In no specific order...

Here are the songs I am listening to the most these days...

Eyes On Me - Celine Dion
Bleeding Love (Moto Blanco Mix) - Leona Lewis
Do It Well (Moto Blanco Radio Mix) - Jennifer Lopez
Nothing Hurts Like Love - Daniel Bedingfield
Dancin (JJ Flores and Steve Smooth Remix) - Aaron Smith & Luvli
Feedback - Janet Jackson
Soul Kiss - Olivia Newton-John
Erotica (Live from the Confessions Tour) - Madonna
Take Me 2 The Sun - Discofreaks

Lie down for a second...

and Blossom made herself at home between my legs.

For My Company Directory

Work asked us to post a picture for the company profile. So I showered and shaved and here's mine. I desperately need a tan.

The sock puppet

Here is one of the sock puppets on sale at Cafe Hon in Baltimore. The glasses and hair are very associated with Baltimore.

Cafe Hon

Yesterday we got a taste of Baltimore for Lunch by eating at Cafe Hon. They serve great food and even have a gift shot dedicated to all the tacky things that Baltimore is known for such as funky glasses and beehive hairdos.

Finally!

I've been sick for the last six weeks. Lots of Doctor's visits, some time off work and I am finally feeling better! So I just got home from the gym about 30 minutes ago. I hate breaks from the gym, I always feel like such a slug when I start back up.

About three weeks ago I went to a hypnotherapist to get some help with my weight. 14 pounds and counting! It's amazing how I don't crave sweets. I will make an exception for Christmas Eve/Christmas Day though. To that end I picked out two kinds of fudge and four kinds of Christmas cookies for Skip to make this year. I can't imagine being able to eat more than one of each but it will be fun to smell them! I can't believe how fast I get full these days.

I'm working from home for at least two weeks for the holidays and yay for that. Not that I don't love Manhattan in December but it is nice to be home.

Last but not least - Blossom won Doggy of the Day for the 11th day of Christmas at Day Care yesterday. We won a free day of day care and a humongous umbrella set. Seriously, it's so big I couldn't fit it in a big suitcase.

I shouldn't be here...

You may remember how much I loved Fantasia in The Color Purple. I had gotten a ticket to see her one more time before she leaves the show on January 6th. Well, Fantasia didn't show for this performance so I stood in a LONG line for a refund. Evidently she has missed more than 50 performances during her run!

Vegas

My company Christmas party was at Tabu in the MGM Grand. After a nice 2 hour delay for deicing, Skippy and I were on our way there Friday morning. Thanks to Skippy we saw Celine Dion on Friday night! I had seen the track list on the album before the show and had heard she does a few new songs but wow she did an almost entirely different set list! I had told Skip some of the songs I had hoped she'd sing and she sang almost all of them including two of my favorites by her "All The Way" and "Seduces Me". She only had seven more shows after us so she talked about ending the show which was fun to hear.

We stayed at the MGM Grand and I swear we couldn't find an American in that hotel to save our life. The boxing match was the same time as our party and one of the fighters was British and evidently brought over his whole country for backup. We'd go to breakfast at 7 am and they'd be asking for ANOTHER drink in the casino.

The actual party was a lot of fun. There was amazing looking sushi but there was wasabi right on it so I couldn't have any. You'd think the skinny beautiful people that work at those clubs would be snotty but they were actually very nice to us. Meeting my coworkers for the first time was fun and they adored Skippy as people always do.

Sunday morning we had the most amazing brunch ever at The Wynn. A nice walk back to the MGM Grand helped walk it off (they are on opposite ends of the strip) and then we were off home.

One to Avoid...

The New York Helmsley. Let's see. No air conditioning. When I called about it I was told to open the windows, which you can actually do. You can open them so far that you could easily tumble out 33 floors to the (loud) street below.

You know the really basic showerhead you see when you first move into a place? That's what they have in their showers. It may be a Helmsley hotel, but it hasn't been updated since at least 10 years before she died. One more night...

Thanksgiving Dinner Aftermath

Here is a picture of our leftovers from the big event. Only two of
the three turkeys are pictured and the seven pies, Sarah's pumpkin
pudding and the ice cream are no where in sight.

Should I cry or laugh?

Look at the poor kitty! From the interview he seems to be doing great. I'm just so happy he has a wonderful family to take care of him and give him lots of love.

Finally a reason to own a PS3

Easily one of the best games of the year, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is by far the best game available for the PS3 and the most beautiful game on any system (sorry, Bioshock). The motion capture used for movement is nothing short of amazing, the enemies move in realistic ways and don't just stand there waiting to get shot, and the screen isn't cluttered with things like health bars (when you get close to death the screen turns more black and white, when you recover health the color returns). It actually feels like you are playing through a movie. Either buy this for your PS3 or come to my house and check it out!

