Henry: One of the most prolific scorers in the game. When has the ball, he's absolutely dangerous. He also plays for Arsenal, which is just gravy.
1) Cobi Jones: During the MLS Cup broadcast, it was said that Cobi doesn't get enough respect. I concur. I have sung his praises here before, and I'll say it again: Cobi Jones can be on my squad any day.

November 6, 2005

LIVE FROM SAN FRANCISCO

The original plan was to travel to Washington, DC, for a week. However, I couldn't get the time off (in my new position, I'm the low man on the totem pole, and others had asked for time off as well. This is compared to the Hotels where I only gave a week's notice and was able to take time off to leave the continent for a week.) So our back-up plan was to go to San Francisco. Valerie had never been to "the City" and it's been many years since I've been. We wanted to see a lot of things, but we got a late start out of Fresno and that threw the rest of the trip in disarray. Freakin' Fresno. We only got to about half the things we wanted to, and the trip had a sensation of feeling rushed, but it was an enjoyable trip.

I've noticed though, that San Jose is turning into the big metropolis of Northern California, and the city of San Francisco is turning into one big tourist attraction. This is interesting, considering I've heard that to actually live in San Francisco is quite the status symbol.

I wish more of our photos we took would have come out, but I don't want to talk about that, as I'm still sore about it.

Northern California - An Impromptu Culinary Tour
We enjoyed many different dining experiences on our little trip. Here is our itinerary...
Denny's - Modesto (I think)
A Denny's in the middle of nowhere. I think it was around Modesto, but don't quote me on it. But in all honesty, it can't be a road trip without a visit to some out of the way Denny's. Check.

Boudin - Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco
Had authentic San Francisco sourdough at the home of San Francisco sourdough. I enjoyed a tasty sandwich, and Val went with a French Onion soup in a bread bowl. Yum. Val got a kick out of the sourdough sculptures, such as lobsters and alligators, that were on display.

Fritz - Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco
A place that served Belgian fries. Good dips for the fries. I also went with some sort of chicken and pesto crepe, Val opted for some sort of salad.

Chinatown Restaurant - San Francisco

Honestly, that's the name of the restaurant, the Chinatown Restaurant. Apparently, it's been there for 85 years. The only reason we ate there was because some 50-year-old lady was standing on the street corner touting the greatness of their Kung Pao Chicken. "It's #1 Kung Pao. I guarantee it." As we reviewed the menu she thrust in our hands, she throws in the bonus selling point of, "People are eating there now. Go look. People are eating in restaurant." The funny part is that we didn't get the Kung Pao, even though we both were curious. Not that we avoiding it, we just went a different route. But I can say their sesame chicken was very, very good. Mongolian beef also good.

Paradise Bay - Sausalito
Sadly, no cookies to be found in Sausalito. Paradise Bay was right on the bay, and had a nice atmosphere. I enjoyed a "ground beef sandwich" (read: hamburger), Val enjoyed a club with what I understand to be a very nice potato salad, and a trio of chocolate treats for dessert. Sausalito is nice little town on the water.

Pacific Blues Cafe - Yountville
We went to Napa on Sunday, but arrived there on Sunday night. And there is absolutely nothing to do in Napa on a Sunday night. This was confirmed when I went into the Marriott there and asked the Concierge, "What's there to do is this burgh at night?" His first response, no joke, "Sleep?" Nothing was open in the city of Napa, so we trucked out to the first city north, Yountville, and enjoyed the cuisine at Pacific Blues Cafe. Good food.

Harvest Time Restaurant - Gilroy
So we're in Gilroy, the Garlic Capital of the Planet, and we decided to have lunch somewhere that we could get garlic. Really, what's the point of going to Gilroy if you don't enjoy some garlic. We stumble across the Harvest Time, and find that it is quite tasty. We had garlic bread, garlic burgers, and some garlic fries. I stunk for two more days afterwards. Very good!

Denny's - San Luis Obispo
It was on the way home, late in the evening. The only reason why this Denny's stands out is because the cook, wait staff, and cashier were all young white males. I've never been in a Denny's like that in.... forever. Odd.

A nano Clarification
In the iPod review, in the previous issue, I mention that I would rotate my 170 songs in and out. I don't want people to think that the 2GB iPod nano can only hold that amount. That was only what I had on it at the time. At this moment, I have 319 songs on my nano (using 1.25 GB), and I have still have 569.1 MB of space left. So just to clarify, the nano has loads o' room.

"it's a small world" After All
In a random turn of events, a gentleman that wrote in to my current place of employment dealing with a company matter, asked in a letter if I was associated with the World of Demosthenes. Obviously, it would inappropriate to discuss personal matters within official correspondence dealing with business issues. But to answer your question Larry, yes, I am associated with this here website. (and on a sidenote to the rest of you, the use of lower case letters in the attraction's name is proper nomenclature)

Muir Woods NM & Pinnacles NM
Absolutely gorgeous. And when I start putting some expedition exploits on Lost Expeditions, you can read about it there.

I will say that I almost stepped on a tarantula in the wild (and I very bravely screamed like a girl to boot). This fella in the picture here, was the second furry spider we came across. He was kind enough to pose for us.

I also had to avoid a flock a wild turkeys going to Pinnacles, and a couple of baby wild pigs coming from it. To get to the east side of Pinnacles, we had to use Highway 25. When I told this to my father, who admittedly is one of the most geographically savvy people on the planet, he had no idea where this was. That all put confirmed that I was on some backwoods road.

