Phishing Expedition

The website of Chicks on Speed Records is a mish-mash of styles, combining pixelated punk rock, paper bag and lo-fi grunge* in a manner that succeeds in keeping user-friendliness inversely proportional to the obscurity of the "artists" found therein. I suppose there are a thousand clones on the web, if one cares to look for them.

But what sets Chicks on Speed apart is this very interesting little enticement. It appears that peddling recordings of dubious merit isn't sufficiently phattening COSR's bank account, so it's decided to go into the banking business itself. Its Bank of the West phishing page is authoritatively styled and has the rather ironic headline of "Protect Yourself Against Financial Fraud!" (It still contains various grammatical errors that should tip off a visitor, even if he or she failed to notice the bogus URL.) The relevant question is whether this attempt to illegally capture ATM card numbers and PINs is being done with the knowledge of the site's German-based owners.

Here's the text of the email that attempts to pull visitors to the site.

Feel free to pass along this URL to whatever law enforcement authorities you are most conversant with.

*As defined in "Fresh Styles for Web Designers"

Technorati tags: Phishing | Chicks on Speed Records | Bank of the West

Never Forget

French EU Constitution Vote Analysis

Whenever I want to try to make sense of the confusing jumble otherwise known as the European Union, I turn to the North Sea Diaries. You should do the same, especially if you're wondering about the implications of today's vote by the French to reject the proposed EU Constitution.

Here's a brief summary analysis; here's the reaction from Brussels; here's some live-blogging of the returns and what they could mean across the EU; and here's a pre-vote analysis that is not only insightful but accurate. I particularly appreciated the explanation as to why Polish plumbers were likely responsible in part for the French vote:

Technorati tag: EU Constitution

Revenge of the Whatever

I might as well add my input to the billions of bits that have been posted thus far about "Revenge of the Sith." It was an excellent 90-minute movie. Unfortunately, actual running time is 140 minutes. The territory between those two borders is densely populated by the most boring dialog and wooden acting to plod across the big screen in years.

When "Sith" is good, it's extremely good. Alien landscapes have never been so intriguing nor machines of battle so intricate. The mano a mano duels were expertly staged and quite grown-up; this is, indeed, a PG-13 movie.

I had read that the depised Jar Jar Binks makes an appearance, but if he does, I missed it. (Could it have been during one of the interminable Anakin-Padmé conversational snoozers?)

But, in the end, I left thinking, "whatever happened to the fun that characterized the first three movies in the series?" So what if this was the best of the last three? It still felt like an effort to sit through it, to simply see on screen what we either knew or suspected all along.

I know there's a certain segment of the population which cannot wait until all six movies are available in one giant "Director's Cut" DVD collection, where they can be viewed in proper sequence. But I fear that the experience will prove disappointing. Here is the main problem with taking thirty years to put out six movies in an out-of-sequence fashion: the special effects technology has improved so dramatically that the final episodes (when viewed in their proper sequence) will not hold up well from that important perspective. But, fortunately, they'll have better dialog, better acting and much more fun to offset those weaknesses.

Technorati tag: Revenge of the Sith

Whacked Blog of the Week

This week's award goes to Crying While Eating, a limited lifespan (if we're lucky) blog showcasing homemade videos of people who are, um, crying while eating.

And lest you start acting all superior and stuff, realize that CWE has got a significant lead in the Contagious Media Showdown.

I'm afraid to check in on the last place blog. Someone else do it and give us a review in the comments.

Technorati tags: Contagious Media Showdown | Bandwidth Abuse

Signs I should have stayed in bed

The young lady bagging my groceries this morning asked if I wanted the milk in a plastic bag. I said yes and told her it made it easier to handle.

I pulled into the garage and grabbed a half dozen of the plastic bags from the back of the car. As I walked toward the door to the house, something out of the ordinary occurred: the strap on one of the bags broke and it fell to the concrete. It contained, of course, the gallon of milk in an obviously non-shatter resistant plastic jug. Fat-free went everywhere, splattering the garage wall (it does match the paint, sort of) and creating a nice little dairy stream out into the driveway. "Well, gosh," I exclaimed in my best Napoleon Dynamite impersonation, as I picked up the rapidly-emptying cracked container and tossed it onto the driveway before it could void itself completely inside the garage.

After I unloaded the rest of the groceries, I inspected what I thought was a money-saving coupon, but which in reality was a notice informing me that I was not a winner in some unspecified game. Yeah, tell me something I don't already know.

At least I didn't title this post "Crying over spilt milk."

Random thought. Wonder if I'll notice anything peculiar in the garage during the next 100° day?

Incoming link of the month, Pt. II

If the link described in the previous post is unusual, this is downright freaky.

Wonder who, exactly, decided that a list of links to scholarly definitions of "wisdom" should also include an article entitled "If wisdom stunk, could you clear a room?"?

Technorati tag: Wisdom

Incoming link of the month

Are you familiar with the Open Database Project? You've probably used it, even if you didn't realize it. It's a human-edited open source website directory, and its database is used by many of the largest commercial web directories and services (including Google, AOL, Alexa, Netscape -- which hosts it -- HotBot and more than 300 others).

Anyway, I had always assumed that new websites were added to the ODP via manual submission. Anyone can submit a website for editorial consideration, and assume that's how the bulk of sites are added to the database. However, browsing through the documentation on how the site works, it also appears that editors can elect to add sites that pique their interest.

Nevertheless, I was still surprised to learn that this Gazette post is now enshrined in the obscure and underserved category of "Recreation: Travel: Travelogues: North America: United States: Texas."

What's even more incredible is that someone actually found the link and clicked on it. Will wonders never cease?

Technorati tag: Open Database Project

Rambling

Note: For your peace of mind and overall well-being, the following post is certified to be 100% Content Free™.

• I've found the perfect byline for this here blog, courtesy of my hero, Wally. "I used to read, but it's faster to make up stuff."


• Let's see...at this time of day on Tuesday, it was 103°; today it's 64. But I'm not going to whine about it like some other blogger I know.


• OK, I don't really know him.


• If Cowtown Pattie feeds you some line about being all cozy with the Potential Next Governor of Texas, ask her for proof. I'll bet all she shows you is a scribbled-on ball cap. And the writing doesn't even look Jewish.


• Speaking of Kinky, I'm reading his book, 'Scuse Me While I Whip This Out (quick...from which movie cometh that quote?), which I inexplicably received as a Christmas present, and which I almost forgot about. It's very funny, and I may start running random Kinky quotes on this here blog, absent any self-generated humor of my own (is that redundant?).


• How's this for coincidence? I picked up a new website client yesterday...another surgeon based in Odessa who specializes in minimally-invasive robotic surgery...and he's not related to the previous client with those same credentials. The first guy is a cardiothoracic surgeon; this new guy is a urologist. Whole different, um, ballgame.


• And speaking of robot surgeons, I didn't realize until now that Odessa's Alliance Hospital has the only da Vinci Surgical System™ between Fort Worth and El Paso (and it's not for certain that El Paso has one. Lubbock's getting one.). Based on what I've seen thus far, if you've got to go under the knife, this is the way to do it.


• I apologize if that previous item appears to violate the content-free certfication at the top of the page. Maybe you should just assume that I made it up.

Charley Reese - Gah!

