The Monster...On Tour

Halloween is right around the corner and before you start thinking the photo here is Frankenstein's Monster, think again, it's really Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones. And that, folks, is scary enough.

The Rocker In Autumn

I just finished converting the new CDs by Neil Young and Sheryl Crow to my computer and viewing a couple of scenes from the DVDs included with both albums. I did the same for Paul McCartney's new album released few weeks back.

I'll have to agree with an Amazon.com user review of Neil Young's "Prairie Wind," too many reviewers are labeling this album as part of some sort of trilogy along with "After The Gold Rush" and "Harvest Moon." These reviewers forget about other similar albums in Neil's eclectic catalog.

Neil Young is sort of a rock and roll carmudgeon. When he did MTV Unplugged for example, he refused to submit a play list to the producers so they could figure out camera angles for each song. Instead, Neil laid out all the instruments on stage and would play whatever song he was in the mood to play. I've heard that's pretty much how he is in concert. Another time, during an interview, live, on MTV, the reporter made the mistake of calling Neil's music "classic rock." Neil let fly with a few colorful words and said he hasn't retired, he's still putting out fresh stuff.

Neil has always followed his own lead, or his own muse. Much to the irritation, at times, of record companies (he was famously sued by Geffen Records for being "uncreative"). So here, Neil once again takes a turn putting out a country/folk/rock album.

Prairie Wind certainly seems to be somethng of a Autumnal album. The songs have a retrospective, introspective, reflective, comfortable feel. I'm still listening to the album but "The Painter" and "This Old Guitar" are early favorites.

Neil Young is in his own class, it's very hard to put a label on him and I'm sure he'd be happy to hear that. "Prairie Wind" is a solid effort. The DVD edition features a making-of-the-album movie that shows a band that is comfortable with each other, which helps to make this album so solid.

The Apprentice: Martha's Take

I saw part of the series opener for Martha Stewart's "The Apprentice" and the first thought was that her PR spin crew worked overtime with this series. At the start, we see Martha walking through the offices, saying hi and one employee running up to her to show off some layouts. So cute and Martha seems to be so nice and calm. Nothing like what we saw on the television movie that starred Cybil Shepard as Martha.

So we don't get to see Martha raging at the contestants, pity. Martha said the Shepard portrayal was a bunch of hooie but after reading about her temper and controlling nature, I'm sort of wont to believe the television movie wasn't too far from the truth. I've endured a manager who wanted to scream and cuss up a storm at employees, belittling them and telling them the company did that employee a favor by hiring them.

What we do get however is Martha's take on Donald Trump's "You're fired!" (and that little "cobra snap" of the hand when he said it). Her phrase is "You just don't fit in."

"You just don't fit in?" That's like when I was laid off at Gateway and the HR rep was trying to smooth my anger by saying "We didn't lay you off, just eliminated the job." That only made me angrier and I asked, "so I'm still on the payroll with my current salary?" "Well....I wouldn't say that."

Julie Hinds, at the Detroit Free Press, has a great article about how "You just don't fit in" is such a bad phrase. The best reason:

It's not delivered with panache. Trump's serpent-like flick of the wrist and his brusque delivery give his catch-phrase a campy charm. Stewart is still too icy on camera, her emotions as frozen as a Botoxed forehead. Maybe if she got angry and threw tiramisu at the departing players, it would perk things up.

Throw tiramisu at the axed contestant? Can you imagine what that would do for ratings? Heck, secretly replace Martha with Cybil Shepard and definitely watch those ratings skyrocket. She can yell and be more intimidating that R. Lee Ermy. Then again, the scuttlebutt I've heard was that Cybil really didn't have to stretch to act as Martha.

Hinds definitely hits the nail on the head with her last reason. Isn't it true that the ones who don't fit in are the ones that come up with innovative ideas? That's the whole idea behind Apple's Think Different ad campaign.

I'm sorry Martha but your flan is overcooked.

Bond Confessions

I love the James Bond movies and love to talk up which actor has done the best job of playing Bond. Here's my list with the first being the best:

1. Sean Connery
2. George Lazenby
3. Pierce Brosnan
4. Timothy Dalton
5. Roger Moore

Picking a favorite Bond movie is tough, I just can't do it.