Wii Alert Update

Not suprisingly, it seems that Toys R Us is selling out of their Wii console and game stock like crazy. Save yourself the aggravation, go online and get your 3 for 2 Wii Games there!

Wii Alert! Wii Alert!

Do you have a Wii? Now through this Wednesday, November 21 you can get 3 games for the price of 2 with free shipping (online) or in the store! Since Wii games don't really go on sale this is a great offer. Just last week I got the highest rated game of all time, Super Mario Galaxy, and they gave me a $25 gift card!

Crazy

Skip and I were at the new Wal-Mart today at 5 am doing most of our Thanksgiving shopping. Navigating the boxes and food in the aisles was preferrable to navigating the hoardes of people. The checkout lady told us that the store gets crazy by 7 am! Stores in Colorado got crowded but nothing like this!

Santas can't say "Ho Ho Ho!"

Santas in part of Australia can't say "Ho Ho Ho!" because "Ho" is a derogatory word to women. They must say "Ha Ha Ha!"

That news is stronger than coffee, I tell ya.

Just Because...

I thought Divine was dead! Shows what I know...

New Cake - Pumpkin

I'm sure this picture doesn't represent the size of the cake at all, but it is pretty huge. It was originally going to be a jack-o-lantern cake but it came out so realistic-looking that we decided to just keep it simple. A jack-o-lantern cake will be coming soon...

New Cake - Witch Hat

I was worried that the pictures wouldn't do justice to this cake due to the great dark purple, but they seem to have turned out OK.

Shepherdstown, WV

We recently took a quick jaunt to Shepherdstown. It's very pretty in the fall, not that it was fall-like at all. Here are Skip and Blossom enjoying each other's company a little bit too much, perhaps?

Gaston Update

You may remember that Gaston is getting some acupuncture for his old, old hips. Well he is doing much better. He even prances sometimes like he used to do all the time. We're very happy with his progress so far...

Broadway week wrap-up

I recently wrote about how much I loved The Color Purple but I saw two other shows.

Cyrano de Bergerac was great too. Jennifer Garner, Kevin Kline and the lead from Take Me Out starred. The sets were amazing. It was a very tall theatre and they didn't skimp on using the space. As wonderful as the show was, I was very cramped in my seat and ended up leaving at half time because my knee was kiling me.

Xanadu has been called the gayest show on Broadway and I don't know how you can get much gayer than that show. Drag queens, Olivia Newton-John songs, gay jokes, roller skates, the gay lead (Cheyanne Jackson) in short, short, short roller disco shorts, a humungous disco ball, gay, gay gay! I felt like I was one of the few first-timers there. It was a very fun time and luckily they are recording the Cast Recording next Monday. The lead is the original Penny Pingleton from Hairspray!

Sleepy Dog

Blossom has taken to sleeping on her back in my arms in the car. That's Skip driving!

Target is very progressive!

Shop Suey!

from a great Chinese/Thai/Japanese restaurant near us...

I got tickets!

It's early Sunday morning and I woke up to an email from the Spice Girls saying more dates had been added. Skip and I are seeing them in February! Oh my goodness I am so excited. We have seats off the floor right in front of the stage. I hope I hope I hope they each get to sing a solo hit or two. Which ones?

Mel C - Never Be The Same Again & Turn To You
Emma B - Free Me & No Sign Of Life
Victoria B - Let Your Head Go
Geri - Ride It & Look At Me
Mel B - I Want You Back

In other news, Blossom has a cough we don't like but we haven't been to a vet here in Maryland yet. Anyone have a suggestion?

What a difference four stars can make

You may remember I walked out of the musical The Color Purple it was so bad. Well I saw it again! Fantasia is currently starring and believe it or not, star is the right word. Or stars to be exact. Four of them. This production left me amazed and extremely confused. Last time I saw it the emotional connections were missing (no one was afraid of Mister, Celie and Nettie didn't seem close, etc.) but this time ALL of the connections were there. I couldn't tell you the last time I cried at a Broadway show (Ok, it was probably Doubt) but I cried last night. Multiple times. And I was certainly not the only one. When poor Nettie and Celie were being separated by Mister I prayed they were both wearing kneepads.

Shug Avery just blew everything away. Even now I'm sitting here wishing I could have the version of "Push the Button" she sang last night. I listened to the preview of the song on iTunes from the original cast and it's nowhere near as good. Since when is the second cast of a musical better than the first?

I dreaded seeing poor Sophia after she was beat up for not wanting to be the mayor's wife's maid. I dreaded it because I was afraid it would be just as heartwrenching as in the movie. Well it was and more. Although they didn't actually show the scene where Sophia is surrounded by all the white men (there were no white people in this production) and beaten, it still was extremely powerful.