I swore off syndicated columnist Charley Reese a couple of years ago, finally growing overly-tired of his anti-Israel and anti-war ravings, even though I agreed with him on a number of other subjects.

Despite my good intentions, however, I found my eye straying to his column again over the past several months, in the same manner one is subconsciously drawn to picking at a scab over an almost healed wound. The latter activity often results in a painful reawakening, and the metaphor holds true as I skimmed Reese's latest column in which he confirms sainthood on the British pomposity known as George Galloway. If Charley had his way, the US Congress would be filled with Galloways.

It's hard to believe that Reese watched the same Senate subcommittee hearing I saw, in which Galloway put on a performance that would be the envy of every Enron defendant and would surely merit an Academy Award for Righteous Indignation While Avoiding Answering Questions. I was a bit embarrassed that our senators sat passively and tolerated this blowhard's tirade; I'll give him points for bluffing his way through the questioning without a single bullet in his magazine. But histrionics won't ultimately overcome facts, even when delivered with a proper and indignant Scottish accent.

Reese seems to have finally succumbed to the last refuge of the left: supporting anything as long as it's anti-Bush-administration. I won't fall for it again. This time it's final: goodbye, Charley.

Damned by Faint Praise: A Clarification

It occurs to me that I inadvertently failed to give sufficient credit to MLB in yesterday's post about sharing housework.

In that post, I implied that her doing the cooking was no big deal because she doesn't do it that often. Nothing could be further from the truth (the big deal part, that is; the frequency is actually irrelevant).

MLB is an excellent cook, and she tells me that she enjoys cooking. When she does a home-cooked meal, it's not hamburger-helper and instant mac-and-cheese. The truth of the situation is that she carries a very heavy workload in her capacity as a financial analyst. It's not unusual for her to leave the house at 7:30 a.m. and not return until after 6:00 p.m. She also serves on a couple of local boards that demand a lot of her time; last night's meeting went until almost 10:00 p.m. -- and it started at 5:00. So when she gets home, it's always her call as to what our dinner strategy will be. If she's up for cooking, wonderful. But if she's not, that's great, too. (And, occasionally, she'll offer to cook and I'll gently suggest that it might be better if we go out...after three decades of marriage, you can tell when rest is in order.)

I know. It would really be great if I'd just learn my way around the kitchen. There are so many reasons why that's just crazy talk, however. Trust me on that.

Anyway, on a weighted basis, her cooking three times a week is far more significant than all those other things on my side of the ledger.

Stupid Mistake

The Waxahachie, Texas school district has issued an apology for a photo in the local high school's yearbook in which the only African-American student in the Honor Society is labeled as "black girl." The school district has asked all students to return their yearbooks so that the affected pages (there are four, due to the printing and binding method) can be replaced.

The victim was understandably unhappy with the error.

While the "placeholder" text might have been better thought through, and while it certainly should never have made it into the final product, it was still a descriptive and, in and of itself, relatively inoffensive bit of language. What's much less excusable is the fact that out of the fifty members of the Honor Society, the yearbook staff was able to identify 49, all of whom are white. How is it possible that the lone minority student (based on skin color, anyway) was unidentifiable?

According to the Waxahachie Independent School District's website, the high school has 1,362 students. According to the 2000 Census, 8.62% of the population of Ellis County, of which Waxahachie is the county seat, is African American. If you apply that percentage to the high school enrollment, you could assume that the total population of black students in the high school is about 120, and a logical assumption would be that there might be about 60 females in that group. That's not a lot of kids to keep up with, you know?

I want to be careful not to read too much into this incident, but I can't help wondering if the problem at Waxahachie High School is more basic than an inability to proofread photo captions.

Technorati tag: Waxahachie, Texas

Pardon me while I melt

104° yesterday (110° in Fort Stockton)...same forecast for today (depending on who you believe; one station says 107). That's just not right.

Our temperature range yesterday was 40 degrees. The mornings do make things tolerable, along with the low humidity. But when it hits 104 or higher, well, it's just hot, and there's no getting around it.

The forecast for Thursday, however, is for a high in the lower 80s and a good chance of rain. I'll believe it when I see it.

Book Review: "The Kite Runner"

I've just finished a remarkable book, "The Kite Runner," by Khaled Hosseini. Even though I've entitled this post "Book Review," I'm not going to attempt to describe the book; I think the editorial and reader reviews at the Amazon.com link above do a far better job than I could. Suffice it to say that I started the book on Saturday and completed it this evening, and considering that it takes me an average of a month to finish a novel, to say that this was a compelling story would be a huge understatement.

Read it. You'll be glad you did. You might even thank me...a thousand times over.

As I thank fellow blogger Jimmy Patterson for loaning me his copy in exchange for my copy of Anne Lamott's latest book. I think I got the better part of that deal!

Technorati tags: The Kite Runner | Khaled Hosseini

Housework: Who wears the apron in your family?

I just read Sue Shellenberger's "Work & Family" column in last week's Wall Street Journal in which she addresses one of the primary sources of marital conflict in America: who does the housework?

She describes a new study that purports to show that husbands are doing a larger share of the household chores than their wives give them credit for (but still not as much as the men think they're doing). From the WSJ article:

The trend of men assuming more of the chores around the house is not new.

I suspect that many wives still feel that their husbands aren't pulling their weight (or pushing the vacuum cleaner) when it comes to helping out around the house, but the ladies have to shoulder some of the blame for that. Some of us guys just don't have a clue as to how hard and time-consuming housework is.

It wasn't until I began working at home that I realized that I fell into the "clueless and lazy" category. I was perceptive enough to see that I had more free time than my wife. She was also making roughly four times as much as me (I've managed to narrow that gap to a multiple of only three), and I figured that if she was going to carry the financial load, I should haul more of the other loads. Here's how we've split things up:

Now, I already know what you're thinking. "Gee, she still gets all the yucky stuff." I'll concede that point, but only conceptually. Granted, she does do most of the wetwork, but you also have to factor in frequency if you want to compute actual workload. I'll match vacuuming the whole house each week against mopping the 50% of our square footage that has tile every 3 weeks. And don't let the cooking fool you, either; that happens on average about 3-4 times per week. I still assemble breakfast every morning (and do the cleanup) and put out the lunch components (and do the cleanup) each workday.

You'll also notice the check and balance we have with respect to our financial records. I record everything; she corrects my mistakes.

So, at times I feel pretty good about doing my share around the house. But, then I realize that it's still not enough; she works hard at her job, and I need to make her life as easy as possible. That's what you do for someone you love.

But I draw the line at cleaning the bathrooms. That's just gross.

Apple + Intel = Unholy Alliance?

Update: The MacWorld forum dedicated to this story has some interesting conjecture, no doubt worth the price of admission...just like anything on this blog, about "the real story." I tend to side with the folks who see an Apple/Intel collaboration as being about something other than a processor. I like the suggestion of partnering with Intel to take advantage of WiMax (the upcoming wireless protocol with a five mile range), or of using Intel's XScale chip in a video iPod (or a completely new product). Less exciting but perhaps more practical is the suggestion that Intel might simply be another supplier of one of the myriad peripheral non-CPU chips used by Apple.
...

It's has been rumored for at least a decade, but the Wall Street Journal is adding new fuel to the fire by reporting that Apple is in serious discussions with Intel to adopt the latter's CPUs for future Mac offerings. Neither company will confirm those talks.