I've only read one of the Ian Fleming books, The Living Daylights. I've read several of the Bond books by John Gardner. I really should read more of the Ian Fleming books, especially From Russia With Love. It is said that book was John F. Kennedy's favorite. That was also the last movie JFK ever saw. He screened the film a couple days before flying down to Texas.

"To Be Continued." Noooo!

"To Be Continued."

"Battlestar Galactica returns in January..."

No. Freakin'. Way.

Sure, we can have a couple months between two seasons of a television series but to have almost as much time between two parts of one season and especially after the halfway point episode ends on such an incredible cliffhanger (I won't say anything that may spoil it for timeshifters).

January. January? January!

Ack!

I've never been a huge fan of science fiction but Battlestar Galactica has been great and season 2 is much better than season 1.

Argh! January!

It's The End Of The World As We Know It

Hurricane Rita dumps rain on New Orleans which washes over a levee.

Hurricane Rita's Going to Texas.

Bus explodes while leaving Houston with evacuees on board.

L.A. hit with a 3.6 earthquake.

Jennifer Love Hewitt's new TV show debuts tonight.

Surprisingly, for an actor or musician, Britney and hubby gave their newborn a sensible name. Sean Preston Federline.

Coincidence or further signs of The Apocalypse?

Like, No Way!

Like...wow...like...ya know...there's rumors that Paris won't get wed after all. Like...omigod, why did you wear that scarf?

OR

Girl 1: Did you like hear?

Girl 2: No? Like...what?

Girl 1: That like Paris like may not be getting like married, you know?

Girl 2: No way! Shutup!

Girl 1: Like, way, like really!

Girl 2: Like, omigod! Shut up!

Trust me, if you don't think teenage girls still talk like this, you haven't been hanging around teenage girls. I listen to my niece and her friends chat it up. Like, wow.

Gasoline Price Watch

There is a cool widget for Mac OS X 10.4 which will allow you to monitor gas prices. Known simply as Gas, it can monitor for a single station or plug in your zip code only and the radius to see prices for several gasoline outlets.

Gas gets its info from GasPriceWatch.com. So Windows users won't feel left out in the fun of seeing just how badly we are getting gouged.

Yesterday, I heard it was $2.55 per gallon for regular. This morning, it's already at $2.65 in town. Hmmmm...let's plug in a Texas zip code...Houston is currently $2.45 a gallon for regular.

Simon Wiesenthal passed away this morning. He was 96 and he outlived most the Nazis. Good for him!

After surviving five concentration camps and losing 89 of his relatives to the holocaust, Wiesenthal set out to bring Nazi war criminals to justice. It was through his dedication and help that Adolf Eichmann and the police officeer who arrested Anne Frank were captured and punished.

According to the Associated Press,

Wiesenthal spent more than 50 years hunting Nazi war criminals, speaking out against neo-Nazism and racism, and remembering the Jewish experience as a lesson for humanity. Through his work, he said, some 1,100 Nazi war criminals were brought to justice.
"When history looks back I want people to know the Nazis weren't able to kill millions of people and get away with it," he once said.

If I should ever have the opportunity to visit his grave and pay my respects, I'll be sure to put a stone on his marker.

Lord Of The Keyboard

Keyboard commands are great timesavers. And if you know enough of them, you can look like the computer users on the movies. You very rarely ever see them use a mouse or have problems unless it's five seconds before the bad guy enters the room ("Drat! I transposed the S on the command to open the bomb bay doors. Hang on...(keyboard noise)...there...(keyboarad noise)...ok, cool, while I was at it, I added $100,000 to your bank account and your son now has an A in physical education classes anymore. You so owe me big time."

One website has a huge plethora (how about that for a $10 word?) of them for the Mac.

I love keyboard commands. I was once even chastised (sorry, it's only a $5 word) by the instructor at a Microsoft seminar for using the keyboard instead of the mouse. She wanted to prove Windows 3.0 was just like the Mac and didn't require the keyboard like DOS.

So here's my advice for the weekend, learn some keyboard commands. Learn what right-clicking the mouse can do for you in each application.

Bond Rumors Continue

"Casino Royale" has been said to be the darkest of the Bond novels penned by Ian Fleming. That might explain some of the recent rumors that Q will not be on board for the newest installment of the Bond movies.

The writers have said they want this one to be "a grittier, tougher and more realistic Bond movie." Maybe they are taking a cue from "Batman Begins."