Oh Nettie. Nettie was eerie because she seemed to have been channeled right from the movie, looks, voice and all. But that was an amazing thing and it was an amazing performance.

And Fantasia. How can I forget Fantasia? I can honestly say I don't think I've ever clung to every word out of a performer's mouth like the last drops of air. I BELIEVED she was a little girl of 14 and dealing with the loss of her second child in the hands of her baby daddy (her real daddy). I BELIEVED she loved her some Shug Avery (even if she was partly a Nettie substitute). And I BELIEVED she was finally a self-actualized older woman. Maybe this is the only role that Fantasia can convincingly play in her whole life but oh my god every line was perfect. And her singing! I understood every word she sang and although she Fantasiaized it (like that word?) she made it convincing and part of her character.

Until she leaves the production in early January, it is my favorite show on Broadway. If you have any inkling to go to New York between now and then don't miss her.

Broadway week

It's been a while since I've been in NYC for 5 days straight but here I am. I wanted to finally see Fantasia in The Color Purple but they don't have a show on Tuesday night so I got a ticket for Wednesday night. Then I thought, "Why don't I go see the gayest show on Broadway?" It's Xanadu, of course. A bad movie but evidently an amazing show. Well for whatever reason Xanadu started at 7 pm so I got tickets for Thursday night. So I was walking around looking for dinner and there was Cyrano De Bergerac starring Kevin Kline and one of my favorites, Jennifer Garner. I got an aisle seat close to the stage and she was just wonderful.

Hopefully next week I'll see Young Frankenstein.

Topsy Turvy

Here's Skip's latest, a Topsy Turvy made for my sister's birthday. This cake will be on his new business cards.

The Republican Convention Logo

I didn't like it when I saw it, but this analysis of exactly what was wrong with it is just very funny to me.

Presenting Princess Blossom

Only a few weeks in, Blossom has already won Doggie of the Week at Day Care! I've decided that for her own protection, everyone coming to the house to visit her must have a proper security screening. Get your ducks in a row!

Stuff

Sorry posting has been light lately.

I'm getting as big as a house. My knee pain doesn't let me get much sleep or work out. Even when I don't do legs or cardio my knees still hurt at the gym, go figure. The insurance company is taking it's sweet time getting my referral number so I can get this fixed. Oy.

In other news, Skippy has an order for a great cake due Thursday night. If everything goes as planned, it will be the cake featured on his new business cards. Of course I'll post a picture here so you all can have a sugar-coma just looking at it! We ran to Michael's last night and got him a cake sprayer which Skippy claims will make the cake 50% more awesome. His new web site is coming soon, also, as soon as I finish it.

I see that The Bionic Woman had a 30% drop in the ratings in it's second week. Coincidentally, it's the same week that Isaiah Washington joined the cast. If there is any justice, ratings will spike back up after his guest stint (5 episodes) is over.

Hassle or Harassment. You decide!

Ah, we are getting it from both ends. The management company for our Colorado house is claiming that they were never told we were leaving (we have the note and they scheduled a showing while we were still there), they never got the keys and the house was a mess (we hired a professional cleaner who left the keys right where we told her and will testify to the fact), want to charge us a $850 late fee for missing September's rent (documentation states we'll be out by September 1 per our lease) and want to charge us a $400 return check fee for a check he won't describe (we know of no returned check). The upshot is that instead of returning our security deposit they say we owe more than $2500 OVER our security deposit. They will be getting a not-so-nice letter from our lawyer today.

Meanwhile the management company at our new house has us call the maintenance guy to schedule a repair, we schedule it for four days in the future and the guy shows up on the same day the appointment was made. We get calls from the management company complaining about our grass length (well within Baltimore County guidelines), questions about why do we have three cars in the driveway??? and other sundry petty issues. We've talked to the owners of the house, they are very nice people. They also claim they don't know why we are being asked these silly things, they could care less how many cars we have in the driveway.

Welcome to Baltimore!

Medieval Times

Skippy wanted to go to Medieval Times for his birthday so off we went. It was fun but the acting was just awful. A guy would get hit and two seconds later would fall off his horse. Two fights were awesome but besides that it was like a first-time stage-fighting class. But the virgin margaritas were great!

Despite the pictures, we each had only (part of) one.

Gaston

I am sitting on the Acela Express coming home from NYC. I think I like the train a lot. It's not crowded and I see a fair amount of water, so all is good.

Gaston is our coming-up-on-16 year old dog. He was hit by a car as a pup and has hip issues, can't walk very fast, etc. One of the first thing I did when I got back to the area was pick up one of my favorite magazines, The Washingtonian. In it I saw an article about a woman that has had great success doing pet acupuncture. Well I have been a massage therapist and a rolfer so I am certainly not one to poo-poo different modalities.