This move would have significant implications for Apple:

At this point, I have no opinion as to whether an arrangement like this is a net positive or negative thing for current Mac users. It could result in a financially stronger Apple, which is a good thing. But it could also distract the company's single-minded focus on its tiny-but-loyal customer base, and almost inevitably would lead to a lessening of its reputation for quality as it begins to compete on a price basis with Dell and its ilk. I suspect that Apple's OS would also become a more attractive target for malware, which we've been able to largely avoid thus far. And, last but not least, it would be unwise of Apple to fail to consider how Microsoft might react to such an alliance.

I'll be interested to see the reaction of more knowledgeable observers around the blogosphere. Thus far, not many people are reacting to the reports. Stay tuned!

Technorati tags: Apple | Macintosh | Intel

Good news...

...from Jimmy Patterson over at Sticky Doorknobs. Score: Jimmy - 1; Underwear-obsessed Nurse - 0.

Dance Lessons, Week 3: A Sinister Revelation

Our third ballroom dancing lesson left us with the illusion that we might someday master this skill. There were times, perhaps perceptible only by us, that we were actually dancing as a couple, rather than answering a casting call for extras in the next George Romero movie. (Note to George: If you ever decide that "Ballroom Dance of the Dead" is a title that piques your imagination, have your people call my people. We'll do lunch, bubbie.)

Bernadette, our ever-patient instructor, was not content to let us rest on our laurels, as she continued to throw variations into the almost-comfortable basic steps we'd been practicing. We added the promenade to the tango and the cha-cha. If you're unfamiliar with that move, let me assure you guys that it's not one that you want to do in public in Midland, Texas without a female partner. However, when you have a lovely person of the distaff persuasion mirroring your moves, it evokes Fred/Ginger imagery (well, in the way that a Mad Magazine cover might evoke Time Magazine imagery).

I also had a revelation on Friday evening: dance lessons are for the guys. Oh, the women show up in order to make us be there, and to develop a passing familiarity with the steps, but they really don't have to learn anything because no matter what happens -- and it's very important to understand this -- it's all our fault.

The fact that it took me three lessons to figure this out proves that I never stood a chance. Never did, and never will.

Technorati tag: Ballroom Dance

"Unleashed" Surprisingly Good

We decided not to fight the "Sith" crowds and instead caught a matinee showing of "Unleashed" this afternoon. It was a good call; we shared the theater with only a handful of other folks, and the movie turned out to be very entertaining.

Anyone who follows movies is already familiar with the plot. Jet Li plays an "enforcer" in the employ of a ruthless gangster (is that redundant?) portrayed by Bob Hoskins. Only the employment status is more akin to slavery, with Li's character ("Danny") sleeping in a cage and wearing a metal collar. The unlocking of his collar is his cue to wreak havoc on anyone unfortunate enough to cross Bart, the gangster. The unfolding of the plot reveals no great surprises, but the uniform excellence of the performances was unexpected.

Well, we'd expect nothing less from Morgan Freeman, a blind piano tuner who befriends Danny, or from Hoskins, who always brings energy to his roles. But we never expected the engaging and even moving performance that Li provided. To be sure, it's his martial arts skills that provide the movie's initial attraction, but he transcends that stereotype, as we watch an almost feral personality experience for the first time a taste of freedom.

Given that Li is still far from fluent in English, much of his performance is via facial expressions and body language, and the results are occasionally delightful (for example, his first encounter with braces adorning a young lady's teeth). Surely director Luc Besson can take credit for some of this skill, but it appears that Jet Li might actually have the soul of an actor, after all. Whether he'll ever have the American box office appeal of Jackie Chan (the comparison's inevitable, isn't it?) remains to be seen, but this performance seems to make him the superior actor.

My main complaint about the movie is that the ending left a couple of unresolved loose ends. But that's a minor shortcoming in the overall scheme of things.

I can't conclude this review without addressing one of the trailers we saw, because if there's any justice, there will be a special circle of hell for whoever decided that the world needed this movie.

Creative Lull

Some people are energized when they're confronted by multiple projects, each of which seems to demand full creative attention. Not me; I get sullen and crabby.

This has been such a week. Not that I'm complaining; "multiple projects" means money in the bank (however fleetingly) for a free-lancer, but they surely stretch my already fragile creative skills to the snapping point. I've been dealing with new designs or significant updates to five websites (spanning four industries) this week, not to mention another dozen sites that require routine ongoing maintenance. The effort has left me feeling tapped out, and one side effect has been the lack of posts to the Gazette.

But I'm not going down without a fight, so I direct your attention to "10x10 / 100 Words and Pictures that Define the Time". [Update: I've helpfully added an actual link to 10x10 which was omitted in the original post. You guys are so picky!] Here's how it works:

This strikes me as a bit prideful and disingenuous. While the mechanics of assembling the final product might be achieved "without any human input," the source material is certainly all human-generated, and from this perspective 10x10 is simply a big visual collating machine. But, still, it's a fascinating exercise, and a nifty bit of design and coding.

Tip o'the hat to Walter over at Psyberspace, via a post containing words that I understand individually but which give me a headache when arranged in the way Walter has cohabited them.

Technorati tag: 10x10

Dead Car Battery Redux: Alternatives

Regular Gazette contributor Brian left a comment on yesterday's post about my experience with a dead car battery, and he pointed to an article on MakeZine.com dealing with possible solutions when getting a jump-start is out of the question. Here's the scenario:

The ezine solicited reader suggestions for solving this problem, and there were a number of interesting submissions...and some of them are worth remembering. Like this one...

The idea of temporarily rejuvenating a dead battery long enough to get one more start is appealing, and one that I've never considered. Read the whole article for some additional suggestions. They might just save you some time...or, perhaps, something of even more value.

Big Blue Backs Firefox

Proving that corporate IT departments aren't all genetically engineered to run screaming from any application that doesn't originate in Redmond, IBM is encouraging its employees to adopt Firefox for their on-the-job browser.

The ironic thing is that the help desk phones are probably very quiet. Some might argue that the heavy tech support needs and resulting job security are a large part of Microsoft's popularity with corporate IT staffs. But that would be awfully cynical, wouldn't it?

Tip o'the hat to Joi Ito.

Technorati tags: Firefox | IBM

If Giger made motorcycles...

...he'd make the Wraith.

Fortunately, we have Confederate Motorcycles to do it in his place.

Tip o'the helmet to A Whole Lotta Nothing

Technorati tag: Confederate Motorcycles

Energy Shortage (or "Watt Amp I Missing?")

Is there any greater feeling of helplessness than sitting in your garage in a car with a dead battery, needing to get to the grocery store?

Well, yes, actually...there is. Try sitting in the grocery store parking lot in a car with a dead battery, needing to get home.

I have no one to blame but myself. For the past ten days or so, when I turned the ignition key in the Durango, I've perceived the barest hesitation -- akin to a sigh -- before the engine fired up. Most people wouldn't have noticed it, unless it was happening in their own car. It's like a mother's ear attuned to her baby's unique cry in a nursery full of kids. And I knew...I knew...what it meant, and yet I put it off. And got caught.