Who will play Bond? That seems to be the big question. Supposedly Goran Visnjic, of ER fame, is on the short list as was Hugh Jackman (he's rumored to have turned it down). While Visnjic is a good actor, I just can't imagine him with an English accent. How about Dominic West (The Wire, The Forgotten) or Jamie Bamber (Battlestar Galactica). Both are English and have done great jobs with the American accent.

But now there's word that Pierc Brosnan has been asked by Sony Pictures to come back to the fold. As the title of the "rogue" Bond flick goes, "Never Say Never Again."

Stevie Nicks, Music Pirate?

Stevie Nicks, of Fleetwood Macm showed up at Walter Reed Medical Center (on the list of recommended base closings) to visit with soldiers. Her appearance on July 8 was unannounced and paparazzi free. She handed out t-shirts and Apple iPods to those she visited with. One USO official noted that Nicks downloaded tunes to the iPods herself.

I certainly hope the songs are legal. Probably Fleetwood Mac and solo tunes.

On a similar note, President Bush isn't the only person in the White House who jams out with an iPod. Margaret Spellings, Education Secretary, two daughters gave her a gift for Mother's Day, an iPod mini (recently replaced by the iPod nano)

The iPod mini is jammed with songs from the Police, Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, and the Carpenters. "She loves it," says a pal, "for her power walks and spinning class." Not at work, we hope, especially since many schools ban them.

Again, I hope the songs are all legal. It's not difficult to stay legal, You can buy songs from the iTunes Music Store for .99¢.

The .99¢ pricetag may change soon though as the recording industry is starting to get greedy again and talking about raising prices to $2 per tune.

Steve Jobs, of Apple Computer, Inc., recently spoke out against the idea of raising song prices saying that it is just the recording industry getting greedy and that higher prices will encourage piracy.

For the longest time, the RIAA claimed the reason record companies were losing money (if in fact they really really were) was because of piracy. A funny thing happened though after they lowered prices of CDs, people bought them.

JFK Dirty Laundry For Sale

The watch Marilyn Monroe gave to President Kennedy the night she famously sang "Happy Birthday Mr. President" will go on the auction block in October. The inscription on the back reads, "Jack, With love as always from Marilyn May 29th, 1962."

To be sure, that's an incredible conversation piece to own, but wait! There's more! Check out the case the watch came in.

Loosely placed in the bottom of the case is a circular paper disk with a red hand-colored border with black-printing, with a poem titled "A HEARTFELT PLEA ON YOUR BIRTHDAY" and ending "Let me love or let me die!"

Yeah, I can see the watch going for a couple million dollars. Think it will ever make an appearance at the Kennedy Library?

According to U.S. News & World Report's Washington Whispers section for September 19, 2005,

Auctioneer Bill Panagopulos , president of Alexander Autographs, calls it "undoubtedly the most controversial presidential relic ever offered." To call the watch a scandal is an understatement. Panagopulos says that after first confirming the history of the watch, family members of the JFK aide who kept relics like the outfit Jackie wore the day Kennedy was murdered have clammed up.

[...]

The live and online auction slated for October 15-16 at alexautographs.com looks to be a mother lode of JFK dirty laundry. Also on the block: letters from Kennedy filled with sexual innuendo and competitive talk about dating, catty remarks about unattractive women, and an uncharacteristic four-letter word.

Understatement indeed. You can see photos of the watch and other JFK artifacts soon to be on the auction block at Alexander Autographs.

The Oldest Buffalo Soldier Stands Down

The 9th and 10th Calvary regiments were given the nickname of "The Buffalo Soldiers" by the Native Americans they fought during the late 1800s. These all-black units were given the name, according to CNN, "because the Indians thought the soldiers' hair resembled a buffalo's mane or that the Indians respected the soldiers for their courage and fearlessness, qualities they found in the buffalo."

The courage and fearlessness was undeniable. 20 of those "Buffalo Soldiers" were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

One of those men who wore the nickname with pride, Mark Matthews, passed away September 6, 2005 at the age of 111. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetary, as the oldest surviving member of the Buffalo Soldiers.

Matthews joined the unit at the age of 16 in 1910. While stationed in Arizona, he learned how to ride, shoot and survive. Several years later, he served under General John "Blackjack" Pershing in the pursuit of Pancho Villa.