Long story short he had his first session last Saturday. On Sunday, he woke up without burning hot hips for the first time in forever, was spry, wanted multiple walks, etc. We are very happy and he is too. I could swear he was following me around religiously asking me to take him back.

Just don't ask me to get any acupuncture done on myself. Needles? No way.

Updates

Let's see...

It looks like my years of working out, tennis, volleyball and raquetball are taking a toll on me. I'm going to have knee surgery one one or both knees rather soon. At this point I can only do the treadmill for 10 minutes at a time and can't even take my hour long strolls around NYC! Yay medicine.

I'm in NYC today but will be working from home starting tomorrow until who knows when. The client doesn't want to pay for travel and that's fine with me! It will be great to be home.

Skippy's birthday is on Monday. Over the last few years he has made a humongous cake and we've had a party. This year we decided to just go to Medieval Times. He might still make a smaller cake just to keep the Alzheimers at bay.

Do you know we have Blossom (our 1 year old Beagle) in day care? People seem to think that's very strange. Beagles are bred to run for long periods of time so short of me taking her out for 10 mile daily runs I see it as a very good choice and wise investment in her health and happiness.

I have been on the NYC subway more in the last month than my whole life combined. We stay in midtown but work on Wall Street so it's pretty much a necessity. Needless to say, being used to the ease and efficiency of the Washington area Metro, NYC's subway is very hard to understand for a newcomer. After a few bad detours (why am I in the Village?) I decided to give up and just use hopstop.com. I put in my route and it tells me exactly what subway line to take. Even I can do that.

I still love my iPhone.

What a day

Tuesday that is...

It was only my second time travelling since I moved back to Baltimore. I decided to take the train to NYC. I haven't been on a train in years and even then it's only been once or twice. Since booking the Acela means automatic business class I went that route. So we left the house at 5:30 am for my 6:20 flight (yay) and at the station I find out that American Express has cancelled my ticket. (AmEx has no idea why that happened. Gee, thanks.) I had changed my reservation a week ago to add the train ticket and to change my hotel reservation from Mon-Thurs to Tues-Thurs. I got dizzy listening, but the AmEx lady was trying to explain to me that my itinerary would show my hotel at Mon-Thurs but not to worry she changed it and I wouldn't have a problem. Well I should have just gotten cold chills right there because sure enough they had it as Mon-Thurs. Which means that I missed my first night's reservation and would not only have to pay for it ($599/night) I was now a walk-in and would have to pay $649/night for my stay. Again AmEx couldn't explain this. They showed that I requested the change but couldn't explain why that change was never conveyed to the hotel. This means that the price for my train ticket and my hotel are invalid on my AmEx itinerary are invalid so I will have to write a note and verbally defend the price change for invoicing purposes. Blech.

So the day wasn't a total waste. We normally work this project near the old World Trade Center but were told the day before to report to Jersey City which was easily accessible via the Path train from the Newark Amtrak station. I had never done the Path train but it was very easy and despite my changed itinerary I arrived at 8:58 am. Sweet!

Oh but don't get lulled into complacency, dear reader. I forgot my suitcase at the office and was halfway to Manhattan on the train before I remembered. And, for the first time ever, I forgot my plug for my laptop. We had a thank-you dinner for another client at Tao (one of the best meals I've ever had) which was conveniently located two blocks from the 5th Avenue Apple Store. The store was out of the plug I needed but I obviously needed a plug. I explained that I was from out of town and if I couldn't do my work I could get fired. They couldn't find anything in the back, etc., so I said, "fine, what's your cheapest MacBook? I'll just return it this weekend." They thought this was the strangest thing ever but it drove home the point that I REALLY needed a plug. So (now there were 3 people involved) they walked over to the guy routing traffic to the genius bar, explained my situation and told me that someone from the genius bar could help me but I'd have to wait in line, probably an hour. An hour and a half later there were less than 12 names on the screen meaning they weren't taking new names and the only Jeff I saw was Jeff S. At this time there was a new traffic guy so I said to him, "I'm assuming that I'm Jeff S. as I've been waiting for an hour and a half." Oh no, I wasn't on the list anywhere. I explained my situation yet again and he said they couldn't help me. I stayed calm but got very sad (I had been up since 3 am and it was now 11 pm) and said, "the only reason I've been standing here for the last 90 minutes was they I was told I could get a plug from someone at the Genius Bar." Another Apple employee overheard us and, just like magic, I had a plug 25 minutes later. It doesn't have the normal extension so I can't actually use it from my desk at a conference room but hey, it's a plug.

Usually I walk to my hotel (Hilton Times Square this week) but I was beyond tired so I cabbed it. Normally I never even set an alarm but not only did I set it for 7 am but it took until 7:02 for it to register with my brain.