It could have been worse. Last night around 8:00, MLB asked me if I wanted to go with her to the shoe store. After regaining consciousness following my answer in the affirmative, she agreed to drive me in her new Santa Fe; 99.9% of the time when we go somewhere in the evening, we take my car. But I was feeling lazy (and, besides, I was going shoe shopping with her, and figured that earned me some accommodation). Had we done our usual thing, we both would have been stranded in a darkening parking lot, and the added insult would have been that all the folks at the top of our list to call for help were at the same concert.

[On a mostly unrelated subject, can someone please explain to me the nature of the female gene that causes a women to decide at 7:30 p.m. the night before a business trip that the shoes she had planned to wear with the outfit she had planned to wear just will not do?]

But, instead, I'm in the HEB parking lot at 8:00 a.m., sitting in an SUV with the hood up and jumper cables slithering onto the asphalt waiting for someone -- anyone -- with some amperage to spare. Normally, the HEB parking lot would resemble a Houston mixmaster, but apparently everyone but me got the memo about today's holiday. I sat in the car for 15 minutes before I could make eye contact with another human. (In retrospect, perhaps putting up the hood wasn't such a great idea; I suspect people were going out of their way not to park in my vicinity, if for no other reason than they didn't want to reveal their ignorance of the black arts of jumpstarting a car.)

Finally, a fellow walked out of the store and headed for a beat-up 80s vintage half-ton Suburban which was packed to window level with what appeared to me to be all the accoutrements and periphery one would select in order to live out of one's Suburban. I've seen that Suburban every morning I go to the store, but I've never seen the driver. He turned out to be a pleasant fellow about my age, and if he was living out of his car, he disguised it well, for he was actually better dressed than me (no great feat, of course) and in much better spirits. He actually caught my eye, and asked if I needed some help.

He said, "you know, I jump-started someone else just yesterday; I feel like the Good Samaritan!" He pulled his truck around next to mine; I popped his hood and connected the cables, cranked my car and...nothing. Well. I fiddled with the connections on both batteries and tried again. Nothing. Hmm.

It occurred to me that the Suburban's battery just wasn't up to the load imposed by both its rightful master and my Dodge's Magnum V8 (no...it don't got a Hemi). But the man was patient so we sat for awhile letting the Durango's battery accumulate whatever charge it could grab, and I finally coaxed the motor back to life. I gathered up the cables and the man closed his hood, and then reached out to shake my hand. As he did, I remarked "I think you're at HEB even more than me." He smiled and said, "I eat breakfast here every morning. Come join me sometime!"

You know, I might just do that.

Footnote: Of course, the battery was still muerto when I arrived home and tried to start it again in the garage. But it now has a brand spankin' new DieHard and you can bet I'll pay closer attention to that sad sigh when happens again in a few years. Yeah, right. Just like I change out our water heater every three years, knowing that it will likely collapse after 37 months of life.

Music Meme

OK, some of the work stuff is easing up a bit so I can ease back into blogging; sorry...all good things must come to an end.

Wallace over at Streams and Cowtown Pattie at Texas Trifles have both (you guys really need to start talking to one another!) tapped me for a music-related meme and that pretty well meets all the criteria for a content-free post, so...what the hey? Here goes:

• Total volume of music files on my computer: 16.17 gigabytes. Now, that includes some "overhead" files related to iTunes but that's close enough for government work.


• The last CD I bought: "Genius Loves Company" - Ray Charles and friends


• Song playing right now: "I Fought the Law" by The Clash (Had to fire up the shuffle...I don't normally have music going during "working hours")


• Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me:
  • "Hit the Road, Jack" - Mo' Horizons
  • "Radio Sol" - Mo' Horizons
  • "Deeper" - Delirious?
  • "We Will Worship the Lamb" - Annie Herring
  • "She's Got the Rhythm, I've Got the Blues" - Alan Jackson
  
  
• The one album I'd pick for the typical desert island experience (I just added this to the meme; so sue me.) - "...And the New Bohemian Freedom" - Mo' Horizons


• Five people to whom I’m passing the baton:
• Julie at Lone Prairie Blog (recognizing that she's posting a series of artwork on depression)
• Jim at Serotoninrain (recognizing that he's busy googling himself)
• Bill at Out of the Bloo (recognizing that he's awfully busy)
• Jen at Lintefiniel Musing (recognizing that she's downright giddy in love; congrats, amiga! ;-)
• Patti over at White Pebble (recognizing that her son has swiped her iPod)

Update: Having just listened to it again, for about the 400th time, I'd like to change my "desert island" vote to Cindy Morgan's "Listen."

work, work, work, work, work...

A navel-gazing haiku:

I love being creative.

Too bad it ain't happening today.

Tip o'the hard hat to Mel Brooks for the post title

Oh, that's not right...

I just saw the trailer for the upcoming release of the theatrical version of "Bewitched," starring Nicole Kidman as Samantha and Will Ferrell as Darren. Well, they're actually the characters who reprise those TV roles as the movie takes on the remaking of the sitcom. Or, something like that. But, never mind that; it's not important.

What I want to warn you about is the horrible job Ms. Kidman does in wiggling her nose. In point of fact, her nose hardly moves at all. Her mouth goes back and forth, and to the extent that there are peripheral fleshy shifts, you can detect a slight nasal leaning, but nothing that will qualify as a wiggle.

You'd think, wouldn't you, that in this era of anything-you-can- imagine-can-be-green-screened that Hollywood could give Ms. Kidman a decent nose twitch. This movie could be a disaster of Ishtaric proportions.

Technorati tag: Bewitched

Book Review: "Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith"

Note: This is my fourth attempt at this post, as I try to find the right approach to the topic. I've never been comfortable playing the role of a "critical critic," especially when dealing with so personal an issue as faith. Even now, I'm not sure how this will turn out, but as Ms. Lamott herself might say, I'm willing to throw it out and trust that God's grace will cover it. He's really good at doing that, you know.

Anne Lamott's "Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith" is essentially a sequel to "Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith", published a little more than five years ago. Both books are collections of essays drawn from Ms. Lamott's experiences and observations, and most of those essays deal with her spiritual journey as a follower of Jesus Christ. Both are well-written and often brutally honest accounts of her struggles to find peace in a life that has been made difficult by a long series of bad decisions on her part.

Unfortunately for Ms. Lamott's readers, the past half decade has not been particularly kind to her political leaning, and the degree to which she shares this fact colors almost every chapter of "Plan B." She makes no effort to disguise her contempt for George W. Bush, Republicans and "right-wingers," apparently seeing no irony in the fact that those with whom she aligns politically are often the ones who hold her faith in equally open contempt.

Think I'm exaggerating about her displeasure with our President? The slams begin in the third sentence of the book. Here's an excerpt:

And another:

And, finally, this:

Of course, many people have equally strong feelings about President Bush, but I suspect that not so many of them profess to be born-again believers, claiming to share the President's faith. But, doctrinal correctness doesn't fare much better in Ms. Lamott's essays.

The far-left Social Gospel leanings that she displayed in "Traveling Mercies" are brought into full bloom in "Plan B." “God has extremely low standards. Pray, take care of people, give away your money–you’re cool. You’re in. Nice room in heaven…” [Ch. 10; p. 129] Of course, her pastor isn't much help in this regard. “She [her pastor] said you could tell if people were following Jesus, instead of following the people who follow Jesus, because they were feeding the poor, sharing their wealth, and trying to help everyone get medical insurance.” [Ch. 17; pp. 222-223]

Then there's her view on sin. Well, that's my word -- and God's -- for it. That's not really an operative concept for her purposes, though. She falls into the usual liberal paradigm (is that diplomatic enough?) of choosing to emphasize God's love while ignoring the reality and implications of His holiness. “Jesus was soft on crime.” [Ch. 14; p. 183] Well...no. It's a nice turn of phrase, and something we all wish was true, in our human and selfish and fallen way, but there's nothing in the Bible to support that view. He is "soft" on criminals, but He detests "crime."