George S. Patton and Dwight David Eisenhower would go on to become generals themselves. Matthews rose to the rank of First Sergeant and served in WWII in the Pacific Theatre of War.

Matthews retired shortly before President Truman desegregated the unit. The Washington Post reported that,

In retirement, he liked to fish. He also enjoyed sitting on the front porch and telling tales about the old days out West and the not-quite-so-old days in the Pacific during World War II, often to neighborhood kids who came around and sat at the knee of a man who had experienced an adventure-novel's worth of stirring chapters in U.S. history.

I know I would have loved to have been one of those sitting on the front porch listening to those adventures.

"I did it all," Sgt. Matthews told The Washington Post a few years ago. "Yes, I was there."

More Info:

Buffalo Soldiers website

Mark Matthews Washington Post Obituary

In-depth story on Matthews

Me Too!

A new feature was added to Mac OS X with the release of version 10.4, "Widgets." These are tiny applications that perform one task very well. Press F12 and a translucent window appears, showing all the widgets you have open.

Widgets can do anything. The best example is the one provided by Apple to display current weather conditions as well as a forecast from Accuweather, based here in State College. Other widgets can provide a television schedule, calendar, a list of entries at a blog, etc.

Microsoft recently announced a new concept for the next version of Windows, known as "Vista," which was formerly known by it's development name, "Longhorn."

I like to think the name was changed from "Longhorn" to "Vista" because some concerned Texas Aggies on the marketing team forced a change. Could explain the silly and blah name, "Vista." Or maybe Microsoft didn't want "Windows Longhorn" to be confused with Longhorn cheese. All kidding aside, I liked the name "Longhorn" and the logos they were using. Then again, I lived in Austin TX and the "Longhorn" logo reminded me very much of the University of Texas Longhorns.

But back to Gadgets. Just when you think that there's something original going on here, look back at the history of Apple's widgets. At one point, they were called gadgets. No idea why the name was changed to widgets.

Of course, Widgets aren't entirely original either. Widgets are very much akin to another product, Konfabulator, which was recently purchased by Yahoo. Apple probably should have bought Konfabulator.

To be even more fair and concentric, Widgets and Konfabulator are descendants of Desk Accessories from the original Mac OS.

If that doesn't sound crazy enough, there's the whole thing about Apple's original internal online service known as AppleLink. At one point, they thought of having a external version called AppleLink Personal Edition. The software was then sold to a guy named Steve Case who had his own online service for the Commodore computers. Case renamed and retooled the software into America Online, AOL.

Apple then decided they really did want to build an online service for Apple fans and borrowed/rented/whatever the AOL engine and slapped their own front end and name on it, eWorld. I worked at eWorld in their customer technical support department.

Ahhh, Mr. Bond! We've Been Expecting You

Rumor has it that Daniel Craig has been named the next Bond. An English actor, Americans have probably seen him in "I Dreamed of Africa," "Road to Perdition," "Tomb Raider," and "Elizabeth."

Even so, Craig is a relative unknown compared to Ewan McGregor. Then again, Sean Connery was very much an unkown outside bodybuilding circles before he became the first and arguably best Bond.

The rumor has sprung because Craig was seen shopping for a mint condition copy of the first Bond book by Ian Fleming, "Casino Royale." That book title is set to be the title for the next movie.

Annanova reported, "Clive Owen and Hugh Jackman reportedly turned the role down while ER's Goran Visnjic is said to have auditioned for the producers in July."

Hugh Jackman would have been great in the role.

Bush Helps Out Quietly

While I haven't been able to confirm it yet, I've read that George H. Bush and his wife Barbara have opened their home in Kennebunkport Maine to some who have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Same goes for their son. President Bush has allowed some folks to stay on his ranch in Crawford, TX.

Even more important to point out, they did this without issuing any sort of press release, statement or photos of the whole thing. They just quietly opened their hearts to Americans affected by the storm.

I'm still trying to track down news sources to confirm this tidbit.

Testing Blog 123

I've looked at blog sites by several companies, including Yahoo's new 360 but I keep returning to Blogger. Thus far, until I can set up my own domain with a service that will allow me to have CGI scripts and other requirements, this is the best for me. Are you listening Apple? I love my .mac account but if add the ability for me to use WordPress, BlosXom or Movable Type, I'll be a seriously happy camper.