The rest of the week has gone much smoother. I seem to be here every time Brad and Angelina are at one of their movie premiere's close by and this one was no exception. I'll be home tonight.

Skip's Favorite Cake

I wanted to link to Skip's first Little Mermaid cake in the last post and after searching realized I had never actually posted a picture of it. Skip made this cake for my niece's 6th birthday and it is his favorite cake. I agree.

It is so tall that it did not fit in the back of our hybrid SUV fully assembled. The only part of the cake Skip didn't make from scratch are the little pearls in the treasure chest on the middle layer.

The Little Mermaid again

Call me crazy, but it seems that The Little Mermaid is a popular theme for birthday cakes. Happy 10th birthday to Amber!

Oh yeah, Skippy had both of these cakes due this morning.

Tattoine

I know you haven't seen many cake pictures lately but that's about to change. Skip has 10 orders for cakes and that doesn't even count the one I "nudged" him into making for his birthday. Today was Owen's 4th birthday and here is the cake.

New Music

This fall is shaping up to be a great time for new music. New releases by Kylie Minogue, Annie Lennox, Madonna and Mariah Carey all have me excited. I can now add Leona Lewis' new album to that list. Leona won British Idol (?) last year and her first single "Bleeding Love" can be found here. I'm on my 6th listen in a row, that's a good sign I'm going to love the song!

Annie Lennox is even touring this fall. If I can get tickets I will definitely be there. Love her.

Failed Audition

This may look like a blurry picture of an adorable dog, but it in fact her audition photo for the Resident Evil movies. If you've seen the movies you know them's some uuuuuugly dogs.

Needless to say even in this photo she is too pretty.

Don't make me choose between my babies!

Do you get the reference? Please tell me you get the reference. I'm 0 for 3 on the people I've asked so far.

Update:
Oh fine. She's playing Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice!

Positive role models, or the lack thereof

Blossom has no doggie role models at home. Gaston is 15, walks very slow and can barely see or hear. The cats on the other hand are full of life and always getting into and on everything. So who do you think Blossom is emulating? Take a wild guess.

Childish

To protect his identity, his name is Flip.

Flip applied for a transfer within his company while moving from one state to another. Everything was handled via the computer, all work was done, he was ready to go.

Flip arrived at work this morning where he was told he had been reported missing by his former location as he didn't report for work last week during his scheduled vacation and they had no idea about his transfer.

This is also the store where an employee told Skip that if he (the employee) were dying that Flip was to keep his "faggot" lips off him. Would HR do anything? No.

Happy September!

Even my iPhone is repulsed

In moving an armoir one of the doors fell off right onto my big toe. Here is the damage. Evidently my iPhone is so repulsed by it that it wouldn't take a clear picture.

Skippy tells me I'm going to lose the toenail. Ewwww. On the positive note, I can tell you that the motorized wheelchairs at Wal-Mart, Costco and Target are all good but I rank them in that order :-) I'm the crippled guy that spreads sunshine and happiness everwhere he goes.

We're here

No more cross country driving. No more cross country driving. No more cross country driving. No more cross country driving.

I ended up driving the dogs in the Ford the whole way. We had planned on driving over 4 days but ended up doing it in 3 and boy were the dogs bored.

But we're here and the house is great.

When Harry Met Sally

My friend Kristin (in the pink shirt) and I sat at the same table from When Harry Met Sally! They evidently have the best pastrami sandwich in the world. I hate pastrami. They also had nasty pie. But cool pictures on the wall!

Now some words...

It's been a crazy month. Poor Skip has been packing up most of the house himself. I've been helping him on the weekends myself. We leave this Friday night and will get to Baltimore on Monday.

I started my new job last week. Our Christmas party is in Las Vegas!

I actually like a new comic strip. I can't remember the last time this happened. It is Lio.

My most anticipated game of the year, Bioshock, comes out this week. And I can't play it until at least next Monday due to the move. Where is the justice? To make it worse I preordered it through Steam so it was sitting on my hard drive all weekend just screaming for me.

I actually have next week off. I will be off for 10 days!!!

No words...

It's Underdog!

I saw Underdog with my Mom yesterday and wow it is just hilarous. Everybody was there with their parents (including me) and the kids were all actually very well behaved! The movie really kept their attention and kept them laughing. Any of you out there with kids (even those of you with SIX kids) need to rush your kids off to the movie theatre right away. Even my Mom was howling throughout the movie.

Skippy was so jealous we saw it that he is going today. Poor Blossom won't know what hit her come Halloween.

Even more big news

Last night I accepted a job offer! It is with the same company I am working for now as a contractor. So in addition to doing Domino consulting, I'll be combining that with the specific tools that my new company uses. I'll still be travelling a lot but hopefully a little less. With the move to the east coast I expect to spend a lot less time commuting at least!