In the end, if you can get past her political rantings and her skewed and New Age-y version of the Gospel, you're left with stories that are, by turns, hilarious, heart-rending, infuriating, depressing and encouraging. If you're easily offended by vulgar language, especially when used in conjunction with spiritual themes, you might want to take a pass. (After all, it was Lamott who described her conversion experience in "Traveling Mercies" thusly: "...I stood there for a minute, and then I hung my head and said, 'F**k it: I quit.' I took a long deep breath and said out loud, 'All right. You can come in.'")

Anne Lamott remains one of my favorite writers because her narrative and observational skills are superb. She writes from her heart, and I give her credit for that. But the skewed doctrine and caustic political attacks leave me wishing that I didn't know her heart quite so well.

Technorati tags: Anne Lamott | "Plan B"

Dance Lesson #2: War of the Twirleds

Dance Lesson Number Two took place last night and was a study in lowering the bar. When we were good, we were very...OK. But when we were bad, we were awful.

At times, we seemed to be really dancing, moving as a couple with the music and feeling only a little like the step-counting robots from last week. That feeling invariably passed, however, as our tenuously-grasped rhythm sputtered, died, and left us standing there with a single recurring phrase on our lips: "let's start over." (At least we were synchronized at that point.)

Repitition is the operative term. The class was essentially a duplicate of last week's, and that was good. I remembered exactly one of the seven steps we were introduced to in that first class, and I don't think I was alone in my inability to retain the moves. We started from scratch and went through each step: foxtrot, waltz, cha-cha...and so on. We added a couple of new moves here and there -- the tango corte, for example -- but overall we simply tried to deepen our neural grooves by a picometer, hoping that the basics would stick with us for at least an hour after class, instead of disappearing in ten minutes like they did before.

I've also begun to realize that I have no natural ear for music and rhythm, in terms of knowing which dance goes with which music. We spent a little time at the end of class listening to music, then attempting to match the right step to it. The Latin rhythms all seem the same to me (except for the tango, which is becoming my dance of choice, I think because it's the only one where we spell out the steps instead of count them). I dread the day when I'll suffer the fatal humiliation of attempting to mambo to what will be obvious to everyone else is a cha-cha. It's inevitable, and there's nothing I can do to prevent it.

Regardless, we soldier on, and take our victories where we find them. No one got hurt and the instructor generally was successful in containing her laughter. Lesson #3 is a week away, and I must go practice.

Time Flashes By

Tired of the same old boring digital clock on your desktop? Open a browser window and fill it with this.

The only improvement I'd suggest is to add a line for millenia.

Wind o'the mainspring to Patti over at White Pebble.

Planting Gardens for Alien Children

I saw a segment on The Weather Channel* this morning on planting a "pizza garden." This is a small circular garden that you're supposed to enlist your children to help plant, maintain and harvest. It's called a pizza garden because you're supposed to plant -- are you ready for this? -- "the vegetables that you and your children like on your pizza. Vegetables like tomatos, peppers, onions, squash and broccoli are favorites."

Favorites for whom?! I'm a semi-grown adult and I wouldn't voluntarily venture within a block of a pizza that was topped with squash. Do you know any child who will eat broccoli pizza? I don't. In fact, unless pepperoni is harvested from bushes, the kids I know run screaming from pizza containing any vegetables. (Pizza sauce doesn't count as a vegetable, governmental edicts notwithstanding.) Getting your child to willingly cooperate with this kind of pizza garden is about as likely as Howard Dean including the Westminster Confession of Faith in the next Democratic presidential campaign platform.

The Weather Channel needs to start getting its programming from somewhere other than Marin County, CA.

*Yes, I frequently watch TWC. Most of the time, questionable gardening tips aside, it's the only thing worth watching on TV.

Technorati tag: Pizza Garden

The Array of the Beast

The notion that 666 might not really be the mark of the beast, and the potential impact it might have on the tatoo-related decisions of Satanists and other edgy rebels has led me to offer this bit of advice. In the interest of avoiding the painful and expensive (not to mention somewhat embarrassing) revision of 666 tattoos, I suggest that you go for a range of numbers, like, say "600-700, Inclusive." By displaying the Array of the Beast, you'll not only hedge your bets against future reinterpretations, but you'll also possibly ingratiate yourself to many programmers, mathematicians and actuaries. So, you'll have that going for you, as well.

Technorati tag: Array of the Beast

If it's not one thing, it's another...

I just discovered that the email address to which notices of new comments are directed is not working, and I don't know why. But, if you're wondering why I haven't responded to your comments, it's simply because I didn't know about them. (I was beginning to feel particularly neglected, by the way.)

I guess I'll have to start reading my own blog until the problem is fixed. Oh, the humanity! The humanity!

Mark of the Beast's 2nd cousin?

This is a few days old, but I'm just now running across it and perhaps it's new to you as well. It seems that some scholars in England have re-examined a bit of ancient manuscript and have come to the conclusion that the number of the beast is not 666 after all, but, according to this article, a more mundane 616.

This news is bound to really tick off a bunch of Satanists and high school goth dudes who've invested their hard earned money in "666" tatoos. I hear those things are a bear to re-do.

Tip o'the hat to Rachel over at Life Being Beautiful

Some people deserve fame more than others...

Vicki deserves to be famous. You can help make it so simply by visiting this page and reading her story. You'll be glad you did.

You might also want to add Trevor to your blogroll or bookmarks.

Link lovingly provided by Julie Neidlinger.

Designing Websites for "Mature" Visitors

I'm meeting with a new client tomorrow to discuss a redesign of their old and busted website. The client is an association of cardiac surgeons and their website is, frankly, horrible (which they readily admit). It's out of date, hard to navigate and has as its recurring theme tiny animated flashing hearts that make you think more of the Valentine from Hell than of a professional medical team offering state-of-the-art heart surgery and related services. Someone apparently mistook ownership of a copy of FrontPage for website design credentials.

One of the questions I ask new clients is who they want to target with their website. That's always a good way to begin to lay a foundation for the site. For this new client, I anticipate that many visitors to the website will be what we'll euphemistically call "senior citizens." After all, while heart surgery on younger patients isn't unheard of, it's far more frequently performed on older people. Also, studies show that one of the primary uses for the web by people ages 65 and older is for researching health and medical issues.

With that in mind, I've done a little site hopping on my own to see if there are any new recommendations by "the experts" on designing websites for seniors. Here's a short list of the primary issues to consider, culled from a variety of sources, not the least of which is this article from UseIt.com:

• Differentiate between unvisited and visited links - This will help visitors who have problems with short term memory keep track of where they've been on the site.


• Don't set a font-size - Text that is too small and difficult to read seems to be the biggest complaint from seniors participating in usability studies. By not specifying a font-size, their default browser setting will display the text in the way that they presumably prefer, and they'll be able to more easily change the setting if it doesn't. An extension of this recommendation is the use of a style-sheet switcher button that allows the visitor to increase the text size without going to the browser's menu.