I have found a cool blog editing tool, Ecto, for Mac OS X and Windows, that can allow me to edit my Blogger website offline. Makes up for the sometimes turtle-like pace of their admin tools.
Testing continues. I might have to bite the bullet and set up my own domain. Then I have to figure out a name. I've always wanted to do something along the lines of song and album titles R.E.M. came up with:

- Murmur (album)
- Reckoning (album)
- Fables of the Reconstruction of the Fables (album)
- so. central rain (tried to use South Central Rain but it's taken)
- King of Birds
- Moral Kiosk
- Pilgrimage
- Harbour Coat

Can you tell I like the first bunch of albums by R.E.M.?


[Posted with ecto]

Give Us Condi And We'll Give You The Boat

North Korea has offered to return the U.S.S. Pueblo spy boat if we send eithe Condoleezza Rice or a different high-level official for a visit.

One reader at outsidethebeltway.com suggested the following:

1. Secretary of Agriculture. (Given all the food aid we’ve given them, and their everlasting famine)
2. Secretary of Energy. (Another major need of NK, plus controls the US nuclear labs)
3. Dick Cheney. (why not? And he could be more stoic than the NK)

Regarding the notion of potentially sending Dick Cheney, another reader asked, "He wouldn't be coming back, would he?"

Probably the best reader suggestion was to "Send Alec Baldwin over to represent the Film Actors Guild."

Only Three Remain on Gilligan's Island

Bob Denver died last Friday. He played therugby shirt and sailor hat wearing Gilligan on Gilligan's Island.

Now, the remaining survivors on Gilligan's Island are The Professor, The Movie Star and Mary Ann.

Personally, I think Mary Ann will win this oldest version of Survivor.

As a side note, of all the main actors on Bewitched, another television series that had its start in 1964, only the twins who played Tabitha , Diane and Erin Murphy, remain.

What If?

That classic historical question will be the title of a new SciFi Channel series in the works.

One blogger suggested several what ifs that could be asked for episodes including "What if the Germans won WWII?" or what if John F. Kennedy hadn't been murdered.

I am currently reading a book about the Battle of Britain by one of the British fighter pilots who fought in it, "Duel of Eagles" by Peter Townsend. This Townsend should not be confused with the guitar smashing Peter Townshend of The Who. For one thing, The Who's Pete would probably never have dated Princess Margaret.

After much of the reading I've done and documentaries of WWII I've seen this Summer, as well as reading "Why The Allies Won," I am of the conclusion that there was no way the Germans would have been the victors. Granted, this is all in hindsight. During 1939 to probably 1943, the Allies were indeed losing but there were so many variables that worked in the favor if The Allies that the outcome was pretty much certain.

Better what if questions would be:

- What if Great Britain decided to side with Germany against France and Russia (something Hitler and others on his staff hoped for and were surprised didn't happen)?

- What if Hitler had committed suicide before he was arrested and thrown in jail (where he wrote Mein Kampf)? Germany's rebuilding of its military was going on before Hitler started the Nazi party, he just ensured the build up went through.

- What if Hitler didn't survive the attempt to kill him by some other German generals in 1944?

The better What if is that one about John F. Kennedy. If he survived or the bullets missed, he probably would have been reelected, forcing Johnson not to run because he was too old and, provided things went well in the second term, Robert F. Kennedy would have run and potentially cancel out a Nixon presidency.

What if the Wright brothers failed at Kitty Hawk and we only started to fly many, many years later?

What if America remained isolationist during WWII?

The list goes on.

Do I Like The Current State Of Music?

So, what is it about the current state of music I don't like besides way, way too many bands cutting CDs that really have no business doing so? Let's take one "musician" as an example...

Snoop-Dog on TV shows, Snoop-Dog during the Super Bowl half time show, Snoop-Dog on Chrysler commercials, Snoop-Dog ring tones, Snoop-Dog cell phone wallpapers, Snoop-Dog screen-savers, etc., ad infinitum.

Then again, the Beatles were pretty well hyped. But was it as bad as we are seeing it today? And at least The Beatles could walk the walk music-wise.

I started thinking about this after seeing a free (!) screensaver for the Mac from the anime band, Gorillaz.