God Bless The Internet
If you've ever felt compelled to view African wildlife taking a dip by a pond, LIVE, then I've got a treat for you. On the ol' National Geographic website, they have something called WildCam Africa, where they have this webcam streaming a live feed from a watering hole in Botswana. Say you want to view some impalas, steenboks, ostriches, and even some elephants (or 50 other species of animals), then click over to www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/wildcamafrica/wildcam.html and enjoy. Apparently, it's even nice to enjoy the sounds as well.

So yes, you heard right. You can sit in your home and view what's going on in Botswana right now. Live. I say again, God bless the internet.

I Love Hockey
Yes, yes I do. Is it wrong for me to split my loyalties between 3 teams? Nah!

October 10, 2005

GIVE ME A "G" - GIVE ME A "5"
WHAT'S THAT SPELL?

Working Our Way To The "iPod: grain-of-sand"

I've never been this close to the cutting edge technology before. I mean, when was the last I purchased the newest techno-gizmo a scant 4 days after it was released to the public? And what a sheer stroke of chance, that we decided to hold off on purchasing our new iPods for a week. If we had purchased our iPods when we got the new G5 (see below), we would have ended up with a pair of iPod minis. Instead, we come back a week later and score a fresh pair of iPod nanos. SWEET!

When purchasing our new iPods, we figured we would go with the black version instead of the white. The black looked much nicer, but since the Apple Store at South Coast Plaza was out of the larger 4GB version, we opted for the smaller 2GB. We would have anyway because who really needs 4 GIGABYTES of music strap to their bicep?

But after loading up my iPod with all the necessities, I still find myself with just under a gig on the nano. And then I marvel at those folks that needed to purchase the 60GB iPods. You must want to cart around all the music created throughout the history of mankind. Let me put this in perspective. Me and Val loaded every CD we collectively have into iTunes, and we purchased about another 30-35 songs from the iTunes Music Store that we really wanted and didn't have on CD (like "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi"). That equates to 353 artists on 173 albums from 32 genres for a total of 1062 songs taking up 4.8 GB of space. In order words, we could press play and listen to our music collection for 3 STRAIGHT DAYS without hearing the same song twice. My point here: 60 GB is just too much. I'm happy with the 170 songs on my nano and I'll just rotate the songs in and out as need be.

My Computer Is So Old....
...its still beige. That was the joke that I would tell the kids working the Apple Store, and they'd laugh. Some would wince in pain. Others were too young to ever remember a time when computers were beige. But after 10 years since my last new computer purchase, I finally did it. I got a new computer (officially, WE got a new computer. Val's iMac wasn't as old as my PowerMac 6500, but we both upgraded to one machine). As we perused our options, Val piped up with, "Let's go with the new PowerMac G5. I want the best machine just in case you go 10 years without an upgrade again." I obviously did not argue with such sage wisdom from my lovely wife.

Getting a new computer wasn't the end-all of our new computer shopping. Understandably, given that no new machine has a SCSI port, I needed new peripherals. Also, some new software was in order to run on Mac OS X Tiger (remember, I was using Mac OS 8.5. Zoinks! And my machine originally had OS 7.2 installed on it. Double Zoinks!). So after those purchases, we decided to hold off on getting a wireless card, AirPort, and iPods until I got paid again (and not to scare the crap out of the bank), and that proved to be a shrewd move as it lined us up with the new iPod nano.

So, you may start to notice a few changes coming to ol' World of Demosthenes, as I make some alterations using my new tools. (Remember, this is not a new toy. For a craftsman like myself, this is a new tool.)

Saving $2.99 A Pop
I'm also using GarageBand, which came installed on my G5, to make my own ringtones for my cell phone. I'm working on it. It still needs a little fine tuning.

"...And I Like to Do Drawrings"
Before I got a new computer to completely distract me from the rest of the world that I live in, I had attempted to get back into art... primarily colored pencils. We were visiting a local art supply house, as Valerie wanted to get back into painting. As she was walking the aisles looking at brushes and whatnot, I found myself parked in front of the colored pencils, thinking back to my youth when I used to draw with great frequency. With a little encouragement from Val, I pick up a few pencils. My first art projects in 20-some years aren't bad.... if I was a 5-year-old. I'm slowly remembering proper techniques and stylings. Nothing too museum-worthy, but a good hobby, and a good time.

iChocolate review
What's up with this? Just a witty play on the iPod nano ad that also adores the front page. But the first salvo of the actual "reviews" will come on October 19th. On this very website, there will be a page devoted to Chocolate Bar Reviews. Me and Val will enjoy some chocolate, and talk about, and review it, and post our findings and opinions to enlighten you all. Tough job, I know.

Man, I love living in my own little world!

September 18, 2005

YOU SIR, HAVE EARNED MY RESPECT

A Stronger Man Than I

A footballer had to have six stitches in his penis after it was ripped open in a tackle. Chavdar Yankow, 21, sustained a three-inch gash on his penis during a German Bundesliga match playing for Hamburg 96 against Frankfurt.

His shorts were "soaked with blood" but team doctors managed to patch Yankow up. Amazingly, after the painful incident Yankow returned to the pitch and played on.

And then, to complete this inspirational story, the German went on to score in his side's 2-0 win over Frankfurt.

I say again. You sir, have EARNED my respect!

Happy Birthday, Brother
Big shout out to Big Daddy Dave who'll celebrate his birthday tomorrow. Fun fact about Mr. David Ruiz: out of the 50 United States, Dave's been to roughly 40 of them.

Buzz, Buzz, Buzz
A swarm of bees have decided to take up residence on our balcony. Fan-fracking-tastic.

Apple PowerMac G5 with Dual 2.0Gb Processors
...is here! Stay tuned for more!

What's Up Archive
February 2005 - August 2005
September 2004 - January 2005
April 2004 - August 2004
January 2004 - March 2004
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