• Underline links - Poor eyesight makes the use of color alone to differentiate linked text from unlinked a bad practice.


• Omit animations - They're distracting and often confusing.


• Use shorter lines of text and increase line-height (the space between lines of text) slightly - Both of these techniques improve readability.


• Use link titles even when you think the linked text is self-explanatory - Many seniors are "cautious clickers," meaning that they hesitate to click on links for fear of where they'll be sent. Using the popup link title feature will help to reassure them of exactly what that link will do.


• Avoid dropdown/flyout menus - Besides being potentially confusing, they can also be quite difficult for someone with less-than-perfect motor skills to use.

Most, if not all of these recommendations fall into the category of common sense, and would probably make all websites more useful, not just those designed for seniors. And we bloggers, as a group, tend to routinely ignore many of them, in the interest of "cool design." (The Gazette, for example, does not follow the advice for font-size, link underlining and visited link differentiation.)

If you're a blogger, have you consciously considered the age demographic of your visitors? Are these issues important to you? And, if you're a non-blogging visitor, have you noticed examples of poor design (here or other places) that have kept you from using a website in the manner you'd like? Feel free to weigh in via the comments.

Technorati tags: Website Design | Website Usability | Website Accessibility

New temptation from Starbucks

The Mint Mocha Chip Frappuccino.

Guaranteed to keep you climbing onto the treadmill -- or avoiding the scales -- throughout the summer.

Political Typology Quiz

Jim over at Serotoninrain has discovered, via NPR, a very interesting online quiz purporting to provide you with your "Political Typology." The quiz is provided by The Pew Research Center and thus comes with strong credentials (in my mind, at least).

Unlike Jim, who was mortified at the results of his first pass with the test, I'm quite satisfied with my characterization as "Upbeat."

That blurb doesn't fit me to a "t"; I'm a bit less comfortable with the immigration issue, for example, and I don't disagree with the President's foreign policy decisions as much as this makes it sound. But, overall, this isn't too far offbase.

The demographics of who falls into each category are fascinating. It's worth spending some time on the website just to see if you are outraged, encouraged or at least edified by the results of the survey.

Technorati tag: Political Typology

Internet Connection Blues

I'm having the most annoying problem with my internet connection. It's intermittently going out and coming back on...and it's gotten to the point where it's off more than it's on. It shows all the signs of a loose connection at the pole in the alley (we don't have underground utilities in our neighborhood), possibly due to a wind-blown pecan tree limb rubbing against the line. Here's the kicker: Cox can't send anyone to look at it until Friday afternoon.

In the meantime, I'm watching my cable modem and attempting to send and receive email, upload website updates and post blog entries during those rare occasions when all the lights are burning...like now! Gotta run...

What's In Your 8-Track Case?

I need to get this 8-Track tape meme out of my system, and the best way to exorcise it is to list the contents of the tape case I discovered in one of our closets last week. Read what you will into the following playlist:

• Black Sabbath - "Paranoid" (The first heavy metal band I ever heard...and the only recording of same I ever bought.)


• Chase - "Chase" (A poor man's version of Chicago; the screech trumpets will make your cat commit hara-kiri.)


• Chicago - "Chicago" (Next to Blood, Sweat & Tears' second album, the best horn-rock recording ever.)


• Neil Diamond - "Tap Root Manuscript" (Did it years before Paul Simon.)


• Emerson, Lake & Palmer - "Pictures At An Exhibition" (What were these guys smoking?)


• Emerson, Lake & Palmer - "Tarkus" (Ditto.)


• Emerson, Lake & Palmer - "Trilogy" (Ditto.)


• The Grand Funk Railroad - "Time Machine" (I forgot that GFR was "The GFR.")


• The London Symphony Orchestra - "Star Wars" (This was cool the first two thousand times I heard it.)


• Original Soundtrack - "Romeo & Juliet" (Great parking music, IYKWIM.)


• The Rascals - "Freedom Suite" (Double albums were especially cool on 8-track, since they went on forever.)


• San Sebastian Strings - "The Earth" (By this time, Rod McKuen was either an old beatnik or a young New Ager. In any event, this one didn't age gracefully.)


• Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 - "Greatest Hits" (Holds up better than anything else on this list.)


• Barbra Streisand - "Barbra Joan Streisand" (Before we knew her evil twin, Babs. BTW, this was the infamous scanned tape. But you knew that.)


• Various - "The Best of the Virtuoso Instrumentalists" (I have no recollection of this tape. It has an oboe concerto. What was I smoking?)

Feel free to chime in if any of these albums resonate with your inner hippie.

Technorati tag: 8-Track Tapes

Report from Iraq: In war, boring is good...sometimes

Sgt. Will has checked in again. His outfit's settled into the Tallil Airbase in southern Iraq, which he likens to being back at Fort Hood...and that's not really a good thing, from his perspective.

He's been spending some quality time with Charlie 4 (his truck), and it sounds like something from "Mad Max Meets Hackers":

Refer to this post to get a refresher on the acronyms.

He's also excited about a new mission.

Sgt. Will closed his emailed report by offering to field questions if you have anything you'd like to ask him. Just leave your question in the comments and he'll either pick it up from there or I'll forward it to him.

I also want to take a minute to remind you that the "Sgt. Will Fund" is still open for donations. We had a fantastic response when we started it up last month, but things have slowed down considerably since then. Anything you can do to show your support for Will and his family will be appreciated more than you can imagine! Just click the PayPal button at right, near the top of this page.

Technorati tag: War on Terror

Local Episcopal Congregation Receiving Interdenominational Support

The local Episcopal congregation I wrote about a few days ago is receiving broad support from other Midland churches, across denominational lines.

Here's what Dr. Gary Dyer, pastor of Midland's First Baptist Church, has to say in his column in that church's weekly newsletter:

Amen.

Online Music Subscriptions: Color Me Confused

Tomorrow, Yahoo will roll out its new online music service, where subscribers will pay $6.99/month or $60/year to rent music. This service will compete with similar offerings from RealNetworks and Napster.

I just don't understand the appeal of renting music. Perhaps it's a generational thing, but I want to own the music I pay for, and I don't want to have to worry about my entire collection disappearing if I'm a day late with a payment. I'm already dealing with more restrictions than I like by using Apple's iTunes Music Store, but at least it's my music (as permitted by Apple's license and DRM restrictions).

Up to this point, millions of people seem to agree with me on this, as the ITMS continues to dominate the market. So I can't help wondering where the Wall Street Journal comes up with the following assertion, from its story on the Yahoo announcement:

I suppose that there's no harm done if Apple decides to make the subscription model an add-on to its primary ITMS approach, but I suspect the market numbers will have to be much more impressive than they are now for that to happen.

Technorati tags: Yahoo Music Unlimited | iTunes Music Store | DRM

Remembering the Brave

The Rocky Mountain News has a moving account of how US Marines are honoring their fallen comrades, while offering comfort to grieving families. And, maybe, finding some healing of their own.

Marine Cpl. Dustin Barker is, by the way, a Midlander.

Technorati tag: Remembering The Brave

Dancing Machines

You may note that I've elected to categorize the following in "Society & Culture." I chose that category simply because I lack one called "Personal Disasters of Epic Proportions."