Guess that clean livin' is paying off!

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Big News

We are moving back to Baltimore. Halethorpe, MD to be exact. Only a few weeks left in Colorado then we'll be driving across county with Skip's cousin and the animals. At the end of August! If the AC in the rental truck breaks I will just walk out on the road, lay down and wait for someone to run me over.

Underdog

I cannot wait to see Underdog. Skip even wants to dress up Blossom as Underdog for Halloween. Well, she is a beagle.

The TV show recently came out on DVD but I don't think I can watch it. I'd rather keep my great memories. I recently tried to watch an episode of another of my childhood favorites, Ultraman, but could only watch 10 minutes it was SO BAD.

Underdog!

Doh!

Life has been busy lately, so here's an update...

It turns out that Skippy is just miserable in Colorado as I'm gone most of the time, so we're moving back east! Cross fingers, we should know if we got the house we want to rent today or tomorrow. Plans are to move to just below Baltimore the last week of August. We'll be back near friends and family, and I will (mostly) only have 45 minute plane rides instead of these 4 hour affairs I'm going through now.

I'm finishing up the project I'm working on in NYC this week (although I'm in Cambridge) and supposedly next week I start as Senior Architect for another huge Manhattan-based client. It also looks like I'll start working as a full-time employee either for my contracting company or the company that hires my contracting company.

I learned about the new position last week at a great kickoff dinner at Delmonico's in the Wall Street section of Manhattan.

The Simpsons Movie was excellent. It certainly was strange watching it in a movie theatre, especially when I looked around and noticed that a lot of the people (kids) in the theatre weren't even born when The Simpsons started! I remember seeing their short films on the Tracey Ullman show and thinking what a great show it would make. Truth be told, I prefer the voices and drawings from the very early shows the best.

How sad

Tammy Faye has passed. It just broke my heart seeing her on Larry King Live this week.

From her CNN obituary:

"Tammy Faye Messner has also been known as one of the few evangelical Christians who had the support of the gay community. She was one of the first televangelists to reach out to those with AIDS when it was a little-known and much-feared disease. In return, she told King in July, "When I went -- when we lost everything, it was the gay people that came to my rescue, and I will always love them for that."

I think that Tammy Faye was a true Christian. The world could be such a better place if more Christians were like her...

People are so mean

For whatever reason, I have been spending more time lately reading comments on certain sites I visit (tvsquad.com, joystiq.com, etc.). The amount of hate and vitriol in these comments makes me angry and sad at the same time. What is wrong in people's lives that they feel the need to put other people down in the meanest ways possible?

If I detach myself from it a bit I do find it interesting that people can get mad and say someone's opinion of a tv show is "wrong". Whaaa?

While I'm being sad about the meanness in the world, please please please don't let CNN show any more pictures of those poor pitbulls that were in fights. They make me want to cry.

I went to Harvard!

Since I'm only here for 2 or 3 weeks I've been trying to do as much sightseeing as possible. Last night I walked 3 miles to Harvard. Like a lot of campuses part of the campus is scattered and part is in a specific area, this one surrounded by a fence. I walked inside and around for a bit (the picture is from inside) and it make me sad thinking about how I wasn't able to finish college. Even at Harvard the students and teachers look like they do anywhere else.

Harvard Square is great too. Lots of shops, I ended up having sushi. I wanted seafood but none was to be found.

Taking a cab back, we drove along the river and it reminded me of driving in Arlington/Alexandria along the Potomac.

It could use a trim...

but this is a great "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ad starring Marvel vs. DC Comics.

Exactly what I was afraid of...

Normally I don't quote other people's blog entries, but this post by Dan Renzi describes my fear about the Hairspray movie. It went from a glorious John Waters spectacle in the original movie to a not-quite-so glorious John Waters spectacle on Broadway but you didn't care because Harvey Fierstein and the score were just brilliant. Evidently now it's been watered down to appeal to the masses. I'm still waiting for Netflix.

"Saw an advance screening of Hairspray last night.

I was extremely excited.

It's not the deepest piece of cinema you're ever going to see, so I'll be brief.

1) John Travolta is very funny and completely steals this whole movie.

2) But the rest of the cast plays the whole thing entirely straight--I'm not sure if anyone actually saw the original movie. Almost every shred of the John Waters aesthetic has been washed out--nothing is edgy, nothing is sexy, nothing even comes close to being shocking. The fact that Divine played Edna Turnblatt in the original movie wasn't just to have a drag queen running around; Divine was only one part of the larger twisted flavor of the film. In this blase' version, there's really no reason to have John Travolta dressed up in drag at all. So his (excellent) performance seems very random and out-of-place.