At 5:55 p.m. last Friday evening, we were full of enthusiasm and hope, eager to conquer the romantic and brave new world of ballroom dancing.

Two hours later we were shambling, twitching, sweating (well, MLB was merely glowing) step-counting robots whose fantasies were as shattered as our dance "moves." My wife later confessed that her dreams were filled with the mantra, "itty-bitty step...itty-bitty step..." For my part, all I managed to retain was that I, being the man, always start with my left foot. Everything thereafter is a blur; may God have mercy on my partner.

We arrived at the dance studio precisely on time, only to discover that everyone else was early. It reminded me of a junior high function (except for the male-female pairings); each couple stood in their own circle of personal space, sizing up the others ("yeah, I think I take him in the waltz; not sure about the mambo, however"), hoping to find someone who looked klutzy enough to divert attention from themselves. The demographic was pretty consistent...middle-aged WASPish, like us, with a single GenX couple who seemed to be second-guessing their Friday evening plans. There were about ten couples in all, plus two women without partners (and I gave them extra credit for their courage). MLB and I were fortunate in that we were friends with one of the couples; they had, in fact, provided us with the motivation to sign up for the class, and it remains to be seen whether forgiveness will be forthcoming.

After a five minute introduction by our instructor, a tall brunette named Bernadette, the guys were told to line up across the room and we launched immediately into the first steps of our dancing careers. We started with the foxtrot, and I encountered my first humiliation of the evening (I got used to them, by the way).

Apparently, in ballroom dancing it's considered to be the suave and gentlemenly thing to keep your knees together with feet pointed straight ahead ("pretend you're wearing corduroy pants, and the ribbing rubs with each step," Bernadette helpfully suggested). Well, that ain't happenin' with yours truly. I'm 6' 1" but I'd be 6' 4" if I weren't bowlegged, and one foot pretty much refuses to point straight ahead, if given a choice. We all had a big laugh over that, and I'm sure the others were still laughing later after I sneaked out and let the air out of their tires.

Despite my apparent physical shortcoming, I managed to get through the evening with a minimal amount of damage to either my partner or the other students. The least comfortable moment of the class was the one time we had to switch partners and I ended up with the GenX girl, who was about 4' 11" and had that deer-in-the-headlights look as she contemplated my size 10s next to her (very fashionable) size 2s. That encounter is now, thankfully, a blur; all I remember is her saying at the end, "you take really big steps, don't you?"

As this class is entitled "An Introduction to Ballroom Dancing," we went wide but not deep. We covered the foxtrot, waltz, cha-cha, rumba, mambo, tango and merengue. My personal favorite is the merengue, as it was the last one we tried and thus the only one I remember. Also, the merengue seems to consist basically of walking, and while my carriage is not a thing of beauty*, I mastered that skill a number of years ago and it's finally coming in handy.

Lessons learned? First, ballroom dancing isn't for wimps. Those who do it well are working harder than I ever imagined, especially with the latin steps. We used muscles that apparently lay back on a chaise lounge and sip iced tea during cycling and running workouts. Second, it's fun, even if you're really bad at it. In fact, for a while anyway, I think being bad at it is part of the fun. Expectations are low; everyone's messing up. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to capitalize on that situation, but it's the best plan I've got at this point.

We're facing three more lessons, one each Friday evening in May. But the only light at the end of this tunnel is an oncoming freight train, as the ladies have discovered that Midland has, of all things, a Ballroom Dance Society, where members get all gussied up once a month and go to the Petroleum Club for a couple of hours of gliding across the floor to the accompaniment of live music. The ladies think it all sounds very romantic and cultured. I can't repeat what the guys think.

*Extra credit to anyone who can identify the culturally iconic source of that phrase.

Technorati tag: Ballroom Dance

Slouching toward Sonora

I'm in one of those temporary (I hope) moods that every blogger (I hope) can identify with: nothing I write seems interesting, or even articulate. I have lots to share, but nothing to post. You deserve better, and you'll find it via the links in the right hand column. Any of them. Anywhere but here.

Maybe tomorrow. I'd really like to tell you what I think of Anne Lamott's new book, but not until I can figure out how to do it without being a jerk. And the story of The First Dance Lesson needs to be written, but only if I can do it more smoothly than I moved across the floor. Perhaps tomorrow.

The post title? Who knows...

The ULTIMATE Music Challenge

OK, well...it seems that family isn't quite as time-demanding as I expected, and so I'm able to turn my attention to [at least] one more post. This is another highly-anticipated music-related quiz, and I expect it to take at least a week for someone to solve.

This quiz was actually conceived during an exchange of emails with Jim, the admittedly obsessive winner of the previous quiz. When I heard the lengths he went to in identifying the mystery album cover, I told him that the next quiz would consist of a scan of the album itself, with the objective being to identify it based solely on an analysis of the grooves in the vinyl.

But, in thinking further about it, I realized that this was much too easy. What we needed was a real challenge...one built around a bit of cultural footnotery. So, I give you "The ULTIMATE (you know it's hard because it's in all caps) Music Challenge"! All you have to do is identify the recording to which the following belongs, the following being a real-life sample of that recording as it resides on the original Eight Track Tape...

OK, that should do it. I eagerly await your answers. Google help us all.

Here's a skill that seems to stick with you like riding a bike: the ability to snap a length of tape pulled out of the 8 track cartridge so that it neatly retracts back into the case, ready to once again jam your player at the most inopportune time.

Technorati tag: 8 Track Tape

The Worst Jobs in History

Note: This will likely be the last post of the weekend on the Gazette as family affairs take priority. Regular content-free blogging will resume on Monday, unless I get a better offer before then. Otherwise, I hope to have an in-depth review of the likely imbroglio known as "our first dance lesson."

If you're reading this from your office, well, first, shame on you. Get to work. Just kidding; as long as you're here, you might as well dwell on this fact: your job is not the worst thing humankind has ever had to endure. (Unless, of course, you're Howard Dean.) Not even close.

For proof, look no further than this website: The Worst Jobs in History. Take a stroll through various historical eras and learn about such self-affirming occupations as wattle-and-daub applier (Roman/Anglo Saxon); leech collector (Medieval); groom of the stool (Tudor); plague burier (Stuart); castrato (Georgian); and rat catcher (Victorian).

The common thread is that most of these job took place in merrye olde Englande. Leave it to us Americans to show the limeys what a really lousy job is like. Take for example, Michael Jackson's press agent. Or Jennifer Wilbanks' wedding planner. Or, sadly, our dance instructor.

Tip o'the chapeau to none other than MLB

Have a great weekend, amigos.

Name that Album Cover - Update #2

Update of the update: We have a winner! New blogger Jim over at Serotoninrain somehow managed to come up with "New York at Dawn," by that highly esteemed nouveau swing band, Elbow Bones and the Racketeers. I've replaced the partial album cover below with the full scan (or as much of it as my scanner would grab in two passes). The solitary semi-hit from this album was "A Night In New York," and if I can find the time, I'll post an excerpt for your listening pleasure. It really was quite catchy. Anyway, congratulations, Jim! Too bad prizes aren't in the Gazette's budget...

As promised, here's a sample from "A Night In New York." It's ripped with a low bit rate to save space, but you'll get a good feel for it. It's too bad the rest of the album didn't measure up.

...

From earlier today...

Sorry, I was supposed to have this up this morning (as if anyone still cares, assuming that they ever did). But I got sidetracked by, um...oh, look! A baby squirrel...

Well, I thought my music video contest was hard, but the identification of this album cover seems to be even more challenging. Either that, or it's really, really boring...

Here's another scan of the album, with yet more of the artwork revealed. I've even uncovered part of the album title; no, don't thank me...that's just the kind of guy I am.

If you only had the kind of photo-enhancing technology that all the cool crime-solving shows on TV use, you'd even be able to discern the album's serial number (or whatever it's called) in the upper left corner. But, you're running old and busted 'ware and can't create data from not-data. More's the pity.

Ju Look Fontastic!

Fellow Midland blogger Kelly over at Stark Trek asks an eminently reasonable question: What's the proper font for sarcasm?

I was sure that my go-to resource for fonts would have one called "Sarcasm" but, alas, that was too easy. However, a series of fortuitous clicks led me to the free fonts page of The Core Font Lab, where you can download the "Hardedge FontPak" which contains a font that fits the bill. Unfortunately, due to strict editorial guidelines (and Jasmine's eagle eye), I can't print the name of the font here, but I'm sure you'll pick it out easily enough.

Of more interest, however, is the pixel font section of this site, including a highly detailed mathematical explanation of why the designer claims to have created the "Perfect Pixel Font." The font is, indeed, interesting in a cubist sort of way, but the "mathematical support" is proof that anything worth doing is worth overdoing.

Here's an excellent resource to learn more about pixel fonts and their uses.

Technorati tags: Pixel Fonts

Blogging's Next Big Thing

The introduction of Pajamas Media by A-lister Roger L. Simon has many bloggers scrambling to get in on The Next Big Thing. In this case, it's a vision to rival anything Tolkien ever dreamt up: one Blog to rule them all.

OK, perhaps that's a bit dramatic. The concept behind Pajamas Media is relatively simple, and yet almost breath-taking in scope. The plan is to recruit bloggers around the world to provide local news to an aggregator, along the lines of the Associated Press. The aggregation of this input will ostensibly provide one-stop shopping for those who want to get their "realtime" news via bloggers. In return for providing the product, the participating bloggers will get a wider audience than they probably attract on their own, and they stand to gain financially via shared ad revenue.

As of a couple of days ago, PM had signed up 170 bloggers and, presumably, that number will continue to grow rapidly as word gets out. That group may include one of our own, Wallace over at Streams, who is enamored with the idea and has spoken directly with Simon about it.

It's also brought to light at least one almost identical proposal which, had the funding been available, might have cut the legs out from under PM's plans. If nothing else, the fact that two groups of savvy folks came up with the same idea almost simultaneously would seem to give it some legitimacy.

I have mixed feelings about the concept. As I wrote my pal Bryan over at Arguing with Signposts, the co-conspirator of the competing idea linked above, I'm torn between the allure of wanting to be a part of The Next Big Thing and the desire to remain untainted by any hint of external influence. If I'm going to have my blogging influenced, I want it to be solely by my own irrational and chimeric biases and motivations and poorly understood neuroses.

I suspect that the vast majority of bloggers don't want to be journalists (in the conventional media sense of the term). And, believe it or not, some of us aren't even interested in making money out of blogging. But for those who have the talent, training and desire to report and analyze newsworthy events on their blogs, this aggregation idea seems to be a dream come true, and I wish them the best of luck.

For the rest of us, however, this might be a good time to reacquaint ourselves with the concept behind the Coalition of Unpaid Bloggers. That way, in five years when we find that we have, indeed, missed out on fame and fortune because we refused to join The Next Big Thing, we can say that we meant to do that.

Technorati tags: Coalition of Unpaid Bloggers | Pajamas Media | News Aggregation

Bible Before Buildings: Local Congregation Pays a Price

File this one under "Sadly Unsurprising." One of our local Episcopalian congregations has voted (89%-11%) to split from the national Episcopal Church over the latter's non-Biblical stances in several areas. According to the article in today's Midland Reporter-Telegram:

This is certainly not a unique move; many local congregations across the nation are doing the same thing. What makes this story unusual is that "diocese officials" (Bishop Wallis Ohl of the Northwest Texas diocese was the only one mentioned by name) have ordered the departing congregants to vacate their church location by May 31, 2005. According to the associate rector at St. Nicholas, Rev. Jonathan Hartzer, other churches making this decision have been allowed to retain their property and worship "according to their conscience."

I'm just cynical enough to entertain the fleeting thought that the fact that the St. Nicholas church facilities are only about four years old and rest on one of the prime locations in Midland from a real estate perspective might have ever-so-slightly influenced the national body's decision in this case.

Regardless, this is a sad day for one of the true success stories in Midland's church life. St. Nicholas has always had a reputation for being one of the most ethnically diverse congregations in the area, and the rector, Rev. Jon Stasney (who, by the way, voted with the 89%, as did Rev. Hartzer) has ensured that his flock was always at the forefront in the significant interdenominational activities and events in this area.

I got to know Rev. Stasney during the planning for the 2001 International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, which Midland hosted. I consider him to be a compassionate, wise and gentle man who is devoted to reaching others for Christ, and reaching out to others in Christ's name. I know his heart breaks at seeing his congregation split, but I also know that he places God's will and Biblical principles ahead of human motivations. I suspect that what was a painful decision was at the same time an easy one to make.

I want to be careful not to imply that those relatively few who are staying behind are doing so for un-Biblical principles. I suspect that there are some who strongly disagree with the national body's stances on the issues referred to above, but who also want to stay and try to influence those positions. God bless 'em; they have, perhaps, chosen the more difficult path in the long run.

Technorati tags: ECUSA | Midland, Texas | Episcopal Church

Name that Album Cover - Update #1

We seem to be drawing nothing but blank stares in response to the latest Name that Album Cover contest. So, out of the goodness of my heart, and in response to the guilt I feel over preventing a pastor from preparing his upcoming Sunday's sermon, here's another scan of the album, revealing a bit more of the real estate. The writing at the top of the image is part of the group's name.

Really, now...it doesn't get much easier than this. ;-)

Stop me before I download again!

I just received an email informing me that Lesley Gore is releasing a new album. It's mostly new music, but it also has "re-imagined" versions of "You Don't Own Me" and "Out Here on My Own."

Hearing this news sparked high school-vintage memories, and one thing led to another and I found myself on the iTunes Music Store with sixteen dollars and change burning a hole in that little window on my PowerBook screen.

I downloaded a half dozen of Lesley's tunes, then started clicking links and before I knew it, I'd also bought music from George Strait, Marty Robbins, The Chiffons, The Cowsills, Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, Hank Williams, Jr. and the Angels. My ITMS balance now sits at $0.23.

All because Lesley Gore has a new album coming out soon.

Technorati tag: Lesley Gore

Working over the Well?

Update: Never mind.

I just noticed that Jessica's Well has gone dark, save for a cryptic note about "hiatus." Natalie didn't even bother to put a proper page title into the coding; it appears somebody left in a hurry.

So, who's got the scoop? Are we talking redesign and rebirth, or burnout and therapy? Or both?

Idol Speculation

Joel Achenbach puts the Paula Abdul/Corey Clark non-story into a proper perspective:

He then goes on to focus on the real issue, one that gets a lot of talk but not much action:

Joel later reveals (in the c