3) The truest performance actually comes from Amanda Bynes, and that's just because she can't act. In this movie, she's pretty fun, she's the only one who "gets it."

4) The dancing? Fabulous. But after a while, you don't care.

5) The outcome: a totally mediocre movie. I say, wait for the DVD, it's not worth ten bucks plus popcorn. It's odd to think that this film--which is based on a John Waters story--is actually the perfect summer film to take your kids.

Kind of a bummer. Hopefully Harry Potter is better."

Have you made your Simpson?

Introducing Jeff Simpson. Make yours...

A laugh to start your morning

One of the most funny and horrifying things I have ever read. Can't write, must laugh umm cry, umm ...

The Air Conditioner

How my iPhone saved an old man from getting beat up

This is a story of stupid and stupider.

I walked into Boston after work and saw Transformers. Awesome movie.

After I left the movie I decided to walk around and find something to eat. While doing that some guy (red shirt) decided to turn down a one-way street the wrong way. Well this old guy (white shirt) decided that was a no no and stepped in front of his car to stop him. They argued a bit and then the guy in the car got out and started pushing him, yelling about how he was willing to risk the ticket from the cops, he wanted to drive down the street the wrong way.

Well arguing turned into shoving. One way of course, the old guy wasn't stupid enough to fight back. So I stepped up and started taking pictures with my trusty iPhone, one of which you see in this entry. The guy gave me a nasty look but got right back to arguing.

Then two bellman from the next door Hyatt walked up to the two guys and started talking. Again, the younger guy could have cared less and kept on arguing with the old guy. So then I stepped up even closer and called 911. As the phone was dialing, he jumped back into his car and started driving away. I had enough time to give the operator his driver's license before he got to far. I was transferred and the new operator asked for the driver's license again. Luckily I had taken a picture of the driver's license so while I was talking to the operator on my iPhone I looked at the pictures on my iPhone so I could tell her the exact driver's license number!

After I got off the phone, I started walking to find dinner again. The old guy and one of the bellmen stopped me to thank me. As soon as the words were out of their mouths, the next ones were (in unison) "is that an iPhone?"

Oy. I finally found sushi. It was delicious.

The Mother Ship

Well here I am in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I can see Boston across the river. I am about ready to go to the main office for the first time ever! I even finally get a badge today.

I like this area a lot, it reminds me of the Washington, D.C. and Arlington area.

Too funny

I don't think this ad would fly here in the States...

As my brother pointed out...

Microsoft has actually listened! Due to an amazing hardware failure rate (a recent survey of console-selling companies lists the XBOX 360 failure rate at about 37%, the PS3 rate at 1% and the Wii rate at 0%), Microsoft has agreed to extend the warranty for all XBOX 360s to 3 years. Here's betting their next console goes through a more rigorous testing process.

Fireworks

Who else was cold while they were watching fireworks last night? Anyone? I'm talking go inside and get a coat cold.

Musings...

The older I get the more I want nothing to do with scary rides at amusement parks. This summer has done nothing to persuade me otherwise...

The only time I watch Fox (blech) News is at the gym and then it is only glances here and there while I'm doing cardio. I have noticed that they spend a lot of time talking about Rosie O'Donnell. Consistently. Almost every time I am there. Yesterday it was for almost 15 minutes in a segment called Rosie's Rants. Interesting.

I still don't feel 100% after coming back from Germany. The jet lag has left me tired and happy I didn't have to travel this week.

I think my chances of seeing the Spice Girls in concert are pretty bad. Evidently 1 million people have signed up for 11 concerts so far.

Don't freak out but I'm going to say something nice about Microsoft. My XBOX 360, built in 2005, had the dreaded 3 red rings of death meaning the hardware failed. I called to get it fixed and they told me it was out of warranty so it would cost me $140 to fix. Well Microsoft has admitted to production problems with consoles made in 2005 so why should I pay for them to fix their mistake? I waited about a month, called back and asked again that they fix it for free since it was their (admitted) issue. The lady tried to tell me that I had bought the console in May 2007 (2 months ago) when I actually bought it in November of 2005. OK so that wasn't the nice part. I told her about the 2005 issue and after doing some research she told me that the offer to fix 2005 consoles was a limited time offer. I explained that I travel every week and therefore don't play it nearly as much as these young whippersnappers these days and that's why it took so long to break. She didn't budge. I told her she had lost a Microsoft customer and I was just as happy with my Wii and I would obviously not be buying any more 360 games or accessories. She asked if she had satisfied me and I said, "well no, if you had wanted to satisfy me you would have made me an exception to your limited-time rule and you would fix my console which was clearly manufactured in a period where you were having production problems." "Well sir, I'm not authorized to make that kind of exception." "You could talk to your supervisor and get an exception if your goal is truly to provide exceptional service as you have told me." So a few minutes later after talking to her supervisor (or not?) she approved the exception and in a month or so I should have a fixed XBOX 360. OK so only the very last part was nice, for the rest she was just an idiot.

Speaking of gaming, check out Overlord. Or at least check out the demo. Having your minions kill rabid flesh eating unicorns? HIlarious! Really, it's a very funny game.

My iPhone impressions

Well I had no intention to post an iPhone review as there are so many out there already but I had a request... So I'll give you my impressions.

It is smaller and lighter than you think it will be.
The screen is just fantastic, bright and clear.
Even when you get smudges on it (which come off fairly easily just with your shirt) the screen is clear.
The web browser is fairly slow (much faster when connected to WiFi) but faster than on the Blackberry Pearl. You can set up WiFi locations and if the iPhone finds you in one, it automatically switches to that location to speed things up for you.
Synching is very easily, just a few extra options over an iPod.
Using it as an iPod is wonderful. Using it at the gym, I only had one gripe... If I wanted to forward to another song on the Nano I could just reach down and push a button without even looking. Now I need to unlock it (slide a slider to the right) and then push forward. I haven't mastered doing that while it's on my hip yet.
The video quality is something to be seen. I'm working my way through the 2nd season of Lost (hi Deb!) and it's so easy to watch.
Although the camera is only 2 megapixels and has no flash, etc. it still takes great pictures under the right conditions (proper lighting).
I exported my Lotus Notes contacts to the Mac Address Book so they could sync. Now my caller ID shows who is calling along with their picture. Sweet!
Sending email is pretty easy, the addressing uses type-ahead to speed things up for you.
With my fat fingers I thought I would have difficulty typing. It's still not very fast but I know it will get faster with practice.
The device is fast. I haven't noticed a lag doing anything yet (except for web browsing, of course).
Google maps on the device is sweet. Maybe I just don't know how but it doesn't seem like you can save locations. Hopefully that is on it's way...
Even the calculator looks cool.
The Weather and Clock are sweet. On the Clock I can see the time for Los Angeles, Denver, New York and Berlin all on the same screen for easy comparison.
Using the web browser to get my lotus notes mail is FINALLY easy. I've never used a pda that could view the page without me inputting the url to go directly to the Inbox. Zooming on pages and clicking URLs is easy also. All my Safari bookmarks are there since they sync up also.
Unlike a lot of people, my activation process was very smooth and trouble-free.

So what don't I like about my iPhone?
I wish the glass didn't smudge but that's just the neat freak in me.
I wish you could map the external volume buttons to forward/reverse for iPod play.
The headset jack is recessed so most headphone jacks won't fit. No worries, Skip has some device he used to grind the plastic on the headphone jack down and all is good.
No games (without using the web browser)!
In many places when you rotate the iPhone the screen rotates with you between vertical and horizontal (wide-screen). I wish it did it everywhere (so I could have the wide keyboard when writing email for example).
8 gigs (7.2 gigs usable space)? Well I don't like it but I have a ton of music, all my photos, contacts, mail and bookmarks on it and still have 2 gigs free so I guess I can't complain too much.

Would I buy it again? Hell yes.

Blossom

I haven't posted a picture of Blossom in a while. She is doing great. She's calm around people and does her tricks very well (sit, down, stay, roll over, spin around, etc.). She will even stay while I go another room. But of course as soon as I "free" her she runs for me at full speed! Every night is cuddle time on the couch and last night Skip and I were both on the couch, so she just made herself as comfortable as possible draped over us.

I am so weak

At least I lasted two days.

Good bye Deutscheland

I shall miss your smaller everything, your non sugary food, your Euros, your clean air, your Coca Cola Light, and your truly diverse airport. Hopefully I will be back soon.

Do you think?

The Spice Girls are finally reuniting. Do you think I'm going to try for tickets? Let's take a look at my current top 25 most played, shall we? I wonder if any Spice Girls songs or songs by members of the Spice Girls are in there...


3. Let Your Head Go (Radio Mix) - Victoria Beckham

5. Free Me (Dr. Octavo Seduction Radio Edit) - Emma Bunton

9. Holler - Spice Girls

15. Ride It - Geri Halliwell


Damn right I'm trying for tickets. In two different cities!

This post comes to you from the German version of Blogger!

Am I just tired?

Why does the Hotel Hamburger Hof sound so funny?

Cloudy but pretty

My last supper

Chinese! I haven't eaten it yet... Do you know what the German word for pork is? Schweinfleisch (pig flesh). I don't know why I find that funny.

Did you know...

Supposedly you will get fined if you drive on the sidewalk in Germany but I see it all the time. This view is outside my current